MickD

Having viewed this kind of question on this site many times it appears to me that the Shimano Curado would be the most mentioned favorite casting reel-sounds like a "can't go wrong" kind of decision. Check out this site: http://stores.ebay.com/All-Pro-Fisher_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm I've bought reels from this Ebay store before and this is a very reliable outfit. He has "buy it now" Curados for $170+ $5 shipping.

I fish with a low ratio BPS Extreme, and it casts wonderfully-smooth, quiet-no problems. Except I don't like that low ratio for any kind of fishing. I think 6.3 is optimum for most fishing. Having to remove the side cover to adjust is a snap, and you really don't have to adjust this reel that often. I expect the Pro Qualifier is even better, and it does adjust from the outside. Remember that in bait casting the reel is much more important than spinning, and with the differences in the sale prices of these reels only about $15, I would pospone the purchase, save up a little more, and buy the Pro Qualifier. In 6.3 for me, and I'd just reel a little slower if necessary.

Just noticed today that one of my least favorite spinning reels is a Quantum PT i in 20 size. It just isn't very smooth compared to the Cabelas/Daiwa Prodigy/Capricorn reels. After fishing with them, the Quantum always stands out as not being nearly as nice to use. Bail feels sloppy, although it always works, the drag is fine, it's the roughness on reeling that really is the problem. It has been maintained well and not used that much, so there is no reason for this problem.

I have two Quantum casting reels, a Cabo wide spool for salt (have caught cudas to 4 feet on it-performed perfectly-drag is bullet proof-had albacore take 150 yards in one screaming run and drag was solid and smooth as silk all the way) and a Pro PT 7:1 for fresh water casting (salmon to 15 pounds, long hard runs, drag on this one is bullet proof too). Regarding casting, both models seem to be quite critical to adjustments. Every lure weight change or type seems to require adjustment, unlike other reels I've used. I just discovered an easy way to improve them. The adjustment screw that loads the end of the spool shaft does not have a spring inside it, just a solid washer to provide the contact with the shaft. Thus it goes from no contact to hard contact in about a tenth of a turn. By putting the lightest wave washer (from the hardware store bin of hardware)I could find in the adjustment cap UNDER the solid washer (solid washer still contacts the end of the spool) I found that it is less critical of adjustment and gives more of a usable adjustment range. Some reels use a coil spring in this position, and if I can find one of the right diameter and length, I'll try that-it should work better. Both reels, exc for comment above, perform flawlessly under really demanding conditions. I use braid on both.

For another opinion: David is an expert and knows what he is talking about. I agree that I learn something with every build, so if you stand where I am in my rod building progress and look back it leads to a conclusion that a $150 blank may not be the right place to start. I recommend starting with a much cheaper blank, and I'm told that Rainshadow blanks are a very good value. Don't do it if you are just looking for a cheaper rod. It's not about cheap, it's about doing it yourself and coming up with a rod you can really feel proud of. You can buy some very nice rods for $100, all built up and ready to go, especially if you follow the Bass Pro Shops sales. (Like David said) To me the reason for building is that I can, for the price of a good premium rod, (~$200) have a rod that is better than a factory rod, designed specifically for my type of fishing, for my particular reel and line type, better, lighter guides generally, better cork, that has my "brand" of winding schemes (simple, elegant, classy). I recommend you look at David's post at the top of the tacklemaking forum for an idea of what you are getting into. For first rods you don't need all the equipment he has-you can turn cork on a drill press with the proper "jigs," or you can just use purchased cork handles and sand them to what you want. You can make reamers fairly easily, and as others have pointed out, winding can be done with books for thread tension. You will need a drying motor and chuck (bought mine on eBay for about $12-cobbled my own V blocks for supporting the rod for winding and drying). Another great source of info is the library at http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/library.html Rodmaker Magazine is about as good as it gets for info, but costs about $27/year (worth every penny if you get into rodmaking). It is very important to understand that every aspect of designing a rod is flexible-you can do whatever you want- BUT you should understand why you are doing it the way you are planning to do it and understand the tradeoffs involved. For first builds you can copy existing designs, then work on your own designs on subsequent builds if you choose to continue. One of the most critical steps that was sort of glossed over as inconsequential in an earlier post is that of guide sizing and location. Read up on that in detail before starting a rod (before buying the guides). An idea for cheaply getting a feel for winding is to buy a few hook keepers and some thread that matches your existing rods that don't have keepers, and install some keepers on those rods. I'd practice on an old piece of blank or a dowel first. If you do your homework I don't think the risk of ruining a blank is that high. It may not be the same rod you would build if it were your 10th rod, but it will be a good, servicable, rod that you can be proud of. Mick

There are plenty of high quality components other than Fuji. For guides I have recently built 2 rods with Amtak titanium frame nanolite ring guides ("Titans") and really like them. I cannot testify about Fuji's customer service, but Amtak is very fast and responsive. Nanolite is zirconium oxide, which according to Amtak is almost as hard as SIC but much less brittle. I have used both and had no trouble with either. Of course for what you pay for them, they both should be very good! I think the need for the hardest rings is most important for tiptops. I have some pretty cheap rods that I have used with braid for many years and have never grooved a guide. Just the tiptops. I love the Forecast textured trigger reel seat as it is available in a large selection of inside diameters so you don't use arbors, just get the right size and glue it in.

Oops! Forgot to suggest EBay-there are usually some good deals there, especially if you are patient. Check out the sellers ratings-should be 98-100% positive-anything less would be suspect. Better to save up and get a good casting reel rather than settle and be displeased with it. Check out what you are planning to purchase on this site-there are a lot of knowledgeable people who can help you avoid mistakes. With spinning it is 80% about the rod, with casting it is 80% about the reel.

I use small crosslok snaps for most of my fishing, tie direct to tubes, other finesse plastics. Many cranks will work better with a snap as long as it is not too big. Also, I rarely use swivels-only use them when using spoons for a long time like casting for salmon or pike. I agree with Roadwarrier on his assessment of casting vs spinning but would add that if you are going to be casting for hours and hours, like on a trip to Canada for pike or casting for Kings that have just come in from the Great Lakes, then the ergonomics of casting outfits will make a believer of you. With spinning your casting hand wrist takes the whole load when retrieving and most of the load when fighing fish. With casting you cradle the rod in a way that shares the load more of the time. After many hours of casting/fishing/fighting fish with a casting outfit your casting hand wrist will be much less strained/tired.

It used to be argued that when line goes off the spinning reel by using the drag, it would get twisted. It would take a lot of revs to twist it significantly, I would think. I don't know if line twist is significant due to using the drag or not, but back when that argument was being made, I learned to backreel. I now use backreeling and the drag-when I screw up in the backreeling, the drag takes over and bails me out. I use 10-15 pound braid for 95% of my spinning fishing. I have to agree with the arguments that the drags on modern reels are very reliable and smooth and that relying on them is probably the most reliable way of playing and landing fish. If you screw up on backreeling, and backreel too much/fast, you can end up very quickly with no tension in the line allowing the fish a better chance to get off. One mistake I see made fairly often that could twist the line a lot is having the drag set too low and reeling in at the same time the fish is taking line against the drag.

Attaboy, Crestliner. I couldn't have said it any better (which is obvious, since I didn't), and I agree with you 100%. A nicely balanced approach to the issue. I might add that in my opinion, most losses of fish occur due to not doing the first thing my dad told me about fighting a fish- about 60 years ago - and not due to crushed barbs- "Keep a tight line." Many fishermen lose the tight line when they reel down. You can see it when their rod loses its bend. If the rod isn't bent, the line has no tension, and the fish can often use that as an opportunity to get the hook out. How many fish have you caught where the lure fell out as you went to take it out, barb or no barb? If your line is always taut, then the chances of losing the fish are much less. Yes, I know jumping bass change the odds, but the principal is still the same. Mick

REGARDING: I think that was a big boat rod in that setup, a 10 or 12 size bumper is a big guide. Here is a look at a 5'6" bumper wrapped to the left, pistol grip rod, the butt guide is a #10 size, the bumper a #7 single foot, and the running guides are #6 single foot guides out to the tip top. Wish I had known that (boat rod) before I did the rod! Looks like I'm about a guide size oversize on all but the last few near the tip. Sure works well, though. I looked at your rods at your website, nice stuff all. I also learned that there is a good keeper for drop shots, have ordered a few. thanks for your comments. Mick

I checked out the recommended thread and note the arguments: Spiral wrap is more noticeable on heavy action rods. Spiral wrap is more noticeable on light action rods. Spiral wrap works OK but has no real advantages relative to torquing. I tried the recommended thing about holding the line to heavily load the rods and noticeing how the rod turns over on conventional but not on spiral wrap: None of my rods, from medium heavy to light action, turn over when heavily loaded. If the loading is off to one side rather than right down the rod at 12-6 o'clock, then the rods do torque in that direction, but not close to all the way. If I load the rods on center, then move the line out to the sides, most rods do "snap" over when the line gets far enough to the left or right, but they never turn over to where the guides are on the bottom. The spiral wrap rod is pure and smooth with this exercise, never showing any discontinuity in the loading like the "snapping" over that conventional rods show. Having done all this, and having some really good experience recently with some very powerful fish, I have to conclude that the torquing that spiral winding is supposed to eliminate is not really significant on fresh water casting rods. I expect that I would come to a different conclusion with salt water boat rods and hoisting up Groupers from the bottom. Interesting discussions!

REGARDING: You keep making mention of the bumper guide on the simple spiral being a distraction. You have me curious as to what size guides you put on this rod? Plus you could have used the O-Quinn style of spiral that would have used multiple guides in the transition of the line to the bottom. The guides were sized per the Tom Kirkman article in Rodbuilder magazine, and are the Amtac titanium framed casting guides. The bumper is, I believe, a size 10 or 12, whatever Tom recommended. I think that smaller guides would have worked as well, but it being my first spiral wound rod, I followed directions. Although, the sizing of the guides as they are keeps a really nice routing with the rod both under stress and in the unstressed casting mode. The line nicely transitions from the top to the bottom without touching the blank or taking any sharp turns. I considered the Quinn style, had the guides on the rod that way with tape, casted with it, and then tried the simple spiral. I found no difference in casting with any setup I had-line goes through the guides silently and with no apparent losses, either way. I confess, I'm a retired engineer, and seem to like order in my stuff. I think the bumper just looks out of order, as I think having more guides not at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock would also (O Quinn). Maybe in time I will just forget it. The rod is a beautiful rod that fishes very well. I like my windings on a glossy rod to "disappear," and using Gudbrod Olive thread without color preservative, with simple metallic gold accents only at the tip and the butt, it is in my opinion a beautiful rod, my best build to date. thanks for your comments. Mick

REGARDING: Then lift the rod and get a good bend in it. Put as much stress on it as you dare. Then look at the tip top and you will notice that it and the blank have been torqued to the bottom position. Will do, also will consult the article you mentioned. The rod I was directly comparing it to, and with which I landed some very solid King Salmon, was the light action Loomis CBN841 (think I have the number right, the medium power, medium light action, crankbait blank wound conventionally). Maybe I'm just not noticing it in the heat of the "battle." thanks for your comments, Mick

What is the action of the Rod? It is a 6' 9" casting rod blank that has a fast tip with a very powerful butt. The flex is mostly in the tip. It is a powerful rod , handled the big fish very well. No complaints with the rod action on fighting fish or casting, it's just that without a compelling advantage for the spiral wind, I'd rather not be staring at that bumper guide all the time. Mick

I have a PT TOUR that I bought this year. It is an exceptionally smooth reel, but I think all the good reels now are. One of these days I'm going to go over the exploded view and find out where they put all 10 of the bearings! As an earlier poster mentioned, it has to be adjusted perfectly to cast well. The centrifugal adjustment is very critical, seeming to use up its whole range of adjustability in just a click or two, and the adjustment nut on the end of the spool seems to either be on or off. I think the problem with it is that that nut should have a compliant "springy" piece of sheet metal in it to engage the end of the spool, but it seems to have no compliance. So it either is not touching or has excessive control. What this all means is that when changing lure types, you have to go into the adjustments again. This is quite unlike my 10 year old Calcutta 100, which takes very little adjustment between lure types and weights. Poor old Calcutta only has two ball bearings + the clutch, and casts VERY well. Next time I think I will stick with the guys who recommend the Curado. One thing I have to say about the PT Tour is that its drag is the smoothest, most powerful drag I've found on reels of this general size. It handles 15 pound King Salmon with no problems.

Another idea for you: I use only braid, and almost only Power Pro. I use 15 # on spinning and it seldom gives any trouble at all on the "no tension" reeling that occurs when fishing plastics by casting upstream and reeling back down. I use a 6-8 pound fluorocarbon leader about as long as the rod, attached to the Power Pro with a double uni knot. I use 6 pound XPS fluorocarbon for vertical jigging in clear water, so had that on one rod, and ended up at the river the other day with that. Didn't take very long before it balled up and I had about 15 yards of line to cut off. If you want trouble free plastics and small crankbait fishing, with line that casts like a bullet and telegraphs every touch of the lure, and has reliable hook sets (like RW said, the "snap" set), try 10-15 pound braid with the flouro leader. And yes, if you are using braid you probably want rods that are softer than those that are best for mono. The ONLY disadvantage of this setup is that you have to learn to tie the double uni knot or similar, but that is not difficult. While braid is expensive, it outlasts mono by a big margin, and you really don't have to use that much of it for most fishing.

Anyone who uses Gamagatsu tube jigs and has tried it both ways knows without a shadow of a doubt that it is easier on the released fish to have the barb crushed. I just verified it again today when I forgot to crush one and I had to really hold on to a little bass and the hook "crunched" heavily as it finally came out. Maybe with less aggressive barbs it makes less of a difference, but no difference? Can't buy that at all. Also, I had little bass that took the tube pretty deep, and with a crushed barb, the jig simply had to be pushed down with hardly any effort, and it popped right out. Doesn't do that with a full barb. Oh, I did lose a couple. What a horrible day!

For LM and SM bass, I crush the barbs most of the time. Sometimes I forget. I don't think it costs me any fish, but I expect that depends on how you play them. I have a friend who almost always loses the bend in his rod when he cranks down, and he loses a lot of fish even with barbs. I keep the bend in my rod and lose very few. My son argues that with the barbs crushed he gets more hook sets as the hooks penetrate more easily. I'm not sure of that, but he catches a lot of fish. Since we do only catch and release for bass, the release is so much easier on the fish-less damage at the hook, faster back into the water. If I lose a fish now and then, so what? Often we will give them slack when they are at the boat and they get off without our handling them. It's hooking them and the fight that are the most fun of the fishing experience-once they are done, the easier the release the better.

Bill Norman Deep Baby N's are hard to beat, in Gelcraw finish, especially. I have caught everything from suckers to salmon on them, and smallmouths really like them. You often have to fish them very slow with stops, especially in cold water.

Try using your finger on the lip of the spool instead of on the rod. Then you can easily drop it back down into the line flow to slow down or stop the lure. Also, until you become used to casting with a spinning rod, keep the rod vertical as you bring it back and snap it forward for the cast. This makes it impossible for the lure to go anywhere except straight ahead of your vertical motion. Distance becomes the only other issue, and just keep practicing with the timing of the line release and try to keep a smooth, continuous, motion bringing it back then going forward. I agree with a poster who said rod action has an influence-the stiffer the rod the less forgiving it is. If you have a soft rod available, try it with that one until you get confident. Mick

There are certain rods that each offer that the other does not, at least in blanks, which is what I am interested in. I have an SCV St Croix spinning rod, 7 foot fast/medium one piece that is a great rod, and I would like to make another like it, so looked into Loomis just to see what they have. They don't offer a comparable blank, exc maybe for GLX, and I don't even think they do there. Besides, I'm not into $250 blanks yet. So I'll make another SCV St Croix. I have made two Loomis Bronze casting rods, one the SB812 (spinnerbait) which has a fairly powerful butt and lively, medium, tip. It's a great rod for casting to big fish. Not sure what in St Croix would compare. The other Loomis Bronze is their 7 foot medium/medium light one piece casting rod (crankbait). What a sweet rod. The blank feels a lot like a spinning rod blank, feather light, super sensitive, and it really casts the lighter lures easily. Yet handles big fish just fine (King salmon up to 15 pounds). I'm not sure St Croix offers anything like this, either. So when you are looking for a specific "tool," you may find that only one of these top companies offers what you are looking for. Especially if you are in the market for blanks instead of finished rods. Mick

The only thing I do differently than you is to use my right index finger against the lip of the reel instead of on the rod. This may be more precise and controllable than pinching the line against the rod. Give it a try. By doing it this way it is natural to move the finger back onto the reel lip at the end of the cast to shorten the cast if you've thrown too far and to stop the cast to straighten the lure out so you get fewer tangles of cranks and spinnerbaits as the lure enters the water. Try to use a consistent motion so you will get used to it. Some prefer sidearm, some overhead, but until you get confident, do it one way and that way every time. I use a motion that brings the rod back then forward in a smooth motion with no stop in the motion. That loads the rod helping to propel the lure without your needing to have any abrupt, fast, motions involved. And as others have said, practice practice practice. Spinning is usually found to be easier than bait casting for most since you don't have to worry about the backlashes. I think the basic rod motions should be very similar, however. Mick

I just spent a few days on the water with my new Loomis Spinnerbait rod that I made recently with the simple spiral wrap scheme. Here are my comments on spiral wrap casting rods based on that experience: It casts beautifully, and I don't see that the spiral wrap cost me any accuracy or distance. Before tieing the guides down I tried it a lot with different wrap schemes, including conventional. The line (braid) goes through the guides smoothly and quietly, just like conventional. I don't sense any advantage in reducing torquing in the hand while fighting fish. I used it and a conventional rod on King Salmon up to about 20 pounds, which are very tough fish, and couldn't sense the torquing on either rod. Maybe I'm insensitive to that, but I expect it really isn't a significant issue on this kind of rod. Maybe on boat rods with even bigger fish. . . In all respects it is as enjoyable to use as conventional except. . . I really don't care to be staring at that 90 degree bumper guide all the time. I don't mind the first guide on top or the other guides on the bottom, but that bumper guide just seems to bug me. I think I'll go back to making conventional wraps. With regard to using the split butt grip design, I'm converted on that one. I like the looks and really like the feel while casting. With one handed casting, the short front piece works as well as conventional. With two handed casting, I really like the feel of the smooth blank on my rear hand and the small butt piece of cork gives a better feel than the conventional smooth cylinder of cork. I used the exotic burl cork and finished it with cork preservative, and that makes the color a rich darker tan/brown. And it feels great in the hand. I'm going with exotic burl and split grip on all my builds from now on. Mick

Some things to consider that I did not on my first few builds: Reel seats usually are way too long and can be cut down-check out how many threads you need for your reels and cut off the rest. It makes the handle section of the rod shorter and allows for more cork without making the butt too long. Make sure you are making the butt cork to reel dimension one that will allow you to use the rod without the butt catching on your bicep/elbow (hand on reel foot (spinning) and arm bent, like when jigging). The preglued corks may be cut down to any length you want-don't feel because it comes at 9 inches it has to stay that way. Measure twice, cut once. Put a hook keeper on it-the simple ones are dirt cheap and will protect the cork and/or first guide from damage from hooks. So handy yet often are included on only the more expensive factory rods. One thing I've started doing is using a Fuji 5.5 mm fly rod guide as a keeper. Looks different, looks good, works well, and they cost less than $1.50. Unlike the folding ones, the guide and the simple loop keepers are always open and handy. If you plan on using braid, get a really high quality tip top. I don't think the other guides will get grooved very quickly with braid, but the tiptop will if it is not a premium tiptop. Even the best cost only about $5. If you plan to use braid, go a little softer on the rod blank than if you plan to use mono. Enjoy!