kyle90ranger365v

Darcy, do what works for you. There's no absolutes about using BC reels. My Dad and his brother set theirs completely different and neither one has any troubles to speak of. My Uncle sets his where he ALWAYS has his thumb on it (i.e. very loose) and my Dad and I both work ours until its set where the spool stops or is going very slow just about the time the lure is hitting the water on a long cast and we then use our thumb to stop it. I've got different reels that require different settings for different lures and then I've got others that seem to need very little adjustment. I'd say how you're doing it is very close to how I would. Changing those brakes (once I found what worked good for me would only happen for me if I go from one extreme to the other and just have to). You can use your thumb instead of the brakes anyway. Let me put it this way.....I have to vary my casting and thumb action a little when I C-rig. My cast becomes more of a real lob and I let the line start to slip just the slightest bit earlier than normal to start the spool spinning slower instead of a jerking quick start that can happen with the longer line out of the rod tip that a C-rig requires. It's all about feel. You've got to throw them enough and think about what you're doing when you do it. Play around with the settings and find what works for you and your casting style. Some seem to do better with a lighter spool tension knob setting and more brake and some the other way around. YES - the initial setup shown in that article is a great place to start and then ease up on brake and knob tension until you can maximize your casts with minimal overruns. Guys these days have it so much easier trying to learn how to use BC's than we did when I was growing up. You either learned how to "feather" that spool with your thumb or put the thing down, cause you'd spend all day picking out backlashes. Learn to use that thumb .......heck GOD put it there for a reason....use it I used to be able to throw farther with my spinning reels years ago but once I got comfortable with my BC's, not so......not even close.