brophog

What condition are your spool bearings in? Even a DC reel will backlash at minimum brake settings unless there is another source of friction slowing the reel down. For maximum distance, thoroughly clean the spool bearings, add a drop of light viscosity oil, then adjust braking so you’re just at the edge of disaster. Fine tune for your personal comfort level. For most of us, what’s comfortable is also not maximum distance. ?

For me, it’s casting gear, mostly because I greatly prefer it. Honestly, at the distances most fish, preference is really the key because both can deliver the goods provided rod, reel, and lure/bait are properly matched, along with good technique. A trained distance caster can cast either way further than anyone would care to fish, proving neither system is greatly restrained. Weather tends to be an equalizer in this debate, though.

Grab a spincast reel. Honestly, this is an area they do really well.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is what is it you don’t like about your current reel. For bass fishing, there’s a huge range of spinning reels that work.

And at the end of the day, with all of these features, they’re still just trying to approximate a spinning reel. If I told someone I’d sell them a 1 bearing, 18 IPT reel for the cost of a Pflueger President, I’d imagine they’d take the President. It’s just a far superior reel to a Goldcast at a similar price point. That’s probably the biggest testament to the resolve of spincast reels. The better models sell at a price point in which far better spinning, and in some cases baitcaster, reels reside and yet they still sell. So there is certainly a market for them and I don’t think anyone would claim they don’t catch fish. They may have caught more in the past 60 years than spinning/baitcasters combined. But the question we are now debating isn’t whether spincasters sell or if they can catch fish....it’s if they’re for serious bass fisherman. So, I want to know this...how many of us have 10 spincast combos rigged up on the decks of our boats?

Ditto.

They’re still basically the same. The Omega is a nice spincast reel, but it’s honestly just getting back to where 33’s were all those years ago. The Bullet is a bit different in that they’ve elongated it to increase the gear ratio, and that allows that reel to do things traditionally difficult to do on a spincast.

The biggest problem with even good spincasters, like an Omega or Bullet is the price. I’m not saying those two are overpriced, they’re both well built. But spincasting technology is such that to build them that well you have to over build them and that drives up the cost. The problem is for that money you can get a spinning or baitcasting reel that is 10 times the reel. That doesn’t mean for a person’s given needs spincast wont work, but they come with serious compromises compared to rival technologies.

Replacing the bearings is often required, but they’ve put out some real workhorses that can really take a beating. They’ve also put out stuff that the local five and dime would be ashamed of. That’s where Quantum’s reputation suffers is in the vast range of reels they sell. If you stick to their quality offerings, they’re good value for the money. They don’t put out much one would consider enthusiast level, so some websites tend to dismiss, but for the weekend angler that just wants to catch fish, they make some good reels. That said, Daiwa and Shimano are really attacking the price points that companies like Quantum or Pflueger excel.

For that 50-60 dollar range, really hard to beat.

The answer really depends on casting vs spinning. To be fair, I don’t recommend combos at all, just because there is rarely enough savings to be of any advantage. However, the floor of usability for a spinning reel is very low. It’s hard to find a spinning reel that is so bad it’s unfishable. The handle may crank back a quarter turn, and you may seriously question where they hid that one advertised bearing, but it’ll catch fish. Spincast reels, like a Zebco or Shakespeare, are surprisingly poor low end performers despite being readily available as such. These aren’t your grandparent’s 33’s. As for baitcasters, just spend the money. Today you can more readily find sub-100 dollar models that work, but that’s always been a good price point. Most manufacturers these days make some very good reels in that range. Something like a Daiwa Fuego or Shimano SLX will not only last but give you a lot of enjoyment.

Good to hear. Service is second to none.

Those long ultra lightweight rods are generally meant for spider rigging from a boat. They dont really have enough backbone to cast well. At least I've always found them to be very tricky to cast, in the best of circumstances. I do like about a 7 foot ultralight for small panfish, though. Light enough to cast, but still plenty manageable.

I like Pflueger President's but actually prefer a bit bigger reels. Smaller spinning reels create more problems. A 25 or 30 size of the same reel will likely still work fine. I like a 30 size with 4 or 6 lb line for such applications. For a casting application, either of those rods will work fine. Aside from the obvious slight size difference, I'm not sure what the difference is from specs, other than the handle.

A hook.

http://www.basspro.com/Plano-Guide-Series-Rod-and-Reel-Case-424340/product/1210040849/ Something like that may work. They come in several lengths, I believe this one is the shortest. These are designed for two piece rods.

Right hand dominant Reel right hand Cast/hold with left hand As someone mentioned above, I learned this way because it makes casting and spinning gear setups the same. In all likelihood, if companies had offered left handed retrieves back in the day, I probably would have gone the more 'natural' route for a right handed person and cast right handed and reeled left.

Great tips. As someone that does this (the snack size bags work well) I can attest that this saves so much space. Ziplock bags are far more flexible than most original plastics packaging and don't tend to naturally hold as much air.

As legit as it gets. Have fun.

Unfortunately I feel the same way about many bass boaters.

I own both, as well as the fisherman deluxe (essentially the slightly smaller version of the last generation magnum and the bag linked to earlier in this thread). The Super Magnum seems like a great idea and I do like it for the fact it stores practically everything, but it gets insanely heavy when fully loaded. To its credit, the bag can handle it. It's a fabulous bag in a fabulous series of bags, but maybe a bit big for its own good. It is about the size of a narrow cooler, if that helps you imagine the kind of space it would take on a boat and the challenge one faces maneuvering around it.

My preferred bags for years. Have several sizes and no matter how much weight I put in them, never a problem. Love the fact you can buy them without boxes, too. I don't think anyone makes a better heavy duty bag, in terms of construction.

If my wife wont take its picture.

Many years ago I was strictly a one piece advocate, but like everything else on a rod, the ferrules have improved over the years. With quality rods, I don't mind using 2 piece rods anymore. If I had a choice between a one piece 6 ft rod or a 2 piece 7 ft rod, I would take the longer rod. Too many advantages in terms of casting and leverage with that longer rod.

I've never trusted a combo rod/reel and probably never will. Just too easy for a company to mix and match on you. It can also, depending in store, be more difficult to replace in the event something breaks. I've never really felt there was a lot of convenience to be had and if you follow the sales you can often get those components for less if you buy them at the right time of year.