Back in 2007 there was an article in Outdoor Life titled ‘The Toughest Fish on Earth’.

You can find this article here: [www.outdoorlife.com]

This article ranked the toughest fighting fish in the world on a scale of 1 to 10.

At the top of the rankings were -

Tuna - 10
Marlin - 9.7
Tarpon - 9.5
Sturgeon - 9.5
Amberjack - 9.3
Niugini Bass - 9.2
Pirarucu - 9.0
Piraiba - 9.0
Giant Trevally - 8.9

Further down the rankings were -

King Salmon – 7.4
Striped Bass – 5.9
Muskie – 3.7
Smallmouth Bass – 1.6

When you start comparing the equipment used to hunt for all these fish, the average muskie fisherman seems to be so ‘over gunned’ as to defy logic.

60 pound tarpon are regularly caught using 3500 class reels and 20 lb mono with 7-1/2 foot MH 15-30 lb rods (often 3 piece).

Yet I’ve repeatedly been told by successful muskie hunters (i.e. many documented muskies of 40 + lb & 50 + inches) that I need to use 50 to 80 lb braid, a 5500 class reel and a 7 foot 1 piece rod that could haul in a good sized SUV to hunt these elusive toothy critters.

I don’t want to build rods that would end up being so underpowered that they would be inhumane to use, but I would call all the muskie rods I saw being used on the St. John River in Maine ‘broomsticks’ which had little to no casting/fishing ‘feel’ whatsoever. But I bet they all could set a hook in a concrete block!

If a 60 lb Tarpon is really that much ‘tougher’ than a 60 lb muskie, do I really need rods, reels and lines capable of taking Tuna to fish for muskie?

I assume that I am not seeing/understanding something in all of this. What might this be?

It's all very subjective. It also has to do with how you fish for them and where. While I can't imagine using more than 6 or maybe 8lb line to fish for bass (or even 20lb stripers) other guys I know feel they can't do the job without using 20+ pound braid. Of course, we fight the fish differently and sometimes fish in different places for them.

While I'd be the first to agree that many anglers do over-line for the fish and fishing they do, I think there's a lot more to line size and type than just the fish and typical size you expect to encounter.

..............

I suggest you go with the size the fish can attain rather than the species. The above list of "toughest fighting fish" certainly goes by size: (world record weight in pounds in parentheses):
bluefin tuna (1,496), black marlin (1,560), tarpon 286), king salmon (97), striped bass (81), Muskie (58), smallmouth bass (12) Conditions count too. You might land a 100 pound tuna on #20 line in open water, but you have little chance of pulling a 25 pound grouper out of a rocky reef on #20 line.
As for "toughness," I would put a 12 pound smallmouth bass up against a 12 pound member of those other species.

My kind of topic:)

Any discussion of line class/weight of fish caught has to factor in where and how the fish was caught as well as the species. Tarpon was mentioned and I can say I have fished for them in waters that range from brackish water canals to mangrove swamps to cuts/open ocean to the flats. You are kidding yourself if you think the same tackle is right for all locations.

In my area, we are blessed with moderate sized pelagic fish that fight in the top of the water column. As a result I can get away with much lighter line. If these very same fish would simply sound (dive deep) the game would be over. instead they run sideways, putting on an aerial show and failing to conserve energy. As long as you don't panic, have a good drag with lots of line, and a skilled boat handler, you can land some amazing fish on very light line classes.

Then you have the opposite, fish that are so structure orientated that you can't afford to let them take an inch of line once they get hooked up. The best you can do is hope to entice them at least a few feet from home before they inhale your offering. Even then you are feeling lucky to have landed a fish who's weight equals the line class of the tackle used.

So IMHO, the line and rod needed has less to do with the size of the fish than where and how you will catch this particular fish. Species is certainly a factor but I think conditions can often be a larger factor. Little point in me taking exception with that list. It is what it is and we all have opinions.

I have never caught a muskie but I do own a muskie rod. My impression is that it has a very strong tip and is a very stiff rod, but it isn't powerful relative to its rating. What I mean is that the 30-80# rated muskie rod I have isn't something I'd dream of thinking I could dead lift even the middle of its rating. On the other hand I have plently of other rods I wouldn't hesitate to dead lift at the top of their ratings.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Steve,
I agree with Russ completely on this one. If the first move by the fish is for close cover you are in for a long unejoyable fight or a short empty struggle . The fish dictates terms in congested fishing conditions.

Gene

To "play" a muskie may result in its death. They don't handle stress very well.

As a Canadian musky hunter I would like to add these thoughts...
Twenty pound braid has the diameter of about 6 - 8 pound mono. In most cases you should chose braid by the diameter that your reel handles best. As a rule of thumb start with the diameter that one would normally use in mono. Think of the added line strength and reduced line twist etc. as a bonus.
I'm not sure what reels you are comparing, but a 5500 Abu C series reel is only 2 inches wide it's nominally a bass reel but it's often used by beginning musky guys.
You can land many musky using MH bass tackle and 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits however you need heavy rods and line to handle large baits, like Sledges etc.
Before braid most guys that I know used 20 pound mono or 35 pound dacron line, but braid has no stretch and any bait weighing over one ounce will snap 50 or 65 pound braid in-the-air if you throw a back-lash. Most guys I know use 80 pound braid, with has the diameter of 18 to 20 pound mono, for musky.
My favourite musky rods were G.Loomis and a St. Croix 7ft. 1 to 3 or 4 ounce rods, which would cast bucktails and large baits very nicely.
Most heavier musky rods are made to troll super-size baits, not to cast with.