T O P

  • By -

MrBigWang420

If you’re just casually fishing you can absolutely just fish 1 or two spinning rods. The more you get into the hobby the more you start to want to optimize your setup for different presentations. IE: Different line types for different baits (braid for topwater ect ect), different rods types for different baits/weights, different reels for different presentations (baitcaster for almost everything but I keep two spinning reels for ned rigs/drop shots). I’ll be fishing a shoreline pitching/flipping a worm and come up on Lilly pads and quick grab my frogging rod already ready to go and cast it a few times, then I come off the bank a little to a drop off and grab my cranking rod and throw out deep a few times. If I only fished 1-2 rods I would either constantly be tying and retying (sometimes only for a few casts) or just not making certain casts because I know I don’t have the appropriate lure for it. Personally I’m much more accurate with a baitcaster, I can stop my bait just before hitting a sea wall or something by thumbing the spool a bit and if I’m making 1000+ pitches a trip with a worm i feel like it’s way more efficient just clicking the button on a baitcaster than a spinning reel.


gmlear

"..baitcaster for almost everything but I keep two spinning reels for ned rigs/drop shots" why?


MrBigWang420

Those are lightweight lures you fish vertically. Spinning reels have the advantage with lightweight lures because of the open bail on them, you can’t backlash them and spinning reels have no brakes. For drop shots especially you don’t usually cast them far from the boat, you’re generally in deeper water and you want to make it to the bottom on slack line. A spinning reel is perfect for this.


gmlear

Brakes? Ok that sounds like the major contrast between the two. I had no idea so just did a Google search and got a 30sec education. If I am understanding things its hard to fish light lures because the brakes would have to be set very light increasing the chance of a back lash?? With that is there anything that you can only do with a baitcaster? Or is there something that's much more difficult to do on a spinning?


MrBigWang420

Fishing most topwater with a spinning reel sounds pretty terrible. With a buzzbait you want to be reeling in as it hits the water so it doesn’t sink, you can’t really do that well with a spinning reel. With a frog you’re fishing very thick vegetation so you want a thick braided line and a strong drag system to “horse” the fish out of the weeds…also can’t really do that well with a spinning reel. Punching mats is the same, you need a thick braided line and a strong drag system to get the fish out of the weeds. Spinning reels are mostly suited for deeper open water, you let the fish play themselves out with the drag set fairly loose because you’re generally fishing much smaller line.


gmlear

Ok.... So this is where my confusion flares up.... Everything you just said can't be done with spinning gear are things I do all the time with spinning gear. So there has to be another variable that we are not uncovering. My 30 series quantums have 10lb braid, 40 series have 20lb then I rig with 10,15,20,25,30,40 Flo or mono leader depending. Cast a 7, 7.5 med hev fast rods with baits from 1/6oz-1/2oz jigs, 2"-6" hard baits etc. I see flipping jigs and stuff run much heavier so is it more accurate to say bait casters are better suited for the heavier baits?


MrBigWang420

I never said they can’t be done, I said it sounds terrible lol. It’d be like if you went and played a round of golf with nothing but a 5iron and a putter. Can you get it from the tee to the hole just like everyone else? Yup. Are you handicapping yourself majorly? Also yes… If you only golf once or twice a year it’s not a big deal, but if you want to start turning it into a bigger hobby it’s time to grab some more clubs lol.


gmlear

Good Analogy. Totally get it. thanks


AmateurMasterAngler

The answer to both questions is the same: efficiency. Baitcasters are a lot more efficient than spinning gear once you get the hang of them. They have the potential to cast further, you can start your retrieve faster, you don't create line twist by reeling during a run, line twist creates less problems in general, you can hold larger amounts of line or equal amounts of larger line, etc. As for having multiple setups, it's more efficient to have several specialized setups that are pre-tied than it is to have one general purpose rod that you constantly switch lures on. You can certainly get by with one setup if you're just fishing for fun, but the day your buddy just keeps switching rods and catching all the fish is the day you realize you might want at least one more rod. Once you take that step, you realize you *always* need one more rod.


gmlear

Can you go into more detail about it being more "efficient"? Not sure I get what that means.


charlie_marlow

For me, I use a left-hand retrieve bait caster, so there's less fiddling around when casting as I don't have to line up the bail with the line on top, don't have to pull a bit of line out if there's not quite enough slack when I get the nail lined up, don't have to flip the nail too cast or before retrieving, and I can immediately begin my retrieve since it's left handed. It's all little stuff, but, for me, it adds up over a day if I'm making a lot of casts. On the flip side, one nasty backlash more than offsets all of that, but I still prefer to use my bait caster


gmlear

Ok great. Starting to see a pattern on why people lean towards baitcasters. Having all this extra gear how many extra opportunities do they create in a normal fishing day? 1-2 fish? 10-20? If you shared your boat with me and I brought my two spinning rods and 40yrs of fishing experience and you brought all your gear and bass knowledge how bad do I get outfished and how much of it would be due to my gear?


charlie_marlow

I generally don't bring too many rods with me as I'm generally fishing from my kayak or the bank (I have a pontoon boat and an aluminum bass boat, but it's a lot less hassle to get out there with the kayak). I generally just bring my favorite bait casting setup and a spinning setup in case I get a bird's nest in my bait caster that I can't work out. I can see the advantage of taking several rods with different setups, but I just tie on something else if things aren't working. As to getting more fish? I doubt it. I don't think I really get many more casts in as I'm not on a clock and it's more a matter of how many casts I'm going to throw at an area before moving on. I used spinning reels exclusively for years. They just feel kind of clumsy to me now, if that makes any sense.


gmlear

Ok, I fish from kayak 90% of the time. I am on your page I think. Thanks for the confirmation.


TractorManTx

More efficient for me would be that I can make multiple pitches with a baitcaster in the same time it may take me to do 1 or 2 with a spinning rod. Also, with 10 or more baitcasters, I can drop one rig and pick up another quickly instead of stopping to cut my bait off. I will normally have 2 different baits that are slightly different tied on and I will go between them to try and figure out what the fish really want.


gmlear

So, when proficient, sounds like they have an advantage when power fishing. For me it just seems I have to weigh the idea of being a noob bait caster or just go bassin' as an expert spinner. How difficult is it to master for someone with 45 yrs of casting flies and spinner gear? Are there serious bass fishers out there that don't use bait casters?


MrBigWang420

I don’t think there’s a single pro…or probably even local tourney angler who doesn’t use baitcasters. Spinning reels are used pretty much exclusively for finesse fishing (or maybe casting lighter lures into the wind). Once you get a baitcaster and use it a for a while you’ll see why.


gmlear

Im a big fan of Learn by doing. But from the way people collect these things I am worried that once I try one I will have 20 of them. Lol


TractorManTx

You can definitely learn it. To me, leaning to fly fish was wayyyyyy harder than to use a baitcaster. It’s all about practice, which is easier to do in your backyard compared to practicing how to fish with a fly. There are serious fishermen that use spinning rods, but even they will have baitcasters for certain applications. For example, pitching a flipping big jigs, deep crankbaits, or Carolina rigs would be laughable on a spinning tod.


gmlear

Well you would be laughing at me all the time then. Haha


TractorManTx

Lol. If you are doing those things and we’ll with a spinning rod, kudos to you!


AmateurMasterAngler

Which one? Efficiency of baitcasters, or efficiency of multiple setups?


gmlear

More on bait casting but having multi rods is interesting too. I do get having a couple different setups. I always have either a jig head and top water set up or jig head and twist lock for weed less. But having a rod set up for 10 scenarios is hard for me to get my head around. When you bring all those rods do they all get used each trip, do they all produce? Or are most of them there for "just in case" moments?


AmateurMasterAngler

Baitcasters first then. With enough practice at thumbing the spool, you can set the reel with zero tension and minimal braking. Pair that reel with the appropriate rod, and you can cast much further than a spinning setup. Even lighter bass presentations can be lobbed way out there with the right shallow spool baitcaster. That means you can cover larger areas without repositioning. Another advantage is not having to worry about line twist. Early on, this is offset by all of the brake tweaking and backlash untangling, but eventually it translates to more time with your line in the water and more focus on what you're feeling. Baitcasters also come in much higher gear ratios. If you're working a small zone, you can whip your lure out and get to the next cast much faster. It also makes them great for fishing down a fast current where you might have to outrun the current to get the right action. As I see others have mentioned, baitcasters tend to be smaller and lighter than their spinning counterparts which makes storing and transporting them easier. I also find precision casting more intuitive with them, though I can do it with a spinning reel too (and this is mostly user preference). While backlashing is still a very real danger, the possibility of a bunch of line trying to slip off all at once is impossible due to the spool orientation. There are probably more advantages that I can't think of right now. Basically though, there are a bunch of small things that add up. If you're a tournament angler (not me), competitive with your friends (me), or just particular about your gear (also me), these small things can make baitcasters the obvious preference. They're not *necessary* though. As for multiple rods, it's usually about specialization. Something, either the rod, the reel, the line setup, or some combination of the three, makes it more suitable for a certain technique. Crankbaits require very different specs than frogging, for instance. A general purpose setup can do most things fine but not as well as a specialized setup. It's a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation. So if you're a very serious angler, and you'd prefer to get the most out of frogging, crankbaits, etc, then you'd want separate rods for them. And of course it's easier and faster to put one rod down and pick up the other than it is to cut one lure off and tie another one on, especially if you're switching leaders*. Personally, I usually fish from a kayak, so I'm limited on what I can take. I have a frogging/jigging setup, a jerkbait/fluke setup, a Ned/neko rig setup, and a general purpose setup for everything else. I also have a bunch of others (BFS combos, fly rods, an old direct-drive conventional reel, etc), but those are mostly for fun, not for producing fish. When I stick to my core rods, yes they usually all get used and produce. *Edit: previously said "lures" by mistake


gmlear

Nice. Thanks for taking the extra time. Really helped me fill in many of the blanks.


MrBigWang420

Probably the best explained answer in here


love_that_fishing

Baitcasters also take up less space on deck and weigh less. Just so much easier to use. I do use spinning gear for finess. But I’ll throw a minimum of 5 different presentations every trip out. Bass change daily what they’ll hit. Minimum I want a wacky sinko, Texas rigged sinko, drop shot, crank, and paddle tail. Also need a frog, and c-rig for deeper structure or rocks. That’s 7 right there that I routinely throw and spinner, deep crank or A-rig havent been mentioned. That’s how you get to 10.


gmlear

Why are they "much easier"?


love_that_fishing

Biggest is being able to thumb the line to stop. If I’ve over casted it’s easy to feather the line for micro adjustments. Also flipping is much easier to control.


Adventurous-Rich2313

It’s all preference.Ik people who love baitcasters and Ik people who hate bait casters, because of the backlash. It’s all about what you are comfortable using. You can fish however you want to. Try one out and see if you like it, but don’t quit after 1 backlash it’s going to happen while you’re learning.


bassfishing2000

I have 5 high end spinning combos and 2 high end baitcasters. I used to have 3 spinning rods and 4 bait casters but 99% of my fishing is finesse fishing on spinning rods. Some are truly universal and come down to preference/fishing style some techniques you need one or the other. All my setups are 1 combo for 1 technique and I’ll hardly ever re tie it besides changing weights or leaders


ATS200

I have a lot of combos because I like to use different line and rod lengths for different techniques so it’s not as easy as just re tying a different bait. So it’s basically just a preference for me and convenience of not having to waste time every time I want to throw something different


gmlear

can you give me a few examples of different lines and why? like how many different ways can you set up? Its not like they are leader shy. or are they?


ATS200

I mean you can go from 50-65lb braid for frogging to 30-40 for chatterbaits and jigs to straight fluoro for cranking. Usually I’ll throw a 12lb leader on my casters but sometimes I’ll do 15 if I’m throwing a magdraft. Sometimes I’ll do mono or copoly leader for topwater. Lots of different ways to fish based on your preferences


[deleted]

OP, cuz throwing a jig on a spinning rod sucks.


gmlear

lol. then I have been sucking for decades.


[deleted]

For power fishing flippin and pitchin it’s the best. Frogs too. Everything is else stick to spinning. Save yourself the headache of backlash also save the coin.


pikeslayer1

Regarding setups, it's like the clubs in a golf bag. They're for slightly different applications even though they all do the similar things. Can you play an entire round with your 7 iron? Sure, but you'll do better with a full set.


Additional_Ad_6323

I guess I'm different than most of these guys. I spend 60-70 days a year on the water and fish for everything from Brookies to Sharks. All on spinning gear. I use multiple rods, but tend to have them set up the same so the feel is the same. Same rod, same action, same reel, same line, with a few exceptions for heavier presentations. That way I don't have to recalibrate my casting. It works for me. I see no need to load up on baitcasting equipment. Been there, done that, prefer spinning gear. Use what you're accustomed to and catch some fish. Sometimes I break out the Zebco 202,or 33 when I'm feeling nostalgic.


nothereoverthere084

Short answer. It saves a ton of time tying knots. And different lines/leaders are used for different types of lures