Any of you converted to all or mostly spinning reels?  I grew up with baitcasters, but find myself using spinning gear more and more and leaving the baitcasters at home.  Anyone see a downside to this?

27 minutes ago, Obi_Wan said:

Any of you converted to all or mostly spinning reels?  I grew up with baitcasters, but find myself using spinning gear more and more and leaving the baitcasters at home.  Anyone see a downside to this?

I’ve gone the other way over the last few years. So who knows, maybe I’ll revert back. I just enjoy dragging and swimming jigs too much right now. 
 

scott

There would be a million downsides to that for my style of fishing.....I'd have to basically quit Bass fishing.  

 

I love a good spinning setup, but it's a very niche tool in my arsenal.   I'm not looking to finesse big fish to the boat, I want to have the odds in my favor as much as possible.  

37 minutes ago, Obi_Wan said:

Any of you converted to all or mostly spinning reels?  I grew up with baitcasters, but find myself using spinning gear more and more and leaving the baitcasters at home.  Anyone see a downside to this?

I would just as soon switch to Zebcos. I despise egg beaters...

The big downsides are less accuracy and casting control.

If it suits your style of fishing, and makes you happy, or your life easier, then go for it. I have about an equal number of baitcasters as I do spinning outfits, but the past half dozen years, I’ve probably caught 80% of my bass on spinning tackle.  The 25 prior years, those numbers were reversed. I personally don’t see me ever completely giving up baitcasting gear (and lures/techniques), but I certainly wouldn’t stop catching fish if I did ?

 I have went the opposite. 7 Baitcasting outfits, 1 spinning for Bass plus 1 spinning for pan fish. I just have better casting accuracy with casting reels.

I'm happy people enjoy fishing with whatever gear they choose but I haven't even so much as casted a spinning reel in years. I have no use for them.

2 hours ago, Obi_Wan said:

Any of you converted to all or mostly spinning reels?  I grew up with baitcasters, but find myself using spinning gear more and more and leaving the baitcasters at home.  Anyone see a downside to this?

I use them more than I used to but I still use baitcasters much more. If you prefer it and it works for you then do it. Don’t give what anyone else thinks a single thought. 

I was the bait caster only fisherman, But every year I start to add one spinning combo, Right now I have three of them and in few days Ill have forth combo, But I cant convert to spinning to be honest. I am getting more spinning tackle because we have more finesse  type lures in market each year. So I want to have 1/8 or 1/4oz jighead also have a ned setup and small jerk bait and weightless 3"/4" wacky and so on... I dont want to change and change lure and waste time to cut and tie new lure.

Downside for me would be the lack of speed(IPT) and power. I can't imagine throwing big or fast baits on a spinner. 

I use spinning for all but heavy lures, I tried them on med/heavy spinning gear but holding and releasing the line tore up my finger and caused knuckle pain on long days. Other then that spinning reels give me less issues so I use them.

Here's a finesse example where BFS baitcast excels over finesse spinning tackle.  

Micro plugs with hook swap to plug singles (big fish on tiny lures)

On spinning tackle, the single hooks foul on the line four out of five casts.  

They almost never foul on BFS because of tight line casts and instant retrieve.  

Set up properly, BFS will also out-distance comparable finesse spinning tackle.  

I prefer the spinning tackle fishing tandems and complex float rigs.  

I own 2 that I keep for the smallest kids, until I ween them off. 
 

I personally have no desire or use for them

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

Outside of bass fishing with lures I use a mix of spinning and casting for other species.  Catfish, carp, stripers, inshore, so I really never thought of spinning tackle as finesse only so I could get by using spinning only for bass.  I've also gone through phases where my best tackle were spinning so I did use only spinning for bass.  I get the warm and fuzzies (tackle advisors) from both casting and spinning so I don't think I could switch to one or the other, but I might go in phases where I have more than the other.  Right now for bass fishing I do have more casting reels, but overall for all species I have way more spinning rigs.  

Skipping lures is way less stressful with spinning tackle (especially from the bank). Don’t really have to think about anything but casting.

 

Eventually I might pick up a MH spinning rod just for this purpose—skipping stickbaits and creatures into cover, with 10lb mono and more backbone.  

Due to several wrist surgeries I had to pretty much switch to all baitcasting - with the exception of a drop-shot rod. It's just easier to impart finesse/tip action of drop-shotting using more of your finger tips (spinning) versus wrist/arm (baitcasting). If it weren't for that, I would be all 20 setups with a baitcaster thanks to BFS. 

I fish 99% of the time with spinners and love it. No plans to change. 

3 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Downside for me would be the lack of speed(IPT) and power. I can't imagine throwing big or fast baits on a spinner. 

I keep hearing people say that all the time and the facts just don't hold water.

Shimano Stradic FL 3000XG, 6.5:1, 35.5" IPT.

Shimano Curado K XG, 8.5:1, 36" IPT.

I agree with the power part but the speed part just isn't true. Brian.

I have and use both. For the past several years Ive been fishing a very clear lake. Spin reels and lighter lines work best here. But I still bring baitcast tackle also. Both have they're time and place.

I fish 50/50 bait caster and spinning wouldn’t want to give up ether one.

36 minutes ago, Drawdown said:

Skipping lures is way less stressful with spinning tackle (especially from the bank). Don’t really have to think about anything but casting.

My dock rod( as I call it) is a spinning rig, I simply have a hard time skipping a baitcaster. 
 

I have a couple of spinning rigs, but rarely use them. Skipping under docks and live bait fishing mostly.

Use whatever fits your style of fishing.  I do find it interesting that many of the complaints are lack of accuracy and to me that just isn't true.  It is a skill that has to be learned like everything else.  For lightweight lures spinning will be better.  You can absolutely get a BFS but you have to spend more money to get the same result as a lower priced spinning set up.

 

Of course I fly fish primarily and lots of people talk about accuracy with those too and those people would be wrong as well.

Lack of speed.  Lack of casting control.  Lack of high drag.  Inability to use high pound test fishing lines.  Wind knots.  These would be the big disadvantages of going to all spinning reels.  None of them are insurmountable.  You can just crank the reel faster to make up for the speed.  Skill will determine casting control more than gear, and you may have enough control already with spinning gear.  You may not need more drag than you have.  And you may not use higher pound test lines anyway.  If none of those downsides matter to you, then you're all set!  

Ive gone the other way. use baitcasting gear for everything except the super light stuff. 

In the winter I use spinning gear so my hands don’t get as wet. That’s painful after a little while. When the water warms up I still use spinning stuff, but the baitcaster is handier for the chuck and wind and heavy line apple-cations