I am currently looking at purchasing a pitching reel.  I am a bank fisherman and use a baitcaster quite a bit and have a lot of fun.  Any suggestions, because I read the reviews for Ardent pitching reels (f 700) and they were not good.  Any advice would surely be appreciated.  Thank-You

You can pitch with any reel ya want, I would be more concerned with rod selection.

33 minutes ago, Catt said:

You can pitch with any reel ya want, I would be more concerned with rod selection.

Exactly!  I pitch cast with every setup I carry, spinning included.  Very useful skill.  I don't even get fancy with a special "pitching rod."  I pick the rod that will fish the bait and cover.  From there, just learn to pitc\h with it.

I'm with Catt and J Francho here. Use any reel. Set to free or almost free spool and use your thumb. Any casting reel will work.

You can pitch with any rod or reel you like! It just takes practice

These guys all got it right. Learn and practice pitching with every rod n reel you’ve got, some rods make it easier then others. I can pitch with any reel I own, but I do feel the centrifugal brakes on my Shimanos overall work best for pitching. I do find it’s more comfortable with a well balanced rod and with a more compact reel like a Curado/Chronarch 50 or Curado 70, or even a Chronarch MGL or 13 Metanium/Metanium MGL. Another tip - to get the beat pitching possible you want the best startup performance possible from your spool. At a minimum that means having your spool bearings properly and completely flushed then properly lightly oiled, a full super tuning on your reel helps. 

26 minutes ago, kschultz76 said:

These guys all got it right. Learn and practice pitching with every rod n reel you’ve got, some rods make it easier then others. I can pitch with any reel I own, but I do feel the centrifugal brakes on my Shimanos overall work best for pitching. I do find it’s more comfortable with a well balanced rod and with a more compact reel like a Curado/Chronarch 50 or Curado 70, or even a Chronarch MGL or 13 Metanium/Metanium MGL. Another tip - to get the beat pitching possible you want the best startup performance possible from your spool. At a minimum that means having your spool bearings properly and completely flushed then properly lightly oiled, a full super tuning on your reel helps. 

Agreed.  You can pitch with any reel, but balance is important a tip heavy combo can wear you out when pitching for extended periods of time.

7 hours ago, Catt said:

You can pitch with any reel ya want, I would be more concerned with rod selection.

Very much this.  Daiwa Fuego or Lews Tournament MB are high value reels.  Id go with at least a 7 speed

I agree with everyone else.

With that being said, since you are fishing from bank, skipping is another technique that can get your bait in a few more places. 

For a combo of pitching and skipping, a Diawa tatula with the sv spool is hard to beat.

You can usually get a good deal on e-bay.

12 hours ago, J Francho said:

Exactly!  I pitch cast with every setup I carry, spinning included.  Very useful skill.  I don't even get fancy with a special "pitching rod."  I pick the rod that will fish the bait and cover.  From there, just learn to pitc\h with it.

 

My worm & jig rods are identical; I cast, flip, & pitch with them. As I'm working an area I don't change rods because the distance to the target changes.

Bass Pro Shops Carbonlite 2.0, in a high ratio (maybe even 8.3) makes a great pitching reel.