Can I use this setup for Swimbaits...and Musky?

[Fritch]

Curado 200 reel & Dobyns 735C

 

I only have a few setups at this time and just picked this up for frogs.  I'll have 50lb braid on it.  I fished a couple of large lakes in NJ for bass that also have musky.  Anything wrong with using this for larger swimbaits and for possibly hooking up on a musky? 

[jimmyjoe]

   I don't use swimbaits. Someone else here can give you that info. But as far as musky go, two of the last three I've gotten were pulled in on normal bass gear. One was a M/F spinning rod with 10 lb. 832, and the other was a MH/F casting rod with 12 lb. Big Game. No, I wasn't fishing for musky, but for some reason they wanted to come over and start a conversation, so I obliged.

   Other than the Mepps Musky Killer at 3/4 oz. and the 1oz. Dardevle, every musky I've gotten has been on bass lures, not musky or pike lures. Go figure.     jj

[Ogandrews]

Depends on how big of swimbaits your talking about. I have that exact setup with a Sierra 735c and I use 65lbs braid. I have caught a couple musky and lots of pike with some over 40”. It’s a great rod for throwing really small stuff for musky, but if you really want to fish musky than get a real musky rod. There’s a lot of options out there, I would recommend the chaos tackle assault sticks if I had to pick one. I would get the 9 ft swat telescopic which is an xh, will throw all of your regular musky baits up to 10oz no issue. 9ft sounds crazy coming from the bass world but you will understand after you throw big baits all day. The long rod also helps a huge amount when you are doing a figure 8, it helps you cover more water and not have as sharp of turns on the outside. I would pair it up with a tranx 400 and 80lbs braid, if you want to save money than the Cardiff will do fine. Get a couple single and double 8-10 buck tails, a couple bulldawgs or Medusa’s, and a prop tail top water like a top raider and you will be set. I have also caught a lot on big bass baits like 5.8-6.8 keitechs, bigger spinnerbaits, 3/4-1oz lipless, and bigger jerkbaits like husky jerk 14, just upgrade the trebles to strong ones like 3x or so.
 

if you do decide to try musky fishing with the setup you have, don’t try to catch them without the proper tools. You need some really long needle nose pliers, some heavy duty compounding hook cutters for when they really swallow the bait, a musky sized deep net to let them recover while you are unhooking, a good hook sharpener, and a solid jaw spreader. You also need a quality leader. I generally use floro between 80 and 130 lbs depending on the lure weight, but a normal steel or titanium leader works too. Don’t fish without a leader, it will end with you disappointed and a musky with a lure in its throat. Don’t go fishing without these, musky need to be treated a lot better than bass especially when the water is warm. They expend a huge amount of energy when they fight so you need to give them time to recover. Part of the reason use such heavy gear is to get them in as quick as possible and reduce the amount of stress on the fish.
 

Once you do manage to catch one, keep it out of the water as short of a time as possible. Once your ready to release it hold it in the water until it kicks off on its own, you don’t need to move it back and forth it will breath on its own. Musky are big scary fish but they are wimps when it comes to recovering after a fight. Give it time and it will kick off. If you have any questions any questions about anything regarding musky fishing than ask away, musky and pike fishing is my real passion in life bass are just a nice filler when I’m not chasing them.

[Bluebasser86]

If you're talking real swimbaits, not Keitechs and holly belly things, no. I wouldn't even attempt to fish for muskie with it. Even if you do land them, you risk having to play a large fish too long and having them die from exhaustion.

[garroyo130]

Yeah at 1.5 oz upper rating youre in for a bad time if you try to cast hudds or "real" swimbaits. Even a smaller glide like a gantarel jr is at the upper end of this rods limit. 

[Fishes in trees]

Don't know anything about the rod, can't comment on that.  I can speak to the reel, as I have a number of different models of Curados.  Should you be bass fishing and incidentally, you'd shrug your shoulders and hope for the best.  If you're intentionally fishing for muskies I think that you're just asking for it.  Those reels ain't made for that.  Calcuttas, the newer Tranx, a 300 size Curado - those reel are made to handle larger fish - that's what I'd go with.

 

[Hammer 4]

7 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

Yeah at 1.5 oz upper rating youre in for a bad time if you try to cast hudds or "real" swimbaits. Even a smaller glide like a gantarel jr is at the upper end of this rods limit. 

^^^^ This. A rod with an upper rating of 1.5 oz isn't the best option for a swimbait rod. For non treble hooked baits, like 6" hudds, a rod rated 1 to 4 or 5 oz would be much better.

[MN Fisher]

7 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

Yeah at 1.5 oz upper rating youre in for a bad time if you try to cast hudds or "real" swimbaits. Even a smaller glide like a gantarel jr is at the upper end of this rods limit. 

 

11 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

^^^^ This. A rod with an upper rating of 1.5 oz isn't the best option for a swimbait rod. For non treble hooked baits, like 6" hudds, a rod rated 1 to 4 or 5 oz would be much better.

Ya - move the 735C to be your pitch/flip/frog rod and get something like a 795SB - or other Dobyns that have SB at the end of the model number - as your swimbait rod.

[Patrickt]

On 4/12/2020 at 11:11 PM, Ogandrews said:

Depends on how big of swimbaits your talking about. I have that exact setup with a Sierra 735c and I use 65lbs braid. I have caught a couple musky and lots of pike with some over 40”. It’s a great rod for throwing really small stuff for musky, but if you really want to fish musky than get a real musky rod. There’s a lot of options out there, I would recommend the chaos tackle assault sticks if I had to pick one. I would get the 9 ft swat telescopic which is an xh, will throw all of your regular musky baits up to 10oz no issue. 9ft sounds crazy coming from the bass world but you will understand after you throw big baits all day. The long rod also helps a huge amount when you are doing a figure 8, it helps you cover more water and not have as sharp of turns on the outside. I would pair it up with a tranx 400 and 80lbs braid, if you want to save money than the Cardiff will do fine. Get a couple single and double 8-10 buck tails, a couple bulldawgs or Medusa’s, and a prop tail top water like a top raider and you will be set. I have also caught a lot on big bass baits like 5.8-6.8 keitechs, bigger spinnerbaits, 3/4-1oz lipless, and bigger jerkbaits like husky jerk 14, just upgrade the trebles to strong ones like 3x or so.
 

if you do decide to try musky fishing with the setup you have, don’t try to catch them without the proper tools. You need some really long needle nose pliers, some heavy duty compounding hook cutters for when they really swallow the bait, a musky sized deep net to let them recover while you are unhooking, a good hook sharpener, and a solid jaw spreader. You also need a quality leader. I generally use floro between 80 and 130 lbs depending on the lure weight, but a normal steel or titanium leader works too. Don’t fish without a leader, it will end with you disappointed and a musky with a lure in its throat. Don’t go fishing without these, musky need to be treated a lot better than bass especially when the water is warm. They expend a huge amount of energy when they fight so you need to give them time to recover. Part of the reason use such heavy gear is to get them in as quick as possible and reduce the amount of stress on the fish.
 

Once you do manage to catch one, keep it out of the water as short of a time as possible. Once your ready to release it hold it in the water until it kicks off on its own, you don’t need to move it back and forth it will breath on its own. Musky are big scary fish but they are wimps when it comes to recovering after a fight. Give it time and it will kick off. If you have any questions any questions about anything regarding musky fishing than ask away, musky and pike fishing is my real passion in life bass are just a nice filler when I’m not chasing them.

So I got my lexa 300 hd and threw it today on my 806 dobyns fury. I had been warned that the 806 reel,seat doesn’t hold the lexa very well and the reel can become unseated while casting. I was skeptical but I tightened the reel seat as tight as possible. About the 8th cast the reel came off during the cast. So I am going to return the dobyns and get an actual musky rod. I was thinking mojo musky rod, 8’ or 8’6” heavy (2-8 ounceS). I generally use 100 lb mono leader with 80lb main braid. I don’t anticipate throwing anything over 6 ounces. Probably not more than 4oz. I often fish solo on my 10pm pond prowler. After catching my first significant musky ( tiger in my pic)which in eastern pa is definitely a trophy in my book, I got a drifter xl net so net size should be covered. My lake is less than 200 acres and is electric only. I have all the tools I need. I lost a large musky the other week when I was bass fishing and only had 20 lb flouro leader on my jig. I didn’t realize it was a musky until I was about to net the fish and pulled it up to where I could see it. I held rod with one hand and tried to net with the other. It saw the net and went down, cutting the 20 lb flouro. Since then, I have switched all my setups to include 100 lb mono. Probably will get less bass bites but the thought of losing a shot at a big musky is too scary.
 

So now my question: would you recommend the mojo musky heavy and in which length? I won’t be throwing full size bull dawgs or medussas or anything of that nature. Not even crazy about throwing bucktail, but if I do, it will be of the babygirl size. Money is a factor. Really want to keep around $200 or less. With coupon code, I can get the mojo musky for around $210. Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[Teal]

Can't speak for musky.. but as for large swimbaits.. no maybe up to 1.5 oz.  But a darn fine frog/jig rod for bass..

[WRB]

2 things to consider, 1. The lure weight and 2. The ability to get a good kook set.

1.) The weight is simple, it should be nominal within the rod lures ratings.

2.) Hook set depends on lots of factors. Size and texture of the lure and the hook wire diameter, sharpness. 

The cast the lure and the lure needs to be within the rod ratings.

Musky, unlike bass, have big sharp teeth. Using soft plastic swimbaits the teeth sink into the lure and moving it enough to get a hook set is difficult. Using large size hard swimbaits with treble hooks moving the lure isn't easy.

Musky strikes the lure, holds onto to it then opens the mouth and rejects the lure because you can't get a hook set because the rod is under powered.

If you do get a hook set it's up to your fish fighting skills to land to the fish.

Tom