Going to break 35 years of tradition

[Edward Lea.]

All right after listening to you all I am going to buy my first baitcatsing outfit. I got a BPS gift card from my daughters for my birthday so I am going to make the attempt. Went to BPS yesterday and looked all of them over. I am going to try out a couple of my father in-laws reels tomorrow before taking the plunge however. A big variety to choose from. Turns out my father in law has the ones I narrowed it down to.



Fatrap I noticed the one Tundra on the floor there has the bow stop roller not lining up with the bow also. It is off to the port side. Did they get yours figured out?

 

[Marty Klein]

; As more and more "Pros" show up on TV throwing spinners, you break tradition and go the other direction; you're a trend-setter!

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Find out if you prefer left handed reels or right handed.

 

[Edward Lea.]

Tee My father in-laws reels are left handed retrieve. I think I will like not changing hands after a cast. All my spinning outfits are left hand retrieve. Thanks for the tip.



Marty I am not giving up on my spinning outfits just trying my first baitcaster.

 

[Berry Lindley]

That's backwards on righty vs lefty, the theory is different on the baitcaster. On spinning the right hand does the work and the reel takes up the slack, on the baitcaster, you crank more like a winch, and the left hand holds the rod and right hand does the winching. If you are pretty ambidextrous, it won't matter too much. I'm not, so I crank spinning with the left, and crank baitcasting with the right.

 

[Jim in VA]

I started with a left-handed baitcaster a few years ago and then got a right-handed one from my wife as a b-day present a year after that. I've found that all the casting and winding, that I like being able to switch up from right-handed spinning reels to right-handed baitcasters (i.e., the spinning set up stays in the right arm, the baitcasters switch arms). I'm still casting everything with my right arm, but being able to switch the RH baitcaster the left hand while cranking with the right gives that arm some rest. After being out in the heat for a full day, it helps to be able to use both arms!



Just a thought.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

It's actually easier to learn with lefty and then you can master the standard right hand and it will save your arms also at the end of the day.

If I throw spins and cranks..I'll use left but if I'm Carolina riggin' or pitchin', it doesn't matter then.

 

[fatrap]

Read my post please

fatrap

 

[Teri C.]

Ed, I've only been throwing a bait caster for a few years. I find that I like the ones with that use pins for the braking system instead of the magnetic. If I am birdnesting the reel or throwing a light bait, I open it up and pull 2 of the pins out to slow it down. Just a thought.

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Hey Ed, I got a few baitcasting outfits after being on here for awhile but really haven't had a chance to use them very much. I did switch over to lefty baitcasters so I reel with my left hand with either one. I only used spinning gear for 35 years also. That was mainly because I did not want to change hands and you couldn't get a left handed baitcaster. I also felt that you had much more control with a spinning reel. The only plus I could see for a baitcaster was the size line you could use but I never saw the need for having a rope on my reel.

Like I said, I have a few baitcasters now but can't use them so the opinion I spouted above goes back quite a bit. Toxic told me just to get out and practice with a baitcaster whenever I could but he too knows I haven't been able to do much. I do use the swimming pool though.:huh:

As for spinning reels that I use it was Penn Spinfishers for years and then I started using

Daiwa Regal's and now I have some of the newer Cardinals. I will never pay what retailers want for a Stradic, etc.. For the Baitcasters, I have the Curado's and a couple of Scorpions which are Curado's in Japan. Good luck Ed. Do what Toxic told me to do which is the answer to an old joke: A tourist in NY City stops a native New Yorker and asks him, "Please sir, can you tell me how to get to Carnigie Hall?" The New Yorker looked at the tourist and with a wry smile on his face said, "Practice, Practice, Practice."....



Uncle Billy

 

[Edward Lea.]

Thanks Uncle Billy.



Teri "pins"? Ok do you actually remove pins from the reel and if so are they small enough to lose easily? If so that sounds like a problem.



I am up this late as I just got off a page from work. Only thing I hate about being a programmer is being on call.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Spend a lot of time in the yard, casting to targets. It will help you quite a bit.



Tex

 

[Larry Harp]

The pins that Teri is talking about shouldn't be removed. The have two positions; an outer or "engaged" position and a inner position being "dis-engaged". Set those all on when you first starting casting with your new baitcaster. There's a knob on the handle side of the reel that is called the "cast control knob" that controls how fast the spool spins. Tighten it down pretty tight to start and then slowly loosen it up slowly and just let the bait drop to learn how to "thumb" your spool. When you're first starting to learn how to cast don't try for distance, just get a feeling of how your thumb feels with the spool spinning under it and how much pressure is required to control and stop it. Practice with it and you'll be able to knock a gnat out of the air. Baitcasters are much more accurate spinning reels...at least in my hands. I'm lucky to get my hook wet when I'm fishing with a spinning reel.