Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Baitcaster Ignorance . . . need HELP have a wild hair to start using a baitcasting reel.

So I

Okuma (cold water series) or Okuma low profile.

Your thumb............

Patience.

Have someone who knows how to clear birdsnests help. Will save a lot of line.

Monofilament.

First off, if your going to start bait casting you need to invest in a good reel. They are light years ahead of what I started with in the fifties. Buy a good reel w/weights to balance the spool. They will be located inside the reel. Start off w/a 3/8oz practice plug and a bucket in the back yard. Learn to hit it at 25-30yards regularly and you'll have a good start. All bait casters will have a setting on the side to adjust the tension on the reel spool. Start off w/the tension tightened just enough that when you push the button to engage the reel that the plug will slowly fall to the floor when the spool is released...holding the rod straight out from chest high. Once you've become accustomed to the feel of the reel it's just a matter of practice. Start off w/a medium action 6ft rod made of a light weight material...not fiberglass. Spool on a good quality monofilament line in the 12-15lb range to begin with. Lews makes a good, lightweight affordable reel and I recommend them highly. There are others but I like the Lews for learning as a beginner. Good luck, there's no substitute for a good bait caster. powdr

Agree with the Mono, and I'm a big fan of braided line. I grew up fishing spinning gear in Michigan so when I moved to California and started chasing bigger saltwater fish I had a hard time adjusting. For me it was easier to practice casting a heavy lure before moving to plastics and live bait. I still prefer spinning gear when casting for anything under 30lbs. Practice just doesn't make perfect it also keeps you from getting P'd off that your unraveling a birdsnest while your buddies are pulling in fish. Good luck with the new toys!

Louis,

Lotsa good info above but to prevent birdnests, aim high with your cast........your cast should have lots of arc to it so the spool inertia has ceased [or nearly so] before your lure hits the water. Spool overrun is what causes most birdnests.

What powdr said. Start with a good quality reel of the type he described, well worth the cost. I've had good luck with the Shimano Curado series as a good quality, easy casting reel but there are plenty of other brands that work just as well maybe better.

From what I've seen someone with a lot of experience with bait casters can usually do ok with cheaper basic reels but usually not beginners.


I like using a baitcaster but can't say I cast much more accurately or catch more fish with one than with spinning gear.

When my son was about 10 or 11, I got him a rod and reel of decent quality, gave him instructions and turned him loose with a big spool of less expensive line. I told him don't get mad or discouraged if you backlash. Just pick, or cut it out, respool and get back at it.

I'd come home after work and he'd be standing on a milk carton, pitching jigs at his mother's coffee mugs scattered around the lawn.By the time he was 12-13 he was skipping those jigs under boat docks.

People can explain how to use a bait caster, but there is no substitute for picking one up and getting the feel for yourself with constant practice. But like riding a bike, once you know how, you will never forget and can pick up just about any reel and fish well. Your mind and thumb go on autopilot.

Good information so far. It would help if you mentioned what you planned on fishing for. Regardless when starting use a heavy bait, set the mechanical cast control a little tight (you will lose distance but it's easier to learn that way) and buy a cheap spool of 20lb mono. YOU WILL GET BACKLASHES! The thick mono makes them easier to get out and being cheap you don't cry when you need to re-spool. After you think you've got the hang of it switch over to 50lb braid, it works so much better and is WAAAAY cheaper in the long run.

I prefer baitcasting to spinning tackle. I got my first good casting reel in 1960, my first spinning reel in 1969.
I'll add a couple things. When casting turn your wrist so the reel handles point up. That lets your wrist flex easier. Don't try for distance at first, accuracy is more important anyway.
I would advise starting with Dacron line. I still find braided line easier to use than monofilament and Dacron is thicker than the newer superbraids. Line is pulled off spinning reels in coils. The spool doesn't turn.
It's pulled off casting reels in a straight line, but when the spool is running faster than the line is being pulled you get a backlash. Concentrate on learning to feather the edge of the spool to control its speed. If you thumb the line, it adds to the backlash problem.

Thanks to one and all for your information.

I have a whole winter to practice.even though my message is not there and It will not let me go back and edit it for content.

I was going to go into history and then seek line recommendations, but I see Mono seems to be the choice.

I went to open face from closed face when green or black braided line was the proper thing for a bait caster.

A couple pointers I have is either the magnetic or the centrifugal brakes work to eliminate backlash at the beginning of the cast, and the spool tension knob will help to eliminate backlash at the end of the cast.

I really prefer the centrifugal brakes because they don't affect the spool speed during the whole cast like magnetic brakes do. In short, magnets can limit distance.

I also just use my thumb to slow the spool near the end of the cast before the bait reaches the water. I do that mainly because I got tired of messing with the spool tension for different baits, and losing the knob

One area I will differ on that the prevalent opinion is in using braid instead of Mono. If all I could use was mono on a baitcaster, I would get rid of them. Braid is so much easier to use because in the line sizes you need to keep the line from burying itself into the spool, causing more backlashes btw, it takes on a coil that really makes it hard to work with. Whenever you get a backlash with mono, it kinks like crazy, and you wind up cutting a bunch of it off just to get fishing again. Braid won't do that unless you really screw things up.

Some very good advice given in the above posts. I can't add a lot to what has already been said. I do have a suggestion, though.

If you are used to using a spinning outfit and are reeling with your left hand go ahead and buy a left hand bait casting reel. You will appreciate this piece of advice later on as you will not be constantly changing hands to retrieve your lures after the cast.

What Last said! I am switching to LH shimonoseki reels cuz I cast with right arm. And it keeps most folks from borrowing and buggering up your outfits.

When you first get your new reel fill it up full with cheap line. Tie on the biggest Colorado blade spinner bait you can find. Wait for a nice windy spring day and face so that you cast directly into the wind. Now, practice your long cast. You have to cast good and hard.

If you give up in less than 30 minutes then you don't have what it takes. You can sell that reel on the Campfire classified adds.

I started in the early 80's with cheaper model casting reels, With practice and lots of respools, I am decent to good , but now all I use is an older Abu Garcia 5500 for the tiger muskies on a local lake. I am with the rest that say buy a decent quality reel , a big spool of cheap line and start with heavier lures. Lighter lures are the nemesis of the beginner.
JMHO

Start by using a fairly heavy practice plug or sinker. 1/2 or 3/4 oz. Set brakes pretty tight, make short easy cast and get the feel for using your thumb to slow the spool during the cast and to stop it before lure hits the water or ground.

Work up a little at a time with longer more powerful casts, and reducing brakes for more distance. Once you get the hang of that reduce plug/lure/sinker weight.

I'm still pretty old school with this stuff. I learned how to baitcast on old Pflueger Supremes and Akrons. Ancient technology by today's standards. Mom and Dad fished Ambassadeurs, so that was good enough for me. I've got about a dozen of them now, and a few of the newer magnetic braked models on my flippin sticks. That being said, if I was new to baitcasting, I'd listen to what's been said earlier here. The newer magnetic reels are light years ahead of the technology I choose to use. The reels are smoother, the bearings are better, and casting isn't so hard to learn. A good rod makes a huge difference. For my self, I prefer graphite composite rods for muskie, and graphite for everything else. You can spend just about whatever you want on a rod. Graphite runs from about $30.00 on the low end, to the sky's the limit. You should have no problems finding useable rods to match with a 'caster and do it without busting your budget. It's an acquired skill to work a baitcaster without geting birdsnests, so be patient and it will come.