Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Bait casting reel suggestions ???

My wife wants to learn to fish with a bait casting ( open face ) reel. What would be a good reel to start her on ?

I may be sort of a Neanderthal on these matters, but I like a Garcia low profile. Some right handers like a left hand retrieve.

The reel I like best has a button that stops the line from spooling out, no cranking the reel. I wish I had the model for you.

Great, advise here....I agree.

Hand size is important for selecting women's reels. I prefer a bigger reel like the Abu Garcia Revo X with a large handle. My wife uses mostly 13 fishing Origin reels as they are narrower and fit her small hand better. At $79-99 each they are pretty affordable and come in a rough white finish that lends itself to being painted girly colors well.

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She puts them to work too!!

My wife does have a small hand. I will give the 13 Fishing reels a look.

Daiwa or Garcia with magnetic spool control. She’ll be chunkin like a pro quickly.

Lew's are good.

Shimano Curado,forget the rest!

An old Swedish Abu.

I saw some comments elsewhere about KastKing reels, the main thrust being they are WAY better than their price point. Lots of reviews to confirm that. I ordered one in left-hand retrieve mostly because all my other bait casters are the usual right-side handle. So far, I'm very impressed by the KastKing Royale Legend model. Low profile, 11+1 bearings, 7.0 - 1 ratio, instant anti-reverse, carbon fiber drag, inertia AND magnetic anti-backlash.

For $40. Really.

LINK

I read the same thing . I am looking hard at this reel and the 13 Fishing mentioned above.

I've only fished with it a few times, but DANG that KastKing is smooth. Strangely, because I'm so used to spinning reels, I thought the left-hand crank would be natural - but it isn't. Too many decades with right-crank casters, likely. But the reel itself is very good.

Rocky's right. It's a small reel and mine's as smooth and easy to cast as my Shimano Curados at around 1/4th their price. Be sure to set the magnetic brake close to the max (8 or 9) to start. I don't know if it will hold up as long as the Shimanos but at $40 you can't hardly go wrong.

I use Shimano Curados and Chronarchs. Some are getting close to 15 years old and all I have ever done is clean/lube and fish the heck out of them.

Curado

If we fished solely in open water and money wasn't an issue, I'd likely fish with Curado's still. However, their drag system ( while smooth) isn't at all strong enough for big fish in heavy cover IMO. We catch most of our big gals down here pre and post spawn on jigs in matted grass, reeds and cat tails. I prefer to have 65lb braid and at least 18lbs of drag to haul them out of that mess. Shimanos are very smooth casting once you finally get them dialed in though.

Lews makes a small reel. They are every bit as good as the shimanos i used for years. They make the only reel with magnetic brakes that i like. They even make a 99 dollar reel that is better than many higher priced reels if you want to see how she likes it first without breaking the bank. I have their top end reels and two of the 99 buck reels and they all perform awesome.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Great reels, have a bunch, not the easiest to learn with and not for small hands unless you find old 1500/2500 models

The Abu "REVO" series is small framed which my son learned to use for his first baitcasting reel. Can be bought on EBay for reduced $$.

Check out Kast King reels, they are very well made and inexpensive. I haven't really found any baitcaster that doesn't backlash so a cheaper one might be the way to go. I like them for trolling and catfishing tho.

The Lew's is one of the easiest reels there is to learn bait casting. powdr

A bit late, but if you're still in the market for a reel - or if you just want a heck of a deal on a spare - check out this one from Bass Pro Shop Spring Sale...

$50 REEL

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Reel Question:(Get it?) Why do you guys use baitcasters? I would consider myself a High Journeyman, not yet Master, fisherman and do everything from fly fishing small water, bass in ponds and rivers, to bait fishing for trout and cats on occasion.( I like to sit on my ass once in a while) I generally get out 40 times a year.

All that said, I never use baitcasting reels. All spin and fly.

Please educate me on their advantages.

Thanks,

I grew up using baitcasters and still do but now that braid lets you use heavier line with spinning reels that's a good question. I like using a baitcaster with mono for topwater but could get by with spinning gear for that too. Probably the only real reason I use them is I like casting a baitcaster. Seems right for bass fishng with surface lures. YMMV.

FWIW I have and use a couple of fly reels, several spin reels, the odd couple of spincasters, a sidecaster and a few baitcasters. Each has their place. I particularly like a baitcaster for accuracy: putting spinnerbaits and poppers in among snags where fish like to wait in ambush. You can flick them in, stopping the line just where you want to drop the lure - right up against a snag.

The areas where casting reels shine are vertical jigging and fishing in heavy cover. You have total control of the drop when jigging, and if a fish hits on the drop, you only have to thumb the spool to get an instant hookset - something not possible with a spinning reel. And in heavy cover, such as pitching a heavy jig, a casting reel is more like a winch when it comes to horsing a fish out of the cover. Also...some casting reels have a faster retrieve than spinning reels. So if you are burning a buzzbait or crankbait, it takes less effort and fewer handle turns.

Lastly, there is almost no line twist with a casting reel, even if you manage to reel against the drag.

Thanks Rocky, that is what I was looking for.

After asking the question I googled it and everyone spoke of accuracy. Enough practice on a spinner(my entire life) leaves me feeling that was not enough as I can drop a popper right where I want it in the cattails I occasionally fish big bass in. And I am no stranger to accuracy, hitting opposite shore banks, putting a dry fly right on a cutthroats nose.

With your answer however, I feel like buying one for a reason rather than a curiosity.

And thanks to everyone else who responded.

These threads are the reason I am on the 'fire to begin with. Sometimes I almost forget that with too much time spent on the "freakshow"

Sorry to hijack the thread.

I agree on the accuracy possible with a spinning reel, nemo. By "feathering" the outgoing line with your index finger, it is possible to put a lure dead smack where you want it. It's no different than "thumbing" the spool of a casting reel, really. It takes practice and superb distance perception, but one can drop a lure within an inch or two with either type of gear.

I use spinning and casting both. A spinning reel big enough to handle larger bass lures will be heavier and more tiring to fish than a baitcaster. Plus line twist.

Lews

I like lews. Have several.

They make reels in all price ranges. Get good reviews.