Alden

Let me ask another question. When setting the spool tension knob do you hold your rod horizontally or at a 45 degree angle?

Mostly 3/4 ounce as I've had bad luck with anything lighter. I'm not sure about the rod rating off the top of my head, I'd have to check later tonight. I've got a pretty good feel for how smooth the cast should be as I can tell immediately when I was a little too enthusiastic right before the inevitable quick stop of my line running. Oftentimes the backlash happens 1-2 seconds after releasing the lure, that's more what I meant by beginning/mid cast. I really don't think that's the issue as I've spent more than a few hours focusing solely on the casting technique. As I said above, a lot of times its takes a couple seconds before the backlash happens. It happens almost instantly when I throw it too aggressively.

Good to know, thanks. I appreciate the advice.

My issue is backlash in the beginning/middle of the cast rather than the end. I'm also open to suggestions for any brand as my gear is an assortment of all different manufacturers. I have it set so the lure falls slowly and the spool doesn't overrun when it hits the ground.

Maybe I gave the wrong impression. I'm not looking to eliminate thumbing the reel. I understand that baitcasters are designed to be more actively controlled and I like that. A problem I frequently run into is backlash occurring shortly after I release the lure if I don't immediately apply slight pressure to the spool, even though I'm not casting all that hard. Naturally this decreases the distance I'm able to achieve. My understanding is that magnetic brakes help at the end of the cast but I find that to be the easiest part to control. My brother-in-law uses one that's much more expensive (don't know the model but he spends way more on gear than I do) and I never see him put his thumb on the reel until the very end of the cast. This is what I'm hoping to achieve and I wasn't sure if price would make a difference.

I’m not a car guy so I’d say the Rolls Royce is a status symbol for people with money. I’ll definitely look into that, thank you.

In that case, what’s the benefit of more expensive models?

Thanks for your input. I’m not looking to throw anything super light, I’d just like to be able to use more variety without having to baby the spool quite so much. It does use the standard magnetic brakes. Just a single knob, min-max. Right now I have it set up on a Browning Medallion GT, 6’6” MH, Mod Fast. As I mentioned in another reply, I’m not looking to use it for anything real light. I’m mainly looking for something that I can cast without having to focus quite so much on thumbing the spool. It may not be an option in that price range though.

I’ve heard good things about the Fuego. Did you ever use a cheaper reel before the Tatula? I’m curious if the performance is worth the price difference.

Hi everyone. I currently have an Abu Garcia Silvermax baitcaster that I’ve been using for a couple years. I’m thinking about upgrading to one in the $100 range but I’m not sure if it’s worth the investment. I enjoy using my Silvermax but feel like it can only handle my heaviest lures without having to worry about backlash. I do thumb the spool when I cast, but I’ve seen others using more expensive baitcasters and they seem able to cast really far without touching the spool. I guess my question is, do more expensive baitcasters throw lures farther/easier without having to worry so much about backlash?

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking. Thanks again.

Do you by chance ever use heavy wire hooks on that setup? I’m leaning towards the M but want to make sure it has enough backbone to really drive those hooks in well.

That’s awesome. Thanks for your help.

It’ll probably be fine for my purposes as I use straight braid. The only reason I asked is because I haven’t bought many rods and when I originally went from a cheap Ugly Stik combo to a $45 Berkeley rod the difference in sensitivity was night and day.

Seeing as you’re using it for a finesse setup I’m going to assume the sensitivity is sufficient.