Ogandrews

This has become my number 1 trailer in both sizes as well as the xzone swammer. I still use keitechs for lighter jigs but they don’t have enough roll for the 1/2 and 3/4’s

I have had a lot of my musky friends have the same experience as I have with the blue handled models. Burning Double 10 buck tails and ripping pounders/ monster dusa’s put a whole lot more stress on a reel than swimbaits do. It’s weird that those reels are known in the musky world to be notoriously flakey, mine got really grindy around the 3 month mark. I’m going to try the new one since I’ve got a pounder rod without a tranx on it.

Dredgers are awesome baits. Less resistance and a smaller package than most other baits that fish in that depth zone. People on this forum always laugh at me for saying this but if you want to really make deep cranking easy then get a tranx 300 5.8.1. The low ratio combined with the larger spool makes a deep crank feel like a little squarebill. If you really want to do it right than get a power handle from a high gear tranx to replace the paddle handles and you’ll have no issue if you want to continue deep cranking. Such a smooth and powerful reel as well, there are other reels that size on the market, I’ve owned almost all of them and just do yourself a favor and get the tranx. Like everyone else has said though there are a lot of other techniques out there, a swimbait on a heavier head is super easy to fish and a lot of the time will get a bigger bite than a crank bait will.

I don’t bend hooks out regularly, the issue is light wire hooks will get trashed when your unhooking the fish. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve netted a fish, had it thrashing around and had it snap multiple points off of the hook because it gets caught in the net or it’s just in there that hard. Whenever I’m fishing a jerkbait I will use a braided titanium leader, waaaaay thinner than steel and as supple as regular braid so it doesn’t take away from the action of the bait at all. I do use floaters a lot as well, when I’m using “suspending” baits I’m really not concerned with them actually suspending or not I just don’t want the heavy weight of the hooks taking away from the action. Heavy wire hooks have hurt the action more on floaters than with suspending baits in my experience.

Majority of the time I’m using a 1/8 th with a straight tail worm like a strike king fat baby finesse. If it’s windy I’ll step up to a 3/16 sometimes but usually even in wind a 1/8th is good to keep contact. I will throw a 3/16 with a smaller creature bait like a rage bug, rage menace, z craw or a small zoom lizard. I see a shakey head as a finesse bait, a lighter weight is a more natural presentation that I have more confidence in.

I’ll be interested to see how you like the new lexa wn. I had one of the older blue ones and it felt like a can opener after a couple months.

So fall trophy pike fishing is coming up right around the corner around here. One of my top techniques for triggering big pike is fishing jerkbaits super erratic. I catch a lot of big pike doing this but I always have an issue finding the right hooks to put on them. I have tried using 3x and 4x owners and although they are super sharp and strong they will make the baits sink quite quickly. I have also tried traditional lighter wire hooks from various companies that most bass guys would put on a jerkbait, and although they help keep the correct buoyancy and I can land fish with light drag on them, they are almost always trashed after one fish because of how hard pike fight, how bony their mouths are and how much they thrash in the net. What I am looking for is something that is heavy wire enough to stand up to at least a couple fish, but still light enough to not sink the bait too quickly as to kill the action. Doesn’t have to suspend perfectly as I’m usually fishing them with only a 1-2 second pause. I’m going to try some owner st 41’s which are 2x and then probably some 1x short shank triple grips, any other recommendations? I throw x raps, shadow raps, origonal floaters, kvd jerkbaits, jackal rerange, and others, generally try to stick with less expensive baits as they usually only last a couple fish at best before their destroyed.

Here’s a 47” I caught this May while throwing a jerkbait for walleye. If you spend enough time with a bait in the water on a lake that has them your probably going to catch one, you just really up your odds by actually targeting them with the proper gear and techniques. It’s just like catching a bass while crappie fishing, if the fish is around and there’s an easy meal in front of it there’s a chance it’s gonna bite. On the opposite end of the spectrum you would be amazed how often I catch bass on real musky lures. The 2 first largemouth over 5lbs I ever caught we’re both while musky fishing, one was on a 9” weighted suick jerkbait and the other was on a pounder bulldog which is about 20” long and like the name says weighs about a pound. That fish had the head and about half the bull dawg down it’s throat, definitely wanted to kill it.

I hope I’m wrong and it feels just like the tranx 300. Really odd why they would make it a lower gear ratio than the low gear 300 which already feels like a winch. The high gear is so much more versatile, if i was strictly using the reel for bass fishing I can’t think of a situation when swim baiting where the 5.8 is better than the 7. Really doesn’t matter how big the swimbait is, there isn’t a whole lot of resistance in the water so I don’t see the point of a 4.X. In a much larger reel like the tranx 500 a 4.8 ratio still gets you 30 inches per crank so it picks up line but will pull the highest resistance baits, like double bladed musky spinners for example, with very little effort and still keep the bait moving fast. With a smaller 300 sized reel your going to probably be in the low 20’s for inches per crank with a 4.x which is way too little for how I like to fight fish. If the have an option for a higher ratio one like a tranx hg I hope the keep the power handle on the curado, it is such a nice feature for fighting hard fighting fish. The other thing I am a little bit hesitant about is how much lighter the curado version is. Part of the hesitation is that if your buying a 300 reel your probably putting it on a swimbait rod or some other sort of big rod for big fish. Most of these rods are designed to balance with big heavy all metal reels like a tranx or Calcutta, I know my loomis swimbait rod with a tranx 300 balances perfectly but with a reel that’s 30g less I bet it would feel tip heavy. The other thing I would be worried about is the curado vs tranx being similar to the Daiwa lexa wn vs Lexa HD. The lexa HD is a great big bait reel, super solid tough well built ect. The lexa wn on paper looks like the same reel just a bit lighter with some slight differences. I have owned both and there is a very big difference in reality. While I didn’t like the HD as much as a tranx it was still an awesome reel and felt great after a season of heavy musky fishing. The WN on the other hand felt like I was fishing with a can opener after a couple months of throwing double 8’s and 10’s. Now granted musky fishing is a lot harder on reels than bass fishing is, but I really hope that it isn’t the same situation with the curado as it was with the lexa wn.

well I picked up two new setups yesterday. I was really hoping to get out on the water this weekend but being on call I ended up working all day. Managed to get an hour off in-between calls and went to my local scheels. Both are g loomis IMX pros, one is a 892 7’5” M XF and the other 853 7’1” MH XF. IMX pros are slowly starting to take over my rod arsenal, really a big fan of how solid and powerful they feel while still being sensitive and light. 892 is going to be mostly used for shaky heads, 3-4” swimbaits on light wire hooks, rage menace/chigger craw on a ball head for river smallies, anything finesse really. The 853 is going to be an all around finesse to mid sized jig rod, jerkbaits for pike with heavier wire trebles, and whatever else in that normal wire hook category. Both are paired with a curado DC, 892 has 30lbs maxcuatro and the 853 has 40lbs. Don’t mind the mess on my boat, since coming home from a week long trip up north it has become a work bench in my garage. I’ve had 9 different plumbing calls since I got “done” with work on Friday night, if I’m going to have to work all weekend at least I have something cool to look forward to playing with when I get home. At least that’s what the monkey told me, feels like he’s getting stronger every week.

It’s not the same reel. There mechanically are differences with the bigger tranx but just pick up a 300 400 or 500, make a cast and engage the spool and you will feel the difference. I own 5 different tranx of various sizes as well as 7 curados and DC’s, and all of my tranx 3 and 4’s are smoother then any of the curados

Based on weight and price difference I would assume there will be similar differences to the 200k and the 200 tranx. The curado is a solid reel but I have never felt a reel that has the same feeling of a tranx. I have owned lexas, toro beasts, Calcutta D B and TE, and okuma Komodos and nothing has as solid and smooth of a feel as a tranx especially the 500. I know feel isn’t a specific feature, but it is one of the most important things about a reel in my opinion.

G loomis is slowly replacing everything else I own as well as Shimano exprides, but I still really love some of my dobyns and st croix rods. Musky rods st croix is the top of the line but essox assault makes some incredible rods as well.

Why is everyone so butthurt about a letter? So what it has a K on it, it has significant upgrades to an already great reel so it’s going to be a winner. I’ll definitely be buying one for a expride 6’10” m f

Idk I don’t really see the point, the tranx is such an outstanding reel that if you need something that size I don’t really see the point of getting anything else. I guess it is cheaper, but I’d definitely pay the extra $80 for a reel that can tow a truck out of the ditch and do it smoother than 90% of baitcasters on the market.

I’ve used it to release deep water walleyes and it worked great. Like others have said I wouldn’t worry until 30-35+ fow. It’s crazy how some fish like lake trout you can pull out of 100 or way more FOW and they shoot off the second you put them in the water with no real issue.

I’m in Minnesota and the heat is changing my waters for sure but not in a bad way. I’m not sure why but I am getting way less bites but only good ones. My last two trips out to local waters I have only gotten 2-8 fish each time but haven’t caught one smaller than 4lbs either trip with the biggest being a 7.2. Everything has been either on a teckel sprinker or a 1/2 oz dirty jigs no jack swim jig. This water is normally a low density big fish fishery but this is out of the norm even for here to not get anything smaller than 4. Everything has been on outside weed edges in 6-8 fow.

Dirty jigs no jack flipping jig, can’t tell you how many brands I have used including sieberts and the DJ is by far the best. If you want a 3/4+ oz jig for really heavy grass than you can get the punching jig, even better for grass.

In general I will mark out where the outer and inner edge is with side imaging and make a waypoint map for myself to fish. Main lures are a heavy wire swim jig, Texas rigged dropshot on heavier line and a baitcaster, Texas rigged weightless senko of course, frog of course, rat or wake bait on the outside, punch rig on the fringes and any sparse spots in the weeds. In my fisheries there are usually much bigger predators than bass so most will be on the inner edge. I will very consistently find the biggest fish in that weed patch in the open water right outside of the outer edge, I think that this is because they aren’t as likely to get eaten by a pike or musky once they get past 4-5lbs although they easily still could be by a big one. Don’t overlook the open water near it, especially on a point or turn in the weed bed.

With those temps that should be pretty much the most active the fish will be all year. Lake wise they could be anywhere but in July I generally will focus more on weeds especially on sunny days, cloudy windy days I’ll focus more on wind blown rocks. River wise it’s really not super complicated. You can almost pretend that your fishing for smallies when you are looking for where they will be. Bases of riffles and rapids, current breaks, front and back of pools, medium speed runs with consistent couple foot depths, dams.

Do not fish for them until the water gets back down into the mid 70’s. I was just up on lake vermilion for a week which is way farther north than anywhere in Wisconsin and it was still 80-83. Your going to be killing fish most likely if you catch one, stick to bass. If you really want to do it, try to find a smaller faster river. Generally temps will be cooler and there will be more oxygen in the water.

I target Musky more than I do bass when the season is open. When the fish aren’t in the feeding mood I will use a lot of smaller “bass” style baits. My top baits for this would be a 5.8-6.8 keitech, jerkbaits like a husky jerk 14, bigger kvd, jointed floating rap, 3/4 oz lipless, whopper plopper 130, bigger walking baits, heavy wire swim jigs, and bass sized spinnerbaits. Musky mostly feed in windows, so when they want to feed they are going to eat whatever is in front of them. When they are less active a smaller bait can trigger them, but so can fishing ultra fast with a buck tail or really big plastic. If you are going to target musky, make sure you have quality leaders. For bass sized hard baits I will use 30lbs braided titanium, and for others I will use 80lbs floro. For real musky lures I use strictly 130lbs floro. If you are planning on targeting them, don’t do it without a set of compounding hook cutters, long nose pliers, a net big enough for a trophy musky to sit in and recover after the fight, and a good hook sharpener. Musky need a lot more recovery after a fight than a bass does, keep the time out of the water to a minimum and don’t let go of them until they are kicking off. I have 2 setups for downsized musky lures. One is a 7’1” MH mojo bass spinning rod with 20lbs braid for jerkbaits, and then a 8’ g loomis H swimbait rod with 80lbs braid and a tranx 300 for everything else. if you really want to target musky, get a real musky setup. It is best for the fish to fight them on as heavy of gear as possible and keep the time you are fighting them to a minimum.

Somewhat on topic here, I just looked at what zman released and I’m really excited about the new chatterbaits their releasing, especially the willow one. I’ve been looking for a finesse chatterbait for a long time and hopefully this is what I’m looking for.

I was looking at some of the new releases for this year and I saw that missile baits was putting out a new “ned” head called the nedball. It is literally a ball head jig with a different looking hook on it. It’s honestly pretty funny how a company can release a ball head jig, put the word ned on it, and call it innovative. I love missile baits and use a bunch of their stuff, but this really gave me a good laugh. I can guarantee that they will sell a bunch of them too with how much hype there still is around the ned.

To keep it simple I use soft ones like a keitech when I am fishing just the swimbait on a jig head or a swimbait hook, and then I will go to a harder body when I am using it as a swimjig, spinnerbait, or buzzbait trailer. Generally the harder plastic will have more body roll than a really soft one which will be more so exaggerated tail kick. Hollow body’s are a category of their own but I’m general they have even more action than either other kind. softer swimbaits- keitech swimbait impact, fat swing impact, and easy shiner are the only ones I use harder- xzone swammer, River2sea d walker, rage swimmer right now the only hollow body I use are the true bass swimbaits in various sizes, they have an incredible action much different that a keitech.