bwjay

Unless of course you hook yourself or someone on your boat/on shore with you. Bonus points if it's a heavy treble hook bait!

I haven't done a spinning reel myself yet but I would do it the same way I've done my baitcasting reels. Get a chopstick or a pencil, put the spool on, then pinch the ends with your big toes on each foot, putting very light pressure on the ground just to keep the spool from wobbling side to side. Keep pressure on the line as it comes onto the spool to get it on there tightly, but not TOO tight, just some light pressure. For baitcasting reels this works with just the reel in hand, but for spinning reels, because of how far the line spins around, I would put the reel on a rod and thread it through the guides so it goes on straight. This should still work with the spool between your feet because the line comes up to the rod and then straight down to the spool.

Great advice above, all good considerations. As said, stop the spool, then take your thumb off. If you want some extra line to let the bait fall naturally, grab it with your hand and pull some out, just not too fast so you don't backlash the reel. By taking out line after the bait hits the water, it will fall straight down, rather than towards you like a pendulum (since the line is taut it can't fall straight down, it falls in an arc). Generally though, feather the spool to prevent backlashes in wind or whatever (if necessary) and stop the spool right before the bait hits the water, then take your thumb off. Done. You don't need to keep your thumb on the spool once it is stopped. To answer your question about hooksets, if you've engaged the reel (turned the handle and thumb bar is disengaged) then you do not need your thumb on the spool for hooksets. You CAN leave it on the spool if you want, like if you're using light drag, but your drag should be set tight enough that you can get a good hookset. At least that is my experience.

I recently got into baitcasters (and fishing in general) and have done a fair bit of reading to figure out why people recommend what they do. I don't have a boat or kayak so am limited to bank fishing which limits me (personal choice) to 2 rods max per outing. I take canoe trips to the Boundary Waters yearly but I still only bring 3 rods max. So, I wanted to find the best combos I could to cover as many applications as possible, without getting rods that don't excel at anything. On canoe trips, I fish for walleye and lake trout in addition to bass, and of course, pike will eat the baits I throw for any of those species. My selection is very slightly biased to allow for better compatibility for these other species - very slightly. I have also adjusted my combos from what I initially bought, to things that I realized would be better for me after fishing for a bit. Namely, I've phased out my 6' Medium Fast casting (short handle for canoe fishing, accurate, but doesn't excel at much) and 7' Medium Heavy Fast casting (heavy rod, replaced with lighter more sensitive rod). 6'8" Medium XFast spinning (Shimano Expride) - vertical jigging for walleye/lakers, weightless worms, Ned rig, 3-4" Keitech swimbaits, but throws spinnerbaits, lipless, and small crankbaits like a Scatter Rap just fine, as long as I don't overpower the hookset and rip the hooks out; this could be a Medium Light if it was just for bass, but the added backbone for handling ferocious lakers is very much appreciated and it helps with versatility 6'9" Medium Heavy XFast casting (Kistler Helium3) - closer to Fast action - spinnerbaits, lipless, cranks, weightless worms, T-rigs, 3-4" Keitech swimbaits, jigs, swim jigs, frogs, topwater; this is my do-it-all rod that I bring if I just want to bring one rod 7' Heavy XFast casting (Kistler Helium3) - closer to Fast action - basically same as the MHXF but I'd use this for jigs and frogs and use the MHXF for lighter baits if I had both rods with me; both rods can still do a ton because of the forgiving blank, and this one is really lightweight for its power which is super nice (1.4oz lighter than my St Croix 7'MHF Premier) I don't throw big heavy swimbaits though I have two 6" glidebaits that I have yet to get wet; I would only throw those on the 7'HXF though I'm sure the MHXF would still handle them in a pinch. If I had an actual boat, or a kayak, I would probably add a dedicated cranking/treble/topwater rod (maybe 7'MHMF), use the 6'8MXF spinning for worms/Ned rig, the 6'9MHXF for single hook moving baits, and the 7'HXF for T-rigs and jigs. I could see adding a redundant MHXF to keep two different types of moving baits tied on for a total of 5 rods, but I think 4 would cover it (and that's with a dedicated treble rod). 3 really covers it all as far as I'm concerned, and even 2 (1 spinning for finesse, 1 casting for everything else) still works pretty well. I use snaps to save time (and leader line) which might seem like blasphemy to some, but I still manage to catch a decent amount of fish. If I'm trying to entice big ones and sticking to one or two techniques, I'll direct tie for sure. If fishing is slow and I have to throw the sink at them, then snaps are a huge time saver. Hopefully this helps! Looking forward to seeing what you go with.

I'm not familiar with the rods you have, but I can say that I personally appreciate having better gear and knowing that it's not holding me back, knowing that I am the weakest link in the chain. This leads me to usually end up with upper midrange gear for whatever hobby in question. As far as my fishing gear goes, I have 2 ~$500 combos and a couple ~$250-350 combos. I definitely have a lot of learning to do and I am under no impression whatsoever that buying expensive rods and reels is going to magically improve my angling. However, I like learning on good gear, and I think that the techniques I will hopefully master using this gear will make me a better angler with cheaper gear. Of course I could learn on cheaper gear and upgrade later, but, too late for that now. If you're looking to get one really nice rod/reel that will add sensitivity, don't shrug it off just because you don't have 20-60 years of experience beforehand that might help you appreciate it. I think it would give you more confidence, and it JUST might actually help you catch more fish. The confidence is the big thing for me though. Today with my new Kistler H3 (6'9" MHXF) I was running small squarebills over, through, and around weeds, and could feel the difference between a bite and ticking the tops of grass with the trebles, and it landed me a few fish without any "unnecessary" hooksets. Maybe I missed some fish? I can't say. But I felt quite confident and felt a great deal of variety in the feel of different lake structure (various species of weeds, lily pads, and bottom contact). I was with my dad who was using a real old fiberglass broomstick I used to fish with as a kid, and he only thought he had 2 possible light bites in 4 hours, and missed both of them. There could be plenty of reasons for that obviously, and they may not have even been bites, but I have a feeling if he had a more sensitive rod, he would have been a lot more sure if they were bites. I distinctly remember that rod being a broomstick with almost no flex (looks like a 7' XHXF or something) so while I felt bad for my dad I wasn't exactly surprised that he wasn't feeling bites. Could have been the bait, time of day, rod, skill, tons of stuff... BUT... put better gear in the hands of someone with at least a little experience, and I believe it will help. Go for it!

It really does depend on how much you’re willing to spend on your hobbies, what you can afford. I tend to spend more for my hobbies than my friends because I really enjoy having quality gear, knowing it’s not holding me back, knowing I’m the weak link. Because of that I would say high end is $300 and over for rods, $400 and over for reels. Rods have such a wide price range and you don’t get that much more for your money once you go over $250-300 IMO but there are definitely gains to be had. Reels really get up there in price and I would say something like Bantam is right on the edge of high end with something like a Steez or Antares being definitely high end. Based on this I don’t have any high end setups, just upper mid-range setups, but they’re still $500-600 combos. Since I don’t have 10 combos and I try to cover as much with as little as possible I can justify it but I know I could easily get by with spending half as much and probably enjoying fishing almost just as much. But there’s something about a light sensitive rod and a really smooth reel that just feels so good. But I digress...

I was using a new piece of line for each test, absolutely. I made sure there were no stretches or abrasions in each piece before using it. I am definitely going to try other knots though.

I don't have any great recommendations for you, but I can say, in agreement with Fry's assessment, that my 7' MHF Premier feels tip-heavy, and is fatiguing to use as a frog rod. I used it for about 2 hours one day, first time I had tried it, after about an hour and a half of trying other techniques (straight retrieve or twitching) and my hand was destroyed the next day, very stiff. I have since learned to walk by palming the reel as normal but extending my index finger up onto the blank/cork above the reel. It gives me more leverage and doesn't strain my wrist as much, I've found. Still, I'm looking for a lighter rod for frogging. I'm using a Bantam with it which isn't exactly a light reel and it still feels tip-heavy, so, hopefully that gives you some idea.

Maybe it is just knot strength related. I've been careful to wet my knots to avoid burning the fluoro but it seems that may not be enough. I will see about trying a few different knots that have less bends in them... thanks for the suggestions! As for line diameter, my 40lb Super8SlickV2 and 14lb Sniper have the same diameter, 0.31mm. I actually didn't plan this but I knew the 14lb would be close; I was gonna go with 14 or 16lb when I bought it and went on the lower side. Dang it... I was just getting really good at tying the double uni knot. Thanks again for everyone's feedback. I do have some fresh line coming from TW so I can run that through the same tests just to see if it responds the same way. I will still pursue other knots to see how they work for my specific lines.

Just tried this. The 10lb Sniper held up the weight, no problem. I started "bouncing" the weight up and down to put more force on the line, and eventually caused it to snap. This may have partially been due to abrasion, as the weights are coated in a sort of rough texture (but not super rough). I made sure not to rub the line against the weight before lifting it up. So, it seems the line can hold 10lb but because the weight was distributed across multiple points of the line, I don't think it's really the same as something hanging from one end.

I thought about that, but I got it from Tackle Warehouse, a pretty high volume seller from my understanding. And this was fresh line off the spool, never stretched.

I noticed recently that when trying to get snags free, knowing I would probably be breaking line (using my hands to pull, not the rod/reel), that the fluoro side of my double uni leader knot was breaking. In the past, it was the lure/snap that would break off. Not often, considering I rarely snag so bad that I have to break the line, but recently I've been bank fishing and casting in/around trees where my lure gets wrapped around a branch and there's no way I can do anything but break/cut it. Now, I didn't test the breaking strength when I got the line. I'm using Sunline Sniper FC, 3 months old, 10lb and 14lb, as a leader, paired with 15lb PowerPro and 40lb Super8SlickV2, respectively. I had no issues with breakage before. But now that I've had multiple breakoffs at my leader knot, I'm becoming concerned. So, today I tested something. I have some 10lb weights that have a hole in the middle, so I have some paracord tied through there with a loop that I can hook onto. I tied a big VMC snap onto one end of the line and put a glove on my hand, wrapped line around it, and gently pulled up. With all knots, I used a Palomar knot, wetted decently with saliva before pulling the snap through the loop, and wetted decently again before pulling tight. Here are the results: 14lb Sniper + 20lb weight: broke before getting the weight into the air, probably 2/3 of the total weight, no surprise 14lb Sniper + 10lb weight: broke before getting the weight into the air, at/inside the Palomar knot 14lb Sniper + 10lb weight: broke before getting the weight into the air, at/inside the Palomar knot again 14lb Sniper + 10lb weight + more saliva and slower/more deliberate knot: got all 10lbs into the air and held it there steady for 20-30 sec, then started pulling up hard on it to add more downward force, caused it to break at/inside the Palomar knot after that 10lb Sniper + 10lb weight: broke before getting the weight into the air, probably 1/2 the total weight. WOW was this upsetting. I didn't try any more with the 10lb Sniper as I was pretty annoyed at this point. It is possible I would have gotten it into the air but I doubt it. So, my question is, what's the deal? This fluoro is only 3 months old. It's been kept out of sunlight as much as possible (in a bag 95% of the time). The ONLY thing I can think of, is that, on a canoe trip in June, I had both spools in their plastic boxes inside a canvas(?) pouch on the side of my backpack. This canvas pouch has a zipper and but no ventilation holes. The backpack sat on the floor of the canoe which basically always had a small amount of water in it. My backpack bottom was almost always wet to some degree. Is it possible that excessive wetness and possibly mild heat (mid-70s) caused the line to weaken significantly? The line was in the plastic box it comes in, so it's not like it was sitting in tons of water, but the pouch it was in was wet a fair amount of time and didn't dry out quickly, so it was probably humid inside the pouch. Could this really cause the line to weaken so significantly? Needless to say, I feel like I can't trust the line anymore, so I bought some more, and will be keeping it in a hard plastic container away from water, air, and sunlight. But I would still like to know what the heck happened.

My Super Spook does bomb like a champ, so yeah with heavy baits I get that it's not that hard to reach the end of a spool. But I have never, not once, gotten close to that. Nor have I felt like I really needed to. But that may change.

Well, if you can re-sell it easily for the same price, and know 7'6" isn't too long for you, then there isn't too much risk. You can always get the Expride brand new, and maybe find one used as well in the future. If it turns out that the Conquest doesn't quite fit the bill, or you see a good pride on the Expride and decide to buy it and compare it to the Conquest, and find that it does what you want for less money, then you can re-sell the Conquest with a tiny loss (probably). I know the sensible decision is to get the Expride, but I am very familiar with knowing that.. well.. the heart wants what it wants.

Wow, we've got some professional casters here. I can't cast more than maybe 30 yards with 40lb Super8Slick V2 and I thought that was pretty good. Like BaitFinesse said, it would seem that too much further would make it difficult to detect strikes and get the right action on the bait. 60 yards is over half a football field... I feel like if I tried to cast that far with a 1/2oz frog/jig I would either fall over with the momentum, or backlash the reel, or both. Thumbs up to those who can actually do it and be accurate with it... maybe I'll get there some day. If you're not trying to break the bank with the reels, the SLX is nice, but the spool is small so if you are a pro caster as I mentioned, it just might be too small for you. The Bantam is an absolutely fantastic reel, a joy to use, but the spool is small as well. I have not used any reels with a 200 size spool but it sounds like that is a hard requirement for you, so I would look no further than the Curado K. I would say XG to take up line quickly once you hit the strike zone, but you might want more torque for the heavy cover, so HG would probably be a safe bet.

7'6" is pretty long (but I like shorter rods) and Jrob is right. You really don't need endgame sensitivity for those techniques. I think the Expride would serve you well for the techniques you've listed, and save you a couple hundred as well. And, not that this matters for actual fishing, but, Exprides are really sexy rods...

In Minnesota we have some real thick vegetation in the summer. As a bank fisherman at the moment (no boat or kayak), I am stuck fishing moving water with very sparse fish, or areas with lots of weeds. I caught my first two frog fish ever today and had a blast, but my Bantam+7ft MHF St Croix Premier combo is leaving my hand very tired and sore after two hours. The Premier is an alright rod, but I do feel like it is tip heavy, and it takes a lot of torque to twitch it. Funny enough, I caught my first one using my 6ft MF Premier which struggled a little pulling the fish through the weeds, but I managed! I know you don't need sensitivity for a frog rod, so I'm not looking to spend $200 on it because of that. However, I do want a lightweight rod that won't ruin my hands after only 1-2 hours, and you gotta pay for that weight savings. I was thinking possibly a 7ft HF Dobyns Champion XP (704 SH XP) but it is a little spendy if it is JUST a frog rod. I could use it for heavier jigs but my lures with trailer rarely exceed 1/2oz (with some 3/4oz topwater) so I don't really need a rod to handle heavy lures. My thinking is this. If I have to spend $150-250 to get nice light rod, I might as well try to make it somewhat cross-functional with other techniques. So, knowing I can pull fish through weeds using M-MH power... would it be acceptable to get something like a 6'9" MHXF Kistler H3 which would be used for jigs and spinnerbaits in addition to frogs? I would like to keep length to 7ft or slightly below, as since I am bank fishing, my clearance to the water is limited, I am sometimes surrounded by brush, and cast accuracy is important. I would pair the frog rod with my SLX to start since it is a lightweight reel, but I may step up the reel eventually. Thoughts and recommendations? Thanks!

My SLX is a decent reel, though I can't seem to cast as far with it as I can with my Bantam. It also has a "knocking" sound when reeling fast, like the handle isn't perfectly joined to the cranking shaft or whatever it's called, but I've heard this in videos for more expensive reels, like I wanna say I heard it from a Chronarch. The SLX is quite light and small though and palms quite nicely as someone with medium sized hands. The Bantam is in another league completely though in terms of smoothness, sound of retrieve (there is none, no matter how fast you reel), play in the reel (there is none), and feel in the hand. The Bantam is definitely noticeably heavier but it is so so enjoyable to use. That said, the SLX was my first baitcaster and I am still pretty pleased with it. I was using it for flipping the other day and it performed admirably. But it's hard not to think about how amazing the Bantam feels to fish, when using anything else... it makes even my Stradic Ci4+ feel meh. But I digress... the SLX should last you a while if you keep it clean and don't drop it. But it does seem like the SLX XT is a better option now for hardly any more money, with the SVS Infinity adjustable brake.

15lb PowerPro braid to 10lb Sunline Sniper FC with a double uni knot... works great. Good hooksets, no issues with line twist, and you still get great sensitivity. Other than tying the connection knot I have yet to find any downsides of this setup.

Medium power is probably fine as you won't be ripping through vegetation (where more power would be desired) nor will you need monstrous hookset power like for frogs. I have a St. Croix PC60MF (6' MF casting) that is very fun to use due to its short size, and it casts light AND somewhat heavy lures (~3/4oz) with ease. I use it with everything from a weightless Senko to a Super Spook. The walking action is great, though I might say the tip seems closer to a moderate-fast compared to my extra-fast rods - maybe it really is right in the middle like it's supposed to be? I have no issues walking baits and it flings them pretty far, but still seems to have a fairly moderate action decent enough for treble hooksets. I could be talking outta my butt right now, but long story short, my 6' MF rod works with pretty much any lure I throw on it, and is fun to use. Outside of frogging (want more backbone and faster tip if possible) I would say a 6' MF can do it all. But I'm a guy who tries to keep things minimal, so of course I'll say that. There will probably be folks coming in to say you need 3 different rods to do what I've described, and they're probably not wrong in the sense that specializing would make you more successful for each individual technique. But, for soft plastics and light topwaters, I think Medium power is all you need, and a thicker backbone might hurt your technique a little for low weight lures. MXF probably wouldn't hurt, but it would make the rod a little less versatile considering you want a slower action for trebles, if you decided to use the rod for more than soft plastics and light topwater. Hope this helps. If I am wrong about any of this I would love to learn as it will improve my technique as well, so to anyone reading, please correct me if I'm wrong!

They have a 5:1 ratio version, but other than that I think it's just $50 cheaper (hitting the $300 price point stated by OP).

If it's smoothness you want, the Bantam is a fantastic choice. It is noticeably heavier than a Metanium (MGL anyway) and it is possible that you just need more torque with a lower gear ratio, but if you can stomach the price increase (or buy JDM) then I don't think you would be disappointed with a Bantam. Mine was still buttery with a 4lb lake trout that took out drag a few times and then got horsed in by yours truly. That was with the HG reel as well. Not once have I felt like the reel struggles under pressure. It feels like a smooth winch. Love it.

Might be a stupid suggestion on my part, but make sure that the line isn't wrapped around the guides on the rod. Have tried to cast like that a few times. Always fun.

Welp, that's the only reason why I thought people recommended against light braid (10-20lbs).

Checked TW's page for the Poison Adrena casting rods and now the 6'11" and 7'2" are showing stock on June 29. Not sure if some people got theirs shipped from early (June 9) stock but my order tracking is showing the delay until 6/29.