I'm in a hurry to get out of the door, and I will explain why I asked this later this afternoon, but is there any advantage to palming other than comfort?. 

Most guys i know do it mostly on bottom baits to put a finger on the line in front of the reel to feel the line directly for increased sensitivity.

For me, palming serves 2 functions:  balance and keeping my index finger under the line to feel bites.

How would you hold a baitcaster if you are not essentially palming the reel.  I palm it under all applications as a natural placement and the balance point of the setup.

I guess I may hold the rod in front of the reel for real slow worm and jig presentations but still mostly palm 100% of the time.

How would you hold a baitcaster if you are not essentially palming the reel.  I palm it under all applications as a natural placement and the balance point of the setup.

I guess I may hold the rod in front of the reel for real slow worm and jig presentations but still mostly palm 100% of the time.

Ditto

Mike

It's personal preference. I often keep my casting grip in place and occasionally palm the entire reel. It just depends on what I'm doing and what's comfortable at the time. 

I palm the reel for balance and comfort also. It's just a natural, habit kinda thing. But also I feel I have more power and control over the rod also.

Palming the reel means you are holding the reel, not the rod and a reason today's rods don't have a foregrip.

I don't Palm reels, instead prefer to hold the with 3 fingers in front of the reel and use my index and thumb to feel the line coming off the reel and spool. The advantage is instant strike detection, better leverage for hook sets and controlling the bass after it's hooked. My rods have small fore grips, longer fore grips for swimbaits.

Tom

Palming the reel means you are holding the reel, not the rod and a reason today's rods don't have a foregrip.

I don't Palm reels, instead prefer to hold the with 3 fingers in front of the reel and use my index and thumb to feel the line coming off the reel and spool. The advantage is instant strike detection, better leverage for hook sets and controlling the bass after it's hooked. My rods have small fore grips, longer fore grips for swimbaits.

Tom

So... I'm not a freak? I'm not the biggest guy in the world and as a kid fishing the old Curado's, I held my rigs like you describe, but with four fingers underneath and my left hand thumb on the line going into the reel. I couldn't get leverage for a hook set otherwise.

 

Fast forward fifteen years, I picked up new reels. They're smaller and easier to palm, so now I fish more traditionally. Every once in awhile though, I catch myself holding my gear my old way. Both feel comfortable, but after the old way ( like you WRB), I HAVE to have a finger on the line. You miss out on so much sensitivity otherwise.

 

I'm might prefer holding my rig in front of the reel, actually. I guess I feel like it just doesn't LOOK right, so I don't.   

I don't know why I do. I just know I always do. 

 

Try popping a jerkbait without palming, it'd probably be pretty tough to do.

never palm. need the extra grip on the rod for working big baits and hard hooksets.

never palm. need the extra grip on the rod for working big baits and hard hooksets.

see, I was going to say that it gives you a better grip and more control to play the fish. A lot of my hook set power comes from my left hand on the butt grip ( I reel left handed).

I never palm the reel. It feels less natural to me.

If palming has it's advantages, i'm trying to figure out if having a left hand reel is worth the potential added step to palm it, if I want to cast with my right and reel with my left.

 

Let's say you want to cast with your left hand, and reel with your right hand on a right hand reel, or, you want to cast with your right hand and reel with your left hand on a left hand reel (like a spinning set up), If you want the position of your casting hand to be anything different than the way it is when you cast, how do you go about doing that without some sort of double clutch, or have two hands on the rod throughout the entire cast? I consider palming to be any position that doesn't allow one to make another cast without repositioning their hand to make it happen.

Try casting two handed, that way there is no extra step. Or if you can get by without palming the reel, then don't. That would kill my wrist, personally, and contribute to a lack of sensitivity.

I'm right-handed and use reels with the crank on the left.  I never palm the reel.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

I generally cast two handed now, but my non casting hand comes off of the rod during the cast to close the bail, or in the case of a baitcaster, one would use that opportunity to palm the reel. Barring holding two hands on the rod throughout the cast, the best way to eliminate steps seems (so far at least) to be to "throw" your cast hand up to the palming position. This video shows both ways for a left hand casting person. The first cast at the 2:55 mark shows a regular cast where he casts with his left, lifts his non casting hand off and palms the reel before the lure hits the water. The cast at 4:20 shows him casting with his left hand on a right hand reel. in that case he casts the same way but has to throw his hand up the reel to semi palm it. that move would be even more exaggerated if he wanted to palm it enough to get his finger to the line, or more fingers past the trigger on the rod, like the palming position in the 2:55 cast.

 

  

Plus I think you'll find that you have much more control over the distance, placement, and presentation of your bait.

wish I had a go pro...

When I see someone not palming a baitcaster, I assume they don't know what they're doing.  It just looks so strange and feels so un-natural to me.   To each their own though.

Hold the reel the way it feels good and works for you. Look at Hank Parker.  I don't see how he ever catches a fish holding the rod the way he does, but he's got two Classic trophies.

 

Personally I palm the reel, cast with either hand, or both hands, depending on what I'm doing.  The rod just goes to the hand it wants to be in and I cast.  Never even think about it, but I'm been fishing for over 60 years so it's second nature to me.

Being versatile will put more fish in the boat. Being able to cast accurately and control the bait well is my focus. I don't give how I hold the reel much thought. Sometime I palm it, sometime I don't. If I am throwing a crank in open water, probably not; pitching in tight, absolutely. Right hand or left, palm or not, it's all good!

I always palm it. It's a balance thing and a carry-over from when 7' long rods were new and not well-balanced. But it also gives good leverage when setting the hook and fighting a fish. But you gotta do what feels right.