tswoboda wrote:

Spring loaded is nice as long as you take care of them and don’t let the mechanism rust and get sticky.

I wouldn’t have a problem with rust, but I wonder about the ability to get them open in a hurry when there is an emergency. How easy is that and with the spring holding them open is it easy to get your hand on both handles?

Ok, you have convinced me. Compared to my Van Staal pliers the Knipex are cheap.

I do have a couple of questions. Do most of you use the mini-bolt cutter style or the diagonal cutters?

Also how often do these go overboard? They make them with a tether attachment point. Is that something worth getting?

Thanks for the advice. I can remember getting some cheap cutters MANY years ago and they deformed the first time I used them. I haven’t held the HF cutters yet so I don’t know how robust they are.

I am only going to target Muskie a few times a year so it could take me years to get up to 1,000 casts. That was my reference to not using them much.

I actually was thinking of them to cut hooks from the fish, not from my flesh. That puts this in a whole different perspective.

That is what I was afraid of. This gets expensive fast!

Thanks. Here are the answers to some of the questions asked:

Up until now I have not targeted Musky. They are in my waters and I want to focus on them in the fall. I would say this will be a lightly used rig.

I am still in the planning stage and don’t have the leaders yet. I am thinking about solid wire.

I will put some backing on; I always do that with braid for at least a few turns to cut down on slippage. I am not overly concerned with saving a few dollars. If I go with the 65 I would use about 20 yards of backing and a 150 yard spool of braid. I already have that spool of line. If I go with 50 I would buy a 300 yard spool. Maybe that makes the decision easy.

Rodwork wrote:

Abu Gracia 6500 is not a bad reel and will last you a long time if you are not using it much or with hard pulling baits. I would go with the Tranx or 400B if you have the money.

Thanks. Those are two reels I had looked at that looked like they would be a good fit for my needs. The 400B was high on my list. I read that the drag was smoother on it than on the Tranx. Any thoughts on that or other comparison of the two?

Rodwork wrote:

You will want to get the 400 Rick. The 300 just doesn’t have enough line capacity for the heaver braid.

Thanks. Any other reels that would be a better choice for a setup that won’t get used often?

I generally fish for LM and SM bass, but my waters do hold Musky. I want to set up a rod and reel to toss glide baits like the Hell Hound and Predator.

Michael C. Winther wrote:

Reels: Shimano Tranx
500 size is pretty much a dedicated reel double-bladed bucktails; the high-speed version with an aftermarket power handle from Jigging World is pretty much the cat’s meow.
400 size is probably my favorite reel of all time; again in high-speed it excels for crankbaits, jerkbaits, and rubber, and can handle some occasional bucktail work too. Much lighter/smaller than the 500 size it won’t stretch your wrist sideways.

For this application should I get the 400 size or the 300?