big game fish, say Muskie, Pike, etc, with a heavy rod and an Abu Garcia 5600CB,

some casting, some trolling, am I better off with say 50# braid or should I use heavy mono?

Do I need the "give" in mono to take up the shock?  I might also use this set up for heavier

lures for big bass, like the Storm kickin' minnow or other 1ounce+ lures.

Use braid as main line and a leader of heavy fluoro or heavy nylon.

50 lb. Braid will do the trick. Use a wire leader. Some guys use heavy (40 lb+ Flouro) expensive and I don't trust it as much as I do wire. Muskies and Pike are not leader shy so why risk losing a fish with a lure in its mouth. A superb gamefish will probably die and you lose an expensive lure.

big game fish, say Muskie, Pike, etc, with a heavy rod and an Abu Garcia 5600CB,

some casting, some trolling, am I better off with say 50# braid or should I use heavy mono?

Do I need the "give" in mono to take up the shock? I might also use this set up for heavier

lures for big bass, like the Storm kickin' minnow or other 1ounce+ lures.

Those are some big gamefish, and 50# braid would be fine (as long as you use the steel leader others have mentioned). Now for BIG gamefish (flathead and blue catfish) braid is extremely common. And if you don't think catfish fight a lot, try it with a 50#+ flathead. Getting him to the boat the first time is a chore, then it's a real fight.

BTW: Shark fishermen often use braid as well. And you can imagine the steel leaders they use.

That's exactly what I have on my two muskie rods; 50lb braid. I tried 30, and it's too thin. It digs into itself too much with a 50 incher on the the other end of the line. If you can find it, Tygerwire is great leader material. It's wire you can tie a knot with. I use about 2 feet of leader for all my muskie fishing. Those pre-made 12" leaders are too short.

And, flourocarbon does NOT work for leaders for muskie. The only time I tried it, the first fish I caught bit through it about 15 seconds into the fight. It swam away with an $18 bait stuck in it's maw. I had on about 18" of leader, and had about 6" left after he bit it off. I learned my lesson.

Cheers,

GK

I know what you mean about them biting off leaders.  I was at the river the other morning, actually fishing

for LM bass among the laydowns etc and had a sluggo on a mono leader. I tie swivels to the main line and then make mono leaders so the plastic doesn't twist, also makes for quick changes. Anyway, bait starts

moving sideways, I set the hook and all I had left was 6" of empty mono.  Bitten off clean. I switched to a white spinner and got a nice northern.  He managed to mangle a brand new spinner though.  I had braid on that rod and had no trouble getting him to the bank.  

I've got 80 lb. Spiderwire stealth on my muskie rods.  Most the guys around here, guys who fish some big muskie tournaments, guys who only fish muskies, have gone to heavy (60-100lb) mono and flouro leaders.  I've never had one bite me off on one of these yet...  

On my muskie set ups I use 80 lb. tuf-line xp and stealth tackle 130lb. test fluorcarbon leaders. I haven't has nor heard of one failure with the stealth tackle laders. If you don't feel comfoatable with 130lb he also makes 180 lb.. I would suggest stepping up to 65lb. test superbraid at least though. Hope that helps.