Thumbing here, added ABEC7's to my core50 have one brake on loose spool tension letting my Palm Trees soar getting distance Ive never gotten before.

Always thumb my spool.

 

Me, too!

If you can cast a modern bass baitcaster with the brakes turned all the way off and the spool tension not cranked all the way down, you're a much better caster than I am.  Trinidads and heavy salt gear are a completely different animal and not really what we're talking about.

 

i can cast any reel without brakes i have a few modern baitcasters that i use once in a while...its all the same thing if you need to slow the spool down a little let your thumb graze the spool...im 29 right now and ive been using baitcasters since i was 7 that and i used to sit in the back yard trying to hit targets and trying to cast as far as i can for hours...i used to fish for snook everday for some years too and only used baitcasters...now im like 95% using spinning though

 

edit: oh and i dont use level winds either...if you lay the line at more of an angle on the spool you can cast further

I only thumb my spool before the lure hits the water.

I've fished with tomustang.  He can really whip the rod.  No backlashes.  Can't say whether or not he thumbs the spool.  I can say whenever he tries one of my reels, the first thing he does is tighten spool tension.

 

I agree with another post. Your friend either has the spool tension and/or brakes set higher than you do, or he is thumbing without realizing it.

 

derekxec may be able to cast without any brakes or spool tension, but I don't think I will ever have a thumb capable of doing that.  I started using a baitcaster about 4-1/2 years ago.  I'm 65.  Had I started at 7, then maybe, and that is a strong maybe, I could have learned to thumb a reel with his expertise.  I seriously doubt it, tho.  I believe that not all men are created equal.  Otherwise we would all be Tiger Woods.    Or KVD.

 

I keep spool tension at a minimum.  I can feel the line "fluff" on a cast, but feathering the spool is extremely hard for me.  For some reason I can feather much better with my left hand.  The right thumb tends to be either on or off.  Lightly touching is almost impossible for me and my rightie. 

 

Fishing from shore has gotten me to thinking every cast needs to be a maximum distance cast.  I am trying to train myself to set up my reels more in line with how Sam suggests, and not worry about those few extra feet in favor of fewer overruns.  Hardly ever backlash any more unless I hit an object, but I will wind up with loose coils on occasion.

 

when he gets a massive backlash someday because the bait hit an under water object and stopped then you just laugh really long and hard !!!

@new2BC4bass....you could learn it you just have to take a small step at a time...like next time you are out loosen your knob a tiny bit more than you are used to just a tiny bit and youll get used to that and just keep going like that and youll eventually be able to ....if you have finger nails (i dont i bite mine lol) you could even run your nail on the side of the spool instead of thumbing it