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Fish with what you are "comfortable" and most "confident" with, there is no shame in the spinning gear. I agree with (Relic) and that the fish should be brought in as quickly as possible, and that heavier gear should be in order . Could it be possible that you were reeling with the wrong hand? I know that there are other's like myself that have to switch hand's after casting. With spinning gear I reel with my left hand, but with baitcasting gear I reel with my right . I also think that with a shorter rod and a low profile baitcaster for muskie, you would do so much better and get far less fatigued. Women obviously have smaller hand's and would make it harder to grip a round reel. Keep in mind also that you have to match the rod to the lures that you throw .
Wolfe: There is lots of spinning setups for musky. You can use your regular bass stuff, but spooled up with 30 lb power pro and the drags pretty much cranked down if you are throwing bass sized bait, or if you are using more traditional sized musky bait, you can go with a heavier rod and a 4000 size reel, spooled with 50 or 65 lb braid. Shimano and St Croix to name a couple make musky spinning rods.
One issue I came across while having Birdee do some casting was having her baits rolling over the line constantly....and the bait comes in upside down every cast.....simply put.....with a spincast....once you launch it....it lands alot more erratically then with baitcaster because you can "thumb" the spool to straighten your bait out as it hits the water...
When using bucktails....on every cast....I thumb the spool to stop it....and and start reeling before the bait has even hit the water.....so when it does...the blade is already turning.....which I have seen really pay off on fish that strike right away....
What I'd suggest.....is going with a Abu 5500 reel or something similar.....and a one piece 6 to 6.6" rod.....once you spend a few hours with it....you'll love it....eventually
honestly i couldnt hit the water without both baitcasting and spinning gear....but specificly for muskies i prefer the baitcasting gear, faster, stronger, and depending on how big gear you get, you can have just as much finesse.
I've landed numbers of 20lb plus fish on my 6'6 medium action bait caster. Plus, you want to be able to get these fish in quick for a photo and easy release...
RJ has it right. Get yourself a 5500 on a medium bucktail rod and you should be comfortable with that. To eliminate the fatigue you could also get a larger cranking handle. It really is best to go with the heavier tackle to get them in quick as they stress out big time. They may swim away after a 30 or 45 minute fight on light tackle, but succumb to the effort and become floaters later on.
Good luck on your search. Maybe you need to work out on weights and bulk up over the winter to get ready for next years muskie season LOL.
I figure catching musky is like a marathon, you have to pace yourself and be able to put in a lot of hours.
I use Abu 6500 on good MH casting rods when i am casting. I use both left and right hand retrieve reels - (which takes a little practice ) but when your out throwin bates all day it allows you too rest the muscles and keep fishing. A good quality rod with a 50 - 60lb braid is not much heavier than a bass or pike set up. I also switch up baits from bucktails to a jerk or glider bait, these will catch fish and are lighter to work through the water. I go to heavier rod and line when trolling but would not pick it up to chuck a bait.
Further to other comments above, you can catch them on lighter gear but a long fight will exhaust and kill the fish and / or allow break offs and leave a musky with your bait in its chommpers.
Have to agree with Lunker Larry. For myself I got the ABU6500 with the StCroixLMH 7'. It's great for trolling but you feel it after casting for an hour or 2. For my wife I got the 5500 with the Mitchel Endeavour 7'. Its heavy enough for a muskie, a little light for trolling heavy lures or casting the big wood types but you can cast it all day with spinnerbaits and smaller lures. In fact, I get greater distance with this rod than mine for top-raider type lures. I use it as a second rod when she's not in the boat.
I got hooked on Muskie last year and usually fish with a bait caster. I was bringing out buddies who never used a baitcaster so I rigged up a spinning outfit so they could come out and give it a try. I had a huge Diawa salt water spinning real that I bought a few years back and I matched it up with a big glass surf casting spinning rod from LeBaron. The end result was pretty big rig but it works pretty good. I put 25 LB test Big Game on it and it casts decent. It doesn't backlash like a bait caster but makes a lot of line noise when casting big baits.
All the Muskie with the exception of the last one were all taken with a spinning reel, I might add that 2 were taken with a 10.5 Noodle Rod and spinning reel...a no ,no so I've be told...this is the first year I have had a Muskie Rod, the last fish I caught, , the rod was so stiff there was no fight...for you guys that Fish Quinte..this 36 inch muskie came in like a 5 LBS walleye in late November , I would fish with what you are comfortable with.
As anyone who has fished with me my favourite expression when it come to spinning rods and reels is "F&$%^&bg" spinning reels. I hate using them but keep them in the boat for those who do not know how to use a baitcaster.
YET.. My favourite musky outfit is a spinning reel (Quantum blue runner 50) and a Berkley canadian specialist mH 7 foot rod. go figure
Use what you feel comfortable with and forget about what any elitist snob might say about what you use to catch muskies
. Could it be possible that you were reeling with the wrong hand? I know that there are other's like myself that have to switch hand's after casting. With spinning gear I reel with my left hand, but with baitcasting gear I reel with my right 
. I also think that with a shorter rod and a low profile baitcaster for muskie, you would do so much better and get far less fatigued. Women obviously have smaller hand's and would make it harder to grip a round reel. Keep in mind also that you have to match the rod to the lures that you throw 
