Awesome, well good luck to you! stick a pig!

I will be on Tonka with a buddy bright and early. My brother, his wife and a few of his friends will be there also. Super pumped, been out the last few days and seen some nice fish. Where will you be Carter?

Pat McSharry wrote:

June can’t come soon enough!

Seriously. I am getting very antsy. I launched the boat last weekend backed away from the access turned my head and BANG! Staring a upper 40’s pushing maybe 50″ in the face. Just hanging out, without a care in the world. Cruel world, cruel I say…

Indeed.

Great season as always men!

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I hear the infamous James Holst quote in my head… “SUPERTANKER!!!”

Absolute brute.

$250 shipped.

More pictures

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BrianF wrote:

I’ve got a Beckman Finsaver net that might work for ya. Let me know if interested. Brian

Interested to know more, sent you a PM.

Jgross: I’m on M1 and watch the buy sell trade forum closely. Thanks for the heads up though!

Wayne: I am not sure I would be interested in buying sombodies entire collection but if your willing to part with some things I would be interested in looking for sure!

Joc: I have spent a fair amount of time on that website as well as many others drooling at all the cool stuff. I guess the main goal of this thread is I am looking for used stuff. Baits are expensive in this game as you probably know, looking to expand the bait Arsenal on a budget (if possible).

Carter: I just need to look into the net model in question. I’ll let you know!

Thanks for the responses guys!

Holy cow….. I drive just under 12 miles to work. 25 minutes at the most one way, including snowy days. Mostly stop lights on my drive in though.

Still looking…. Open to suggestions.

Dang! Where are you moving to that you would put yourself through this much heartache… this is truly a sad thing.

That is awesome way to start! What a tank!

I agree with 10’s being a bit much for that setup more of the reel being the weak spot. The 400 series reels are a bit beefier and will hold up better. Unweighted suicks have a lot of buoyancy. Weighted seem to get a little more depth and hang time. Little more weight for casting is nice too. All in all you should have a great setup that will serve most of your needs for a great start to fishing’s dark side…

Blades! Silver with black is a well known producer, 8’s or 10’s. Suick thrillers minimum 7″ probably go with the 9″ these are really key more towards fall. I prefer the weighted ones more than unweighted ones. Mimi medusa’s are a good bait, regular dawgs or medusas pick your color I go orange/black. I like hellhounds more than phantoms but both produce fish. Like Carter said 6″ or bigger (hellpuppy is 6″).

Just a few more options, good luck.

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/spo/5491550290.html

Not sure of the model number. But it says 6 foot medium power fast action. Hope it helps

Soooooo… yeah…. figured it out. Remember when I said I couldn’t justify a legend tournament? Yeah well I guess when you pay exactly 50% it is a bit easier. So I ended up selecting a legend tournament sling blade 8’6″ Heavy power fast action. I ended up having gift cards, Cabela’s points and a coupon for a total price of $193.08. $193.10 off regular price after tax. That really turned my conscience to the reality that this is what I expected to pay from the get go. With the end factor being a true life time warranty.

I also ended up selecting a completely different reel to pair with this rod. I decided that the Abu Garcia Revo Toro Beast 60 4.9 gear ratio would be a better fit. This is going to be my double 10 rod and smaller lures my other set up will remain the same for heavier lures. I have already pondered a faster gear ratio for that rod to use with big jerk baits when you need a bit more line pickup.

So all in all I just wanted to fill everybody in that what I thought I wanted changed dramatically with what I ended up with. I can’t imagine I will have any complaints with a setup of this caliber, but you definitely will not hear any complaining from this guy.

Thanks everybody for all the imput!

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Pat McSharry wrote:

For that price range I would recommend a 13 Fishing OMEN 8’7″ Heavy or heck I would just get another Muskie Mojo 8’6″. Like Phil said, you can run jerkbaits just fine on an 8’6″ rod

I was waiting for this guy ^^^ to chime in (now I’m waiting for Ben to chime in from Mississippi). Thanks for another option with 13 fishing rods. Another option that I will need to research.

Youbetcha wrote:

If you do plan on throwing some walk the dog baits or gliders I would strongly recommend a shorter rod. Reels and rod brands aside I absolutely love being able to work phantoms and jackpots with a shorter 7 foot rod. But still working them with an 8 foot rod isnt so bad.

I have thought of that but the want to throw smaller blades on this rod makes me still want the length for figure 8’s. Plus thinking about even larger baits makes me lean towards a heavier rod and reel change up.

Nice Fella wrote:

Great thread tonkaiceman, thanks for posting as I am also interested in a 2nd rod setup. I bought my first musky rod/reel last year, caught a 42″er, and am now obsessed. I think I have just the opposite setup, lighter, and need to add a heavier option. Current setup is 7’6″MHF St. Croix Triumph with Shimano Cardiff 400. It sounds like an 8’6″ or 9′ XH might be a good complimentary option, to have something heavier. Would be nice to know what kind of options the experienced musky guys carry.

Glad to be of assistance, hope more people than me get use of this thread. I looked for similar threads around the interweb but generally it is a thread of pick product a vs product b, I want options!

Also same thing happened to me in September of ’14. 43″er was my first ever musky, I have never been right since. People at my work know I have more than a fishing problem. It’s a pure obsession!

Phil Bauerly wrote:

Tackle Industries rods are very good for the money. The Okuma EVX series is another good option for under $175. I learned how to run my jerkbaits with an 8’6″ rod after 20 years of running shorter ones. It was an easy transition and now all of my rods are 8’6″. There is something to be said for standardization. I do mix it up and run XH and XXH rods for big lures and huge ones lol.

Thanks Phil for the response. I will be looking into the okuma series for sure. My brother got a XXH tackle industries rod last year had a 48.5 hit at the boat and snapped it right in half on the hook set. That was the first fish on that rod. I’m hearing good things about the rods but my brother broke his in the first week or two. Maybe it was a bad blank from the get go?

Second I definitely agree with the 8’6″ point sold myself on that. My first mojo was a 7’6″, figure 8’s were a real pain. The reel seat twisted on the blank after about a year and a half. St Croix allowed me to get it replaced with the same rod but 8’6″ for the difference in cost ($20). A little weird to get used to but after a few hours it felt completely normal.

Tim, I have not used a 15 subwalk before but I would use it like other jerk/glide baits. Fishing main lake structures like shallower points, humps and weedbeds or edges. Musky and pike being the target species in mind. The color in question I am extremely excited about for pike on my yearly Canada trip. I have had pretty good luck with chartreuse anything on these trips for Pike. I caught several pike in my trips where a spoon would hit the water and before you can get it actually below the water they are all over it. Caught a nice 36″ pike the last night of my trip on a spook. It really is more of a treat for you to watch a fish explode on a top water. So hopefully this is a nice inbetween lure just for a different look. I will probably end up painting one the way I want anyways somewhere down the line.

Yeah it doesn’t seem like the number of big perch are there. We are thinking about starting on the SE corner and working some of the shallow humps close to deeper water. Hoping to close in on some eyes but plans may change.

Thanks for the tip, formulating a plan of attack.

Hubs just make sense with children, hopefully you can find a productive spot or they can be a pain to move. The space when children are in the mix is invauable. My brother got the big clan hub and absolutely loves it. That said flip overs are all about run and gun, I love that style but space and weight can be an issue.
Hubs do make a nice base camp as noted above. You can set them up and if the weather is nice enough just punch holes and hole hop leaving the rest of the family nice and warm in the shack.

Nice work buddy!

Mr crappie already knows but finished mine up the other weekend too.

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Eelpoutguy wrote:

My new Otter resort hub sets up nice in my garage, but that’s all the further it has gone.
I did drink some beers in it and that seemed to work very well.

Works good in the front yard too.

I believe the auger is a mora hand auger 8″ I think you could go to like a fleet farm and get a new pair of blades and hardware for around 30 bucks. Don’t quote me on that price though.

Craigslist this time of year can be great for deals on people wanting to get rid of stuff if your on a budget. Otherwise inexpensive ice rod/reel combos are readily available at most sporting goods stores. Small tungsten jigs with small plastics can be great or small jigs with hair. You can tip with euro larve for bait. It also doesn’t hurt to have a small selection of jigging spoons like slender spoon from custom jigs and spins or vmc tingler spoons. Everybody has there own preferred colors but a combination of both natural colors and bright patterns is a good start. Depth finders like a vexilar or marcum can be VERY expensive so use your own descression on wether or not you need one. I personally would not go out without one. Hand auger might not be a bad deal this year (I have one you can have, needs new blades), but if you really like ice fishing in the future get a power auger. It really becomes a game changer when there is 24 inches of ice. If you can bear sitting outside make sure you have warm clothing and good socks and gloves. Nothing ruins a good day worse than cold hands and feet. Shelters are all over the place in availability and price, if you do get one make sure to thinking about heating it. Sunflower heater on a propane tank is the cheap way to go, big buddy heater are a fairly common heat source for many guys here.

Hope it helps, now for ice!

IceAsylum wrote:

Well monkey pile and fishing never was something I would have put together. That’s a talent.

That’s why he has a show

Short answer blue mirror for clear water or ocean, green mirror for darker water.

I went with the permit 580G amber with green mirror. I love them I alway wear a hat fishing and have never had any issues with brightness, however that is just my experience. These are my first pair and I would change a thing if I got another pair.

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James Holst wrote:

It isn’t even close to reality

Really? I though I had that one pegged.