I've always carried just one "do all" spinning rod. A couple of years ago I upgraded to a E6X 852 SJR. I like it a lot and it does what I need it to, mostly weightless plastics, Neko rigs and some lighter topwater stuff. Last month I picked up a Dobyns Sierra 692S and put a BG 2500 on it. It quickly became my dedicated Ned rod. Then last week I bought a Tatula 6'10" M/XF. It's also sporting a BG 2500. I really like this setup and it'll most likely become my dedicated drop shot rod. Both of these are spooled with 15lb J8. Now i'm catching myself looking at MH spinning rods. Has anyone else been a lifetime baitcaster fisherman and found themselves gravitating towards spinning setups? 

I picked up a St. Croix Triumph 6'0 Light and put a Sedona FL on it. Bought it specifically for creek fishing during the week days when I only have 45 minutes to fish and can just wander into the woods behind my house but its becoming one of my favorite rods hands down... Two weeks ago I caught maybe 10 little bluegill on the rod, switched to a slightly bigger bug bait and caught a dang 27 inch bowfin on it using 6# flouro 2 weeks ago. (I'd love to say what a fight but the sucker just rolled over onto his belly and let me drag him in... before snapping my line while I was trying to get my phone out to take a pic T.T)

 

Besides that light rod though I hate my spinning set ups. Maybe I just need to buy some nice ones like you have though. I thought I was getting myself a decent spinning rod in a Lew's Carbon Fire Speed Stick but fishing with that thing, I feel like I might as well be using any old stick I can find in the woods. Also have an Abu Garcia Vengeance and it is hands down my least favorite fishing thing in my possession.

Won’t happen

 

 

 

 

Mike

1 hour ago, Mike L said:

Won’t happen

 

 

 

 

Mike

It'll never happen to me either (giving up my baitcasters). My Loomis 853 JWR is my go to. And my frog, crankbait and swimbait rod are all baitcasters. Plus i'm nowhere as accurate with a spin rod. This is my first go around with braid on spinning setups and I honestly think that's whats causing such an interest right now. The main thing I always hated was the line management issues. With braid, they're gone. 

I had always been a one-size-fits-all spinning rod person. Within the last few months I have branched out so that I now have a M (Dobyns Fury with a 2500 size Shimano Sahara), a ML (Daiwa Aird X with 1000 size Daiwa Regal) and UL (a Bass Pro combo). I'm finding that having the precisely appropriate spinning rod for the setting at hand has really upped my enjoyment of spinning combos.

2 hours ago, optimator said:

Has anyone else been a lifetime baitcaster fisherman and found themselves gravitating towards spinning setups? 

Kind of the reverse actually. I've been using spinning reels since 1968, finally adding one BC in the mid-80s and that's where I stayed for thirty years. In the last three years, however, I've gone to five of each and switch off almost seamlessly based on what I want to toss.

 

 

Spinning outfits are becoming more popular as bass anglers learn it's fun to catch 2 lb bass on finesse tackle. The days of catching 3 to 4 lb bass on average are gone for the majority of anglers. Heavy bait casting tackle can ski a 3 lb bass across the surface where finesse spinning tackle requires skill to fight and land a 3 lb bass.

Tom

I don't think it will happen for me.  I think spinning gear and baitcasters are different tools for different techniques.  I use both but generally have a baitcaster in my hands 90% of the time. 

1 minute ago, FishTank said:

I don't think it will happen for me.  I think spinning gear and baitcasters are different tools for different techniques.  I use both but generally have a baitcaster in my hands 90% of the time. 

They absolutely are different tools in the toolbox. But I sure am having fun with these light line techniques. Tom, I believe you're spot on. There is huge fun factor. I caught a 2 lb SM that felt like a 5 lb LM  

As @WRBmentioned Spinning give you much more fun to catch fish compare to baitcaster, but most importantly presentation. Spinning give better shaking presentation compare to baitcaster. I found myself converted to spinning, from hate to use it (haven’t touch it for years) now I have 5 in regular use from UL to M.

I mostly use spinning for UL and finesse fishing like Neko, Ned and 1/16-1/8 shakey head.

And another thing he is right, it took me a couple good minutes this morning to land this 2-2.5lb bass on spinning.

 

as a side note, I will fish weightless worm Texas rigging it on baitcaster but wacky rig it on spinning.

I've always had at least 2 spinning rigs with 2500 size reels..Rods are 7'ML/F and 7'M/F. As Tom said it great fun fighting a 3 lb bass on these types of rigs..

 

BTW, David Dudley is a bug proponent of spinning tackle.  

I bought two this winter for crappie fishing. Think I have 6 now and I never really use them, so I don't know why. Boredom I guess. I like the idea of spinning gear more than the reality.

I dont think you are.  If it suits what you do, then it just works.  If I have 10 rods on the boat, 2 are spinning.  But I know guys who are opposite.   They may carry 7 spinning and 2 castiing for power fishing and 1 flipping stick 

Never say never, but I don't think I'll revert back to spinning rods as my main setups. I throw whatever I need to to get bit and some of those techniques are better suited for spinning rods, but if I can throw the same thing effectively on a casting setup, I will. I don't hate spinning reels, I just like casting reels better. On the deck they take up less space as well as in the rod locker which allows me to have a better array of setups stored as well as out. 

No question, spinning is a fun way to catch bass, due to lighter tackle.  I caught a 2.5 the other day, using a M/F Tatula XT with Fuego LT 3000, 8 lb Sufix Siege - skipping whacky rigged senkos.  It was a longer, fun fight, more so than if I had caught that same fish on baitcaster.

I caught my PB (between 6-7 lbs) on a 5’ UL rod and a Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel from 1970 in May. Trust me, THAT was a fight! I wasn’t using that rig looking for big bass but it turned out that way! 

 

I think casting a weightless Senko on a spinning rig is infinitely easier than with my baitcaster rigs. Some spots I’m only tossing it 6’-8’ and it’s a simple task to lightly flip it out and still have a semi-slack line for it to sink (although it normally gets sucked down before it sinks very far). I’m not that skilled with a baitcaster to consistently make such short casts with that level of precision without issues. 

I'm a majority spinning setup guy.  I have a bunch of spinning rigs, but only a couple baitcasters.  That is mostly because I grew up fishing this way, and I like the fun of the fight and better casting distance from shore.  I've never saw the fun in flipping a bait into a laydown and yanking the fish right out without any sort of battle whatsoever.

I think I have 11 spinning rigs and 4 BC and 3 of those are musky rigs.  Most of the time I'm throwing senkos or lighter weight lures and the spinning rigs excel in that area IMO.

2 hours ago, Pickle_Power said:

I'm a majority spinning setup guy.  I have a bunch of spinning rigs, but only a couple baitcasters.  That is mostly because I grew up fishing this way, and I like the fun of the fight and better casting distance from shore.  I've never saw the fun in flipping a bait into a laydown and yanking the fish right out without any sort of battle whatsoever.

@Pickle_Power are you using M or MH spinning rods?

Mostly medium.  Sometimes ML if I'm throwing a weightless plastic and I'm not near heavy cover.  I do have a medium that acts more like a medium heavy since it lost a bit off the tip and I had to repair it.

 

I may lose a few more fish per year than the MH/H baitcast guys, but it's not enough to make me make the shift the balance over to baitcasters.

Yeah, I went through that phase.  To think of it, not sure it has ended since my last purchase was a Tatula Elite AGS spinning rig

 

I also get the urge for spinning equipment via the inshore fishing I do targeting reds and trout.

I appreciate all the replies. I guess it's not just me! I'm at 3 spinning rigs in the boat and 4 baitcasters. I might have to get a MH spinner just to even it out. I'll find a reason to use it :D

 

My gravitation in fishing tackle moved in the opposite direction; from spinning to casting.

The main reason being the remarkable strides in casting reel technology.

Like so many other things today, the youngsters have little idea how fortunate they are.

 

Many anglers have the mistaken notion that spinning tackle is only for casting light lures.

Of course that's true, when we compare an ultralight spinning rod to a medium-heavy casting rod.

On boats I ran in saltwater, spinning tackle easily handled fish to 50 pounds and more.

More significant than the choice between spinning and casting, is the difference in rod blank power.

The spinning rods we used had more backbone than your average casting rod.

 

Roger

 

 

 

Braid changed the way I look at spinning equipment.  My smallmouth fishing has also increased so spinning comes into play far more often.

On 6/24/2020 at 7:39 PM, optimator said:

I've always carried just one "do all" spinning rod. A couple of years ago I upgraded to a E6X 852 SJR. I like it a lot and it does what I need it to, mostly weightless plastics, Neko rigs and some lighter topwater stuff. Last month I picked up a Dobyns Sierra 692S and put a BG 2500 on it. It quickly became my dedicated Ned rod. Then last week I bought a Tatula 6'10" M/XF. It's also sporting a BG 2500. I really like this setup and it'll most likely become my dedicated drop shot rod. Both of these are spooled with 15lb J8. Now i'm catching myself looking at MH spinning rods. Has anyone else been a lifetime baitcaster fisherman and found themselves gravitating towards spinning setups? 

I too used to be a 1-spinning rig guy especially as a nonboater.  But nowadays I have a boat big enough to carry a lot of tackle and I fish for smallmouth about 50% of time.  I now have 5 spinning combos.

702 Dobyns Champ old edition- shakey, light tubes up to 3/16 oz, Neko, dropshot

741 Dobyns Champ Extreme- Ned and hair jigs

742 Dobyns Champ Extreme- dropshot, Ned

763 Dobyns Champ XP- 1/2 oz tubes and stupid tubes; heavy dropshot  Anything too heavy for this rod goes on a baitcaster.  

792 Dobyns Champ XP- small swimbaits- love this long rod for its casting distance and ability to handle fish.  

 

The 2 power for Dobyns is very versatile and would cover most bass fisherman's needs.