just got into baitcasters......

di$TOrTed · Jan 31, 2011

So at the end of last summer I bought my first baitcaster. It is a BPS Megacast combo. I took it out a few times and sucked with it. I would birds nest every other time and I just ended up going back to spinning gear for the remainder of the fishing trip.

Over the colder months I have been going down to a little pond on my own and practicing with the caster. I have gotten much better, but still not to where i'd like.

My question is this: I was under the impression that with a similar weight lure I could sling it twice as far as with spinning gear. From what I can tell, I can get maybe 10% farther if that. Is this more realistic or am I not doing something right? I can get my lure out pretty far with a spinning reel, farther than most of my friends, but I figured it would be going considerably farther with a baitcaster. I am a shore fisherman so being able to get out there as far as possible is something I am really working on. I have tried a lot of different weights of lures..... do i need to go heavier? I used 1/2oz spinnerbaits and jigs... i think one of the jigs may have been 3/4oz. I made the adjustments to the spool tension knob and have the brakes set on 5/10.

Any suggestions for me?

Thanks

ManyFeathers · Feb 1, 2011

It takes practice.

My experience is a spinning reel or coffee grinder (zebco) will probably cast farther

The beauty of a good baitcaster is on the retrieve, I feel the drag is a lot smoother too!

Everytime you change weight of bait or lure you will need to set the brake or adjust the magnets. Learn to thumb the spool as your cast peaks and heads towards the water to help slow the spool. It birdnests because you cast and your spool ramps up to the speed of your cast and as your lure slows down, your spool doesn't, so you need something to control the speed of your spool (thumb, brake or magnets or combination of all for maximum distance)

I have better luck with 1/2 to 1oz weight lures on baitcasters set up for bass or bigger fish with 12 to 20 weight line with medium action rods

If I'm worm fishing I go to 10-14 pound test and 1/4 to 1/2 weight

For maximum cast go with lighter line and light or medium light action rods

Always match your reel with suggested line weight and action on the rod.

As you get better with practice, you can lighten up on the brake and magnets and just use your thumb

Learn to let the end of the rod sling your bait and not so much your wrist

FWIW-I won't use anything but a baitcaster....I like 'em a lot!

vicdotcom · Feb 1, 2011

di$TOrTed said:
So at the end of last summer I bought my first baitcaster. It is a BPS Megacast combo. I took it out a few times and sucked with it. I would birds nest every other time and I just ended up going back to spinning gear for the remainder of the fishing trip.
...
Any suggestions for me?

Thanks

I used to be strictly spinning gear only also. Like you, I got frustrated with the baitcasters. I then became dedicated to learning it and now it is my preferred method. I can still cast out further with the spinning gear though. But the accuracy is MUCH better with the baitcaster (and I was pretty accurate with the spinning gear also). As ManyFeathers said, the retrieve and the drag are much better on baitcasters. But the ability to thumb the reel to slow down/stop the cast help accuracy immensely. Much more so than "feathering" the spinning gears.

I looked up your reel, and sadly with biatcasters it is more important to get a decent one to start learning with. Unlike spinning gears which pretty much work the same. There are a lot of things on a baitcaster that can tick off a newbie.

Your model looks like a good beginner setup. Now let me show you how not to get anymore bird nests.

1) Your Line. It is important to have a line with low memory. This usually means the more expensive spectra lines like power-pro. Get 40-50 lb test. It might sound like a lot but this is the same diameter as 16lb mono. Or you can stick with your mono-filament line. But it really helps the nesting.

2) Properly tuning the spool. DO THIS!! It is important. You get bird-nests when your spool spins faster than line is let out. So you have to control the speed at which the spool spins. This is a test: Hook up a lure. Hold out your rod straight out. Press the spool release but hold the spool. Now let go of the spool and watch the spool as your lure hits the floor. See how the lure hits the floor and your spool kept spinning? That is your bird nest.

To prevent this take these steps. 1) turn your magnetic brakes to the lowest setting being 0 usually. 2) turn the tension control knob tight. Now when you press the release button and let go of the spool, the lure should stay and not fall to the ground. 3) gradually loosen the tension control knob until the lure starts going SLOWLY to the floor. 4) once you have that speed tighten up that knob again SO SLIGHTLY to where you need to shake your rod tip a little in order to get that lure going to the ground. 5) now watch the lure. When it hits the floor, the spool should stop spinning. 6) turn the magnetic brakes to medium, usually 5.

You are now properly tuned.

Casting: Casting is different with a bastcaster. The biggest difference between that and spinning gear is your release. When you release the spinning line, it is usually at 11-12 o clock arm position. When you release your thumb from a baitcasting spool you need to release a little bit sooner than you do a spinner gear and follow through. Probably around the 1-12 o clock position. Then follow through and "point" to where you want that lure to land. When you feel that the lure has reached its "apex speed" it will start to slow down in the air. This is when you start applying thumb pressure to slow that spool down so it doesn't go faster than the lure can take up line.

Those are the basic steps and best tips I can provide. Practice that and you will get better. ENJOY!!

LuniticFringeInc · Feb 1, 2011

With a smooth Baitcaster thats had the anti breaking system properly adjusted and placed on a proper rod...You can cast a 1/2 ounce lure to a distance that will make you dizzy in the head!

My case in point, I have a Shimano CE-100 on a really sweet Shimano rod and made a number of cast to distant schools of fish breaking the surface leaving my fishing partners dumb founded that I was actually able to cast that far. A back lash is a very rare event with this baitcaster and rod combo. Its not an expensive one either. The reel was about 69-79 bucks, the rod was a whopping 12.99. I use 12 lbs test line. Its all about a balanced system and decent quality, all working together with a little skill thrown in for good measure.

I do however use a ultra light and a light action spinning combos a awful lot though for most of my fishing. But for LMB or Hybrids that baitcasting combo is hard to beat! Im now in the market for a ultra-light/light action baitcaster that will throw lures in the 1/8th to 1/4 ounce range well.

ManyFeathers · Feb 1, 2011

LuniticFringeInc said:
With a smooth Baitcaster thats had the anti breaking system properly adjusted and placed on a proper rod...You can cast a 1/2 ounce lure to a distance that will make you dizzy in the head!

My case in point, I have a Shimano CE-100 on a really sweet Shimano rod and made a number of cast to distant schools of fish breaking the surface leaving my fishing partners dumb founded that I was actually able to cast that far. A back lash is a very rare event with this baitcaster and rod combo. Its not an expensive one either. The reel was about 69-79 bucks, the rod was a whopping 12.99. I use 12 lbs test line. Its all about a balanced system and decent quality, all working together with a little skill thrown in for good measure.

I do however use a ultra light and a light action spinning combos a awful lot though for most of my fishing. But for LMB or Hybrids that baitcasting combo is hard to beat! Im now in the market for a ultra-light/light action baitcaster that will throw lures in the 1/8th to 1/4 ounce range well.

A friend of mine uses Daiwa reels and loves them, he fishes a plastic worm with no weight at all and he can outcast me when I'm using weight.

I use a Curado so I know it's the reel...LOL

KSGunner · Feb 9, 2011

di$TOrTed said:
So at the end of last summer I bought my first baitcaster. It is a BPS Megacast combo. I took it out a few times and sucked with it. I would birds nest every other time and I just ended up going back to spinning gear for the remainder of the fishing trip.

Over the colder months I have been going down to a little pond on my own and practicing with the caster. I have gotten much better, but still not to where i'd like.

My question is this: I was under the impression that with a similar weight lure I could sling it twice as far as with spinning gear. From what I can tell, I can get maybe 10% farther if that. Is this more realistic or am I not doing something right? I can get my lure out pretty far with a spinning reel, farther than most of my friends, but I figured it would be going considerably farther with a baitcaster. I am a shore fisherman so being able to get out there as far as possible is something I am really working on. I have tried a lot of different weights of lures..... do i need to go heavier? I used 1/2oz spinnerbaits and jigs... i think one of the jigs may have been 3/4oz. I made the adjustments to the spool tension knob and have the brakes set on 5/10.

Any suggestions for me?

Thanks

My first suggestion is patience. I like others used to use only spinning gear now use nothing but baitcasters except in shaky head situations. As one of the others said cheaper reels are not the way to go with baitcasters. I started out with a black max combo from cabelas and fought backlash after backlash. I read alot of other people had the same problem. For me I got it figured out by doing a few different things. First off I used heavy 3/4 oz baits. They are easier to cast thus making the learning curve smaller. I couldn't use the instruction manual way of setting up the reel. I cast pretty hard, but I fish crankbaits 90 percent of the time from the bank so casting distance is very crucial. The primary brake is for the initial part of the cast, and the magnetic brake (usually on the left side on right handed reels) is for the end of the cast when the lure is slowing down. I put the magnetic brake on its highest level. I then made the primary brake overly tight. They say to hold out your rod and back off the brake until your lure falls slightly when you shake your rod tip. That isn't enough for me and for learning I feel that's not gonna work. So tighten up that primary brake. Cast the lure. Even if it only goes 10 ft you got a place to start from. All ya have to do from there is back off your primary brake a tiny bit at a time. Some reels are finicky here so they don't take much movement of the brake to make a big difference. Leave the magnetic brake alone till the primary is set. Little by little you will get the lure farther and farther, basically from there once you start birdnesting tighten back the brake till you don't anymore. From there you can back off the magnetic drag a notch or two if you need to but I don't run them backed off very far. Once you get that bit figured out practice makes perfect. Distance will come in time just keep with it. I outcast my friends all day long. My main rod is a 7 ft med action ugly stick with a 99 dollar KVD reel by quantum at bass pro. Once I purchased this reel casting improved ten fold. I also use 15 lb flourocarbon line I found that helped as it is very smooth. Cabelas brand is relatively inexpensive. These are just things I did to get it figured out. I hope some of this information will help you out!

KSGunner · Feb 9, 2011

One other thing I found my casts alot smoother side armed instead of over head to begin with. Once I got it figured out I then went to overhead. Sidearm provides a more horizontal cast where release is not quite as crucial as an overhead. That's all I got for now.

Bryan27 · Feb 13, 2011

You are not necessarily going to get further casts from a baitcast than you would from a spinning rod, it all depends on a combination of things like lure weight/shape, line weight/diameter, rod length, rod action, rod speed and then how you have your casting drag set up on the reel itself. Beyond that it comes down to your own skill and it takes practice to get good. The lake isn't really the place to get practice. Use some practice plugs in the back yard and work on different casting methods.

If your goal is to cast long distance you will be better off using plain old open face spinning gear. Where baitcasting gear shines is in control and accuracy. I can do an underhanded roll cast with a spinner bait 30 feet under a dock keeping the bait less than a foot off the water and then drop it in with hardly a ripple. I can NOT do the same with spinning gear. As you get more practice and really learn to drive a baitcaster, you won't want to fish with anything else. You'll also learn to keep the casting drag loose and won't need the brakes as you will have a finely calibrated thumb.

PS. The trick to overhead casting is to turn the reel sideways so that the handles are pointing back at you. Drop your rod tip as the lure is flying, then right before it hits the water where you want it pull up on the rod tip and slow the lure down with your thumb. You don't want to stop it with your thumb, you stop it by transferring its' motion to the rod tip.

mKosel · Feb 15, 2011

dont buy expensive line till you can cast it. my first year i had it i put on florocarbon and it was all gone in a week. start out with two daredevils(without hooks) and just cast it in the grass. make sure the knob that controls the spinning of the spool up, when you start off casting you will have a lesser chance backlashing if your spool is a bit tighter, but you wont be able to cast as far.

just got into baitcasters......

di$TOrTed

ManyFeathers

vicdotcom

LuniticFringeInc

ManyFeathers

KSGunner

KSGunner

Bryan27

mKosel

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