Trouble with Muskies

[tubbyama]

I lost a big one today. 8/10 times when I get a Musky strike it's close to the boat at the end of my stripping retrieve. At this point I have 70-80 feet of line on the deck of the boat. Unlike most saltwater fish, musky dont really run that far, they seem to just kinda hang around the boat when hooked and thus the line never gets pulled far enough out which causes me to spend a very long time cranking the reel to get the line on it. It takes too long, giving the fish too many chances to spit the hook. With trout I always hand strip the fish in when landing them and never bother to get the fish on the reel, its just feels awkward handstripping a 40 inch fish. Any tips?
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