Hey there Snidley, Usually with bucktails, since they are relatively light, you need a longer flexible rod to cast them far and accurately. With bucktails, usually we just reel them in hard and once in a while give it a sudden pull. On the other hand, if you are imparting any sort of jerking action ...

Glad to see another musky fisherman. In terms of rods, every guy I know uses St.Croix musky rods. They are light but strong and easily impart good action on your jerkbaits. I have a 6' for jerkbaits which is excellent. And a 7' two piece for bucktails. If you travel a lot or have a small car, then g...

Thanks murphy. Nice pic of your reels. You are right on the money. I went to some shops with my steelhead rod and after putting on different sized reels, I found only the 2500 balanced out the rod. A lot of guys recommended the 2000 Daiwa size for walleye jigging in the summer and steelhead/salmon f...

I need a light spinning reel for river trout and lake walleye. What size and models were you guys suggest? Also, saw this question on another forum, what are the advantages of the 1500 size if it's weighs the same as a 2000 size?

Well said RedRiverRat. My Cap 2500 and 3500 have brought in everything including 30lb muskies without any problems. Both have become much smoother with time and the drags are flawless. I highly recommend them. Low gear ratios are great for power esp bringing fish up from the deep and high gear ratio...

Thanks Hammer, My pocket digital Canon has been great for everything from still shots to videos. But I sacrificed zoom for portability and I lost. I've got great videos of some of the fish I've caught but I'll probably never see something like that again. Ah well, by the time I get out there again, ...

Yeah. Actually I was using one with my left hand and long nose pliers with my right. But even with the lip gripper, the force of a head shaking musky, is able to move your arm and toss around the lure. Kinda like a cowbow holding onto a bucking horse. You can hold on but you're still be shaken aroun...

The pic doesn't look that bad. But you can see the point of the hook stretching the skin on the other side. It was worse in person, though. One of my friends was grossed out when I asked him to help me pull the entry wound open so I could work the barb out. Didn't work. It's healing up well, no infe...

Thanks. I already sent the pics to JIP for posting. Even the "nicest" one of my hand. I cleaned off the blood for the pic and the bruising was just starting to get deep purple but it didn't come out. Sometimes, you gotta pay for what you catch. Who said fishing is NOT a dangerous sport?! :wink:

It's been good month in Canada for fishing. Had to go to Vancouver, British Columbia, for some business and managed to get out on the water for some white sturgeon fishing. I've always wanted to catch sturgeon esp after seeing Zander and JIP's catches in San Pablo Bay. So I heard that B.C. and Russi...

I just came back from trying out my Daiwa CVZ, upgraded from the stock drag washers to Penn HT-100's. I even got to try it while fighting a fiesty musky. What an awesome upgrade!! Significant increase in drag power, cranking and jerking even 4oz lures has become almost too easy, and hooksetting on a...

I've used each of these reels, the Calcutta CT, Calcutta TE, CVZ Millionaire, and Penn 975 and compared them directly. And I find that the CVZ beats the Calcutta CT hands down in drag, distance, technology, materials, etc. Although the Calcutta TE has better materials (plus higher cost), I found the...

Hi,

After my recent experience with some 5ft white sturgeon and musky, I'm interested in replacing all my Daiwa CVZ 253 drag washers to HT100's. I know the HT100 are a little thicker than the OEM washers so do I leave one of the metal washers out?

If I knew these things lived in the lakes I swam in as a kid, I would never have swam in them. It's funny when you catch a ferocious musky in front of a cottage and the family is just shocked. This was posted today on another forum. This appeared on the Aol home page today, I thought some of you may...

Thanks sdesign. I appreciate it. I would've liked to use the japanese model with cork handles and more bb's but I was using the American model. Heard that some BPS locations were selling the Japanese CVZ for like $60 on clearance....an obvious mis-pricing.