Posted: 5/16/2012 12:56:27 PM EDT
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Like the title suggests, what's a bait casting setup for someone who hasnt done bait casting before that won't make me want to quit bait casting forever? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| Go ahead and spend the money for a quality baitcaster......If you don't, you'll quit after 30 minutes. For the rod, it depends on what you'll be fishing for. A local outdoors store can help with your selection. After that adjust the brake and the drag, and always remember to use your thumb to slow the spool BEFORE the lure hits the water. |
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Quoted:
Buy 1,000 yards of CHEAP line to learn how to use it. Go out in the backyard with a 3/8 oz weight and practice casting for about an hour with your CHEAP LINE before you tie on any lures and go fishing. I like this idea. I've got a 300 yard field just up the street from me. I should have plenty of room to practice there! |
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Shimano Curado is the best priced quality reel on the market in my opinion. It will hold up on fresh and saltwater. They can be found for around 150-160$ but it is a reel that will outlast your lifetime.
As far as a rod, TFO(temple fork outfitters) are around $100. This is Gary Loomis's new company he started after he sold G Loomis. I have G Loomis and TFO rods and love them both, of course the G Loomis runs in the 200+ range and TFO is half that price. I promise you will not be disappointed, of course it all depends on how much you want to spend. Once you get a decent setup and are ready to start bird nesting it up, come back on here and I will show you a trick that I wish I knew when I started out. It will save you on frustration and cutting all the line off your reel when you make a badcast into some wind. |
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Quoted:
Shimano Curado is the best priced quality reel on the market in my opinion. It will hold up on fresh and saltwater. They can be found for around 150-160$ but it is a reel that will outlast your lifetime. As far as a rod, TFO(temple fork outfitters) are around $100. This is Gary Loomis's new company he started after he sold G Loomis. I have G Loomis and TFO rods and love them both, of course the G Loomis runs in the 200+ range and TFO is half that price. I promise you will not be disappointed, of course it all depends on how much you want to spend. Once you get a decent setup and are ready to start bird nesting it up, come back on here and I will show you a trick that I wish I knew when I started out. It will save you on frustration and cutting all the line off your reel when you make a badcast into some wind. North Fork Composites is the name of Gary Loomis' new company, not Temple Fork Outfitters. Gary Loomis does have a line of TFO rods with his name on them, but he doesn't own the company nor did he start it. |
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Like it was already said, buy a good reel. Curados are hard to beat, I've owned 4 of them for almost 15 years and they've never failed me. I use 6 1/2 foot medium heavy and 7 foot medium heavy rods for almost every kind of fishing I do.
It's easy to get frustrated when first learning to cast. When starting out use a heavy weight and turn the tension up on the reel spool. A good rule of thumb when starting out is to tighten the tension knob so the weight does not move when the spool is released, back the tension knob off until the weight will pull line off. Adjust the tension until the weight will pull line off and hit the ground but the spool stops fast enough to prevent the line from over running. If you end up with a Shimano turn at lease 4 of the brake weights on. As you get better drop back to 3 and then eventually 2. As you get more comfortable turn the tension down ad start reducing the weight on the line. You'll never be 100% back lash free, if you use a bait caster you will back lash it from time to time. |
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Is it possible to get into casting reels for less than $150, that aren't awful? Yes. Check out the Lew's speed spool. I've got two. One is teamed up with a Shimano Convergence rod that I use for spinnerbaits and swim jigs.The other is sitting on old All Star rod that I use for swimbaits. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lews_Speed_Spool_Casting_Reel/descpage-LSP.html |
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Do you have Academy Sporting goods stores in your area?
If so....I'm 35 year old and have been throwing a baitcast reel since I was 4 or 5 years old. Up until the last 5 or so years I always bought Shimano reels. I still have several Curados and Citicas, but I take a lot of people fishing with me and after the last one of my good setups ended up at the bottom of the lake I started buying the H20 Mettle reels and All-Star rods at Academy. The reels usually run $49 and the rods are $50+/-. Every summer they run the Mettle reels for $24.99 and the All-Star rods for $24.99, so what was a $100.00 set up can be had for $50.00. Three years ago when they were running this sale I bought 8 reels and 8 7ft heavy action rods for $400.00. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that these reels are Shimano quality, but I've yet have any trouble with any of them. I spool up 150-175 yards of 12lb Power Pro on the reels and can cast a 1/2oz crankbait 70-80 yards. I took 3 of these reels to Lake El Salto in Mexico for a three day guided trip and caught 250+ fish (4lb-12lb) between the 3 reels. They handled everything that latched on. |
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Alright, how about this setup:
Abu Garcia REVO STX Casting Reel 7.1:1 St. Croix Mojo Bass MBC70MHF Will this give me a nice all-around baitcasting setup? |
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Alright, how about this setup: Abu Garcia REVO STX Casting Reel 7.1:1 St. Croix Mojo Bass MBC70MHF Will this give me a nice all-around baitcasting setup? I have that same reel and love it. I don't have that rod, but several of my friends do and they swear by them. That should make a very sound setup. |
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Quoted:
Buy 1,000 yards of CHEAP line to learn how to use it. Go out in the backyard with a 3/8 oz weight and practice casting for about an hour with your CHEAP LINE before you tie on any lures and go fishing. And: reel off about 80ft of line. Apply tape to the reel & wind line over tape. That will make picking out "professional over-runs" much easier. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Buy 1,000 yards of CHEAP line to learn how to use it. Go out in the backyard with a 3/8 oz weight and practice casting for about an hour with your CHEAP LINE before you tie on any lures and go fishing. And: reel off about 80ft of line. Apply tape to the reel & wind line over tape. That will make picking out "professional over-runs" much easier. And never try to cast out a birds nest  |
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First let me say, I grew up on baitcasters and am a baitcasting fool. I can cast anything.
Now I'm going to go against the grain here. The trick to bait casting is understanding the principles involved. You understand that, then using all the new high tech don't really need stuff like magnetic anti-backlash, you inherently know how to use it. IMHO, the larger you go, the better and easier to learn on. A classic to learn on is like the Abu Garcia Ambassador, that size. Rig your line then adjust your reel so when the lock is off, the weight barely moves the reel. A good cast technique to learn on is overhead arm forward, hell go for the gold. You can work on placement later. Forget entirely the closed face technique. Think more bail caster. Don't use any buttons. Have the reel ready to roll. Use your thumb to hold the reel barrel and release at the point you want your weight to fly. Keep in mind, too late it will dive straight down in a straight line, too early it will lob too high and begin to backlash right off the bat. Its that release point you are training for. A good release, will buy you time to react. As long as there is force on that line, it won't backlash. The second that force is lost, the reel will try to continue to spin but no place to go. This is why lobbing is a good way to learn. What you are looking for is not the reel as your indicator, but the line. When the line starts going slack, losing force, then start applying your thumb back on the reel. Your thumb is an applied as needed anti-backlash. It works a lot better because if your brain works, its intuitive. Mechanical methods are not. Now you know why I say start bigger. Heavier the weight, the more forgiving the learning process. Once you get the hang of what to do when, you can work on different cast techniques, weight differences, and go like the pro with the little reels. Those of us who flip the baitcasters like its nothing, aren't born naturals or spent our lives practicing. Most of us just learned on dad's crappy shit as a kid. Heck, those old don't even have a ball bearings with braided lines were killers, compared to the stuff today. I'll tell you another great one to learn on, that's not expensive. The Penn 209M. Its basic bait caster, everything you need but no frills, built like a tank. You can learn on a 209, get the hang of it, then throw the 209 on a nice Pier stick for salt water fishing and blow the peoples minds on teh fishing piers.  I'm not kidding. You can cast a 209 on a pier, you'll draw a crowd. What they don't know is the big honking reel makes it ten times easier than the little ones they gave up on.
Tj |