by Tylisa Schadams

Created on: August 01, 2009

Catching Muskies, the fish dubbed commonly as the fish of a thousand casts is both a daunting task and the goal of many fresh water anglers to catch. Of course luck plays a factor; you could make one cast or ten thousand casts to catch one of these rare specimens. But if you want to improve your odds of landing a Musky, then you need to know the proper gear, water, weather, and time of year to optimize your chances and success rate.

Before you even consider beginning your pursuit of the Musky, you must first properly equip yourself to battle with these fish. Muskies are a very powerful fish with well-over a hundred teeth in their mouths. They've been known to attack small animals and even the unsuspecting angler, so you'll need heavy-duty equipment to handle them. You should first invest in a graphite casting rod. A spinning rod may also work, but generally a casting rod is better for handling the power-dives Muskies make. The length of this rod should be around seven feet long and be sturdy enough to be able to easily cast your lures but with a light enough tip to easily hook and battle fish. You should look for a rod that has a lure weight from 1-3 oz. or 2-4 oz. and a line weight of 20-40 lb. or 30-40 lb. An excellent rod to consider purchasing is a Shimano Compre; it'll fit all of these standards and is extremely durable. These rods range in price from $100-120, but come with a life-time warranty.

After you've purchased a rod next you'll need a reel and line. You need a casting reel to match a casting rod. The best bang-for-your buck, because you'll find yourself spending a lot of money is the Abu Garcia 5500 C3 reel. These reels are offered in either left-handed or right-handed models. This reel retails from $70-80, but are easy to find used. For line, you should use a super braid line not mono. Monofilament is excellent backing on your reel, but should not be used as your main line. Fill your reel up with about fifty yards of monofilament then tie your super braided line to the monofilament and spool up the reel. The best line for Muskies is Power Pro 80 lb. test. This line is the diameter of 18 lb. test monofilament and is almost impossible to break. This line is offered in a wide-variety of colors, but I'd recommend Moss Green. You can spool up one reel with a 150 yard box of Power Pro for under $20.

Now that you have your rod and reel, you'll need wire leaders and lures. Muskies usually roll up in the line during a battle and their extremely sharp

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