23 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

Are you using less expensive line?

I had 12lbs Gouken on my med-heavy, moderate (moving baits) rod, but I snagged something in the back of my boat and got the most insane birds nest and had to cut it out. Went to my bait shop and the best they had was Berkeley Vanish. Not sure if that's cheap or not. I don't love how fluorocarbon fluffs when I cast, the latter is worse for this than the former for sure, more memory. I think I've gone through 3-4 spools of line in 2 season because of how hopelessly tangled fluorocarbon gets when it backlashes. The other two reels have 9-strand braid, Suffix 832 I think.

 

20 hours ago, Micro Module Police said:

Your mistake was to start with a Shimano. There is nothing better on the market to learn baitcasters than a daiwa with a reel that has an SV spool. Reel doesn't matter, just grab one with an SV spool, used or new. Try that, and you will understand how far ahead Daiwa is compared to Shimano offerings for those who are new to baitcasters.

I had been reading about some of the pros and cons of various braking systems. I was trying to get a Lews Custom (not the Pro, I don't have that kind of money) this spring as I read it had very good brakes, but my bait shop's distributor was out of the Lew's, so I went with the SLX MGL instead.

13 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

There's a long list of advantages to baitcast over spinning tackle, accuracy, exact distance controlled by your thumb, tight-line casts never fouling line on hooks, instant retrieve, cranking power, nothing like line twist, and if you want, you can set up a baitcaster to cast 1/4 oz plug to 200'

This is the best summary of the advantages of a bait caster. Thanks for that.

 

5 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

The fly rod and the baitcaster are much more complimentary than either with spinning tackle.

Yeah, you know, not exactly a fly rod, but I did some trout fishing this summer with a light, moderate, maybe even slow action rod. The bait casting type of casting action was much more effective at tossing those tiny bits. What I have learned trying use baitcasting gear has made me better at casting overall.

A fly rod your are casting the line not the fly that is going along for the ride.

The similarity is you most load up the rod to cast the line. Bait casting you must let the rod cast the lure.

Tom

I'm in Toms camp. I have one spinning rig that is in my regular lineup. I am looking at an Aldebaran BFS to replace. Currently waiting for a sale on blanks before I decide on the rod I am going to build. 

 

I fish out of a kayak. Casting rods are 6'8" , 7', and 7'2". 

 

My spinning rigs aren't going away, just going to get way less use. 

 

I will add to advantages of casting gear. Lighter, more comfortable to hold, more torque when fighting fish.  

So I am not very good with a bait caster setup.  But I have learned a few things here about casting.  Here are some points I would make to help you decide.

 

First off spinning is easier to perform well with if you use braided line.  You get less line twist issues and more distance.  So you should use your spinning rod when condition are less than ideal.  Make sure you have a spinning rod that will cover all your techniques.  I have spinning rod from ultra light to heavy.  Currently I use a NFC 736 MB I built as a spinning rod.  I use it when I need heavier baits to go into the wind or a long ways.  Same goes for finesse technique like the Ned rig.  
 

I think casting gear has some advantages if you need to make cast quickly and accurately.  Casting just takes less time fire off a cast than spinning.  When I am drifting in the kayak I need to make a lot of fast cast before the current take me away.  
 

I would up the weight of your lures if I were you.  Or build your casting setup around the lighter lures.  I think a lot of the guys on Bass Resources are super good with a bait caster and lighter lures are okay for them but you and I might benefit from more mass when casting.   Medium light casting rods are available but hard to find.  I like the St Croix premiere 7’ medium light casting rod for cast weights under a 1/2 once.  
 

hope that helps

Many tools are available in the tool box.  Some work better given then job at hand.  Don't limit your tool box.

I love spinning and nothing is going to change that. I’m well aware of the pro’s and con’s. Use what you like and enjoy it..

On 11/25/2025 at 6:47 PM, 07Rapala said:

I had 12lbs Gouken on my med-heavy, moderate (moving baits) rod, but I snagged something in the back of my boat and got the most insane birds nest and had to cut it out. Went to my bait shop and the best they had was Berkeley Vanish. Not sure if that's cheap or not. I don't love how fluorocarbon fluffs when I cast, the latter is worse for this than the former for sure, more memory. I think I've gone through 3-4 spools of line in 2 season because of how hopelessly tangled fluorocarbon gets when it backlashes. The other two reels have 9-strand braid, Suffix 832 I think.

 

I had been reading about some of the pros and cons of various braking systems. I was trying to get a Lews Custom (not the Pro, I don't have that kind of money) this spring as I read it had very good brakes, but my bait shop's distributor was out of the Lew's, so I went with the SLX MGL instead.

Get rid of the Vanish line it’s junk! Most of us learned that lesion years ago.

Casting Fluorocarbon line you need a line lubricant, I use Tangle Free that I can use during the+outing most use KVD that is sprayed on the night before fishing. Stay away from Reel Magic, tends to Gum up reel  Lubricants. FC line doesn’t stay wet and tends to spring off the reel spool during the cast.

Lure weight for bait casting shouldn’t be less then the nominal rods weight suggest. If you go with super light weight reel spools you can go down to minimum lure weights for the rod. 
Bottom line is use what you like!

Tom

1 hour ago, F14A-B said:

I love spinning and nothing is going to change that. I’m well aware of the pro’s and con’s. Use what you like and enjoy it..

And you still catch fish. It’s never the gear that gets it done. It’s the human on the end of the line that matters. 
 

OP, don’t feel pressured to use baitcasters. Fishing is about fun. Have fun. 

1 hour ago, TNBankFishing said:

OP, don’t feel pressured to use baitcasters. Fishing is about fun. Have fun. 

Can’t agree more!

 

Just remember; “Trying is the first step towards failure”  

 

Homer Simpson

I wanna add my thoughts here. Maybe it will help. Maybe I’m even echoing someone else because I didn’t read through the entire thread, however I did read about half of the first page of comments.

 

The very first thing I’d suggest is that the rod and line size needs to be matched to the bait you are throwing with it. As an example, a rod that is too stiff for a 1/4 oz crankbait is gonna be nothing but frustrating while trying to cast it and it will never work right. For that I believe you’d need a flexible tip to help load and throw it. Any time I am building a rod/reel combo I take into consideration the line size and type that I want to use, what kind of cover or structure I’m fishing, the type of lure and its weight, even how I want to use that lure (bottom bouncing, dragging, topwater, swimming mid water column, etc.) and build based off of that, keeping in mind how I cast, how much flex I want in the rod to launch the bait, and so on. 
 

One comment I noticed here said to adjust the casting reel so that the bait would slowly fall with resistance to eliminate backlashes. I found that advice did NOT work for me. That setting frustrated me because of lack of distance, causing me to “whip it” harder which also caused backlashes and inaccurate casting. I didn’t start getting better with casting reels until I actually adjusted the spool so loosely that the knob was just barely tight enough to prevent side to side movement of the spool seated in the reel frame. With it this loose, a backlash can happen easily, but it also allows casting much easier as well, and with much less effort so that it requires very little motion from my wrist and arm to send the bait a good 70-80 feet. Keeping the spool tension loose means I can comfortably cast 50-60 feet with just a roll cast (rolling my wrist) all day long and be very accurate while doing so, even from a seated position where arm movement may be restricted. I’m letting the flex in the rod load up under the bait weight and help launch it. The loose reel spool doesn’t resist at all and the bait flies off with ease. All I have to do is aim.

 

I have also always used my magnetic brakes set fairly high since I have nearly no spool tension from the knob. Up around 8-9 out of 10. Recently I bought some Lew’s baitcasters and noticed I could set the magnetic brakes around 5 or 6 out of 10.  Either these reels are just better than the others I’ve had in the past or else I’ve gotten better. Dunno which for sure but it likely isn’t that I’ve gotten better. Truth is I have some very bad casting habits. Such things as not even thumbing the spool but holding my thumb just above it and just letting the bait fly through about half the cast, only touching the spool as I begin to feel line raising up as a backlash forms. That is the point where the magnetic brakes begin to lose effectiveness as the bait is slowing down in the air. That’s when I begin applying my thumb before a disaster happens.

 

Having said all that, I myself have dropped back in casting vs spinning gear. I once had 7 baitcasters and only about 3 spinning rods. Now I’m down to 2 casting rods while up to 8 spinning, but that also is counting all my crappie and panfishing gear. For bass it is just 2 casting and 3 spinning. I use casting rods for crankbaits 1/4-3/8 oz in size, and also bottom bouncing jigs and plastics rigs, large spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, and that’s about it.
 

Also, I’m noticing that the older I get the more I am enjoying spinning gear over casting and have even considered going all spinning myself. Not because of casting problems, just simply because I like them better. They are less expensive and more comfortable to hold because my hand is only on the rod handle, not wrapped around the reel also. A few years back I began throwing some crankbaits on spinning gear, and last year I also threw a spinnerbait on spinning gear as well. I’m not sure I will ever completely replace casting gear though because I just feel that heavier and more resistive baits require casting gear. With spinning it feels like there is too much drag on the rod and tension on the line for a deep diving crank or big Colorado spinner blades. But maybe I just haven’t found the right rod, reel, and line combination yet.

 

Finally I want to say, with fishing time limited, use the rods you like best. If you want to get better with casting gear I’d find 10 spare minutes in the evening at home and do some yard fishing. My neighbors think I’m crazy, always chucking a jig at my mailbox, but I enjoy it when I haven’t been fishing in a few weeks and it hones my skills. 

How long have you been using baitcasters?

 

It took me a full season to be able to cast one reliably (and another couple seasons to really get skipping down as well). But I'm glad I didn't give up. I can cast a casting setup more accurately and further than a spinning setup, and even with an occasional backlash I still come out ahead. The backlashes I do get these days are usually minor, but I'll just say it happens to everyone time to time, maybe you didn't see that low hanging branch or something.

 

I'll still use spinning gear for lighter lures. If I'm dead sticking soft plastics, I'll often do that on spinning gear too.

Bass fishing isn't serious buisnness.  We're not running a fishing trolly here.  This hobby isnt our livelyhoods.  We are using a rod and reel with artifical bait to catch and then throw back fish.  There is no right way to use fake bait to catch real fish and then throw them back.  We do this as a leisure activity and I am a firm believer that you should do fishing things that you find enjoyable as long as it isn't causing harm to yourself and others.  If baitcast reels make your fishing experience less enjoyable then don't use them. 

Spinning rod/reels became popular for finesse bass fishing in the 80’s out west. When you used a spinning rods it was called a fairy wand or sissy stick, times have changed.

Gary Yamamoto never used a casting reel, he used spinning a pioneer in bass fishing.

I used spinning during the 80’s up to last year, still have 1 for senko’s, now a BFS fan. Each to his or her own, enjoy the sport.

Tom

 

2 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

Bass fishing isn't serious buisnness.  

 

5 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

Bass fishing isn't serious buisnness.  We're not running a fishing trolly here.  This hobby isnt our livelyhoods.  We are using a rod and reel with artifical bait to catch and then throw back fish.  There is no right way to use fake bait to catch real fish and then throw them back.  We do this as a leisure activity and I am a firm believer that you should do fishing things that you find enjoyable as long as it isn't causing harm to yourself and others.  If baitcast reels make your fishing experience less enjoyable then don't use them. 

I went to a local boat ramp on a river near my home just to practice casting and/or try new gear.  Never went expecting to catch anything.  It was a pleasure to get out for a little alone time and to relieve everyday stress.  In my case, baitcast reels increased my enjoyment.  

Using both spinning outfits and casting outfits allow for you to be a more versatile fisherman. To me, each one has their pros and cons. With that said, what it boils down to is what you enjoy and lets you have the most fun on the water. My recommendation would to keep practicing with casting set ups and you’ll eventually get the hang of it. 

When I first learned to use a baitcaster I took a rat l trap, took the hooks off and went and practiced at a local park. 

 

Are you able to practice when you aren't on the water? 

 

after a while, you will only backlash when you hit a tree. 

 

For cast control on shimano reels, I set the brakes to 2 on 2 off, and never touch them again..

 

I use the cast control knob only. You want it to slowly fall to the ground when you press it in. 

Nothing wrong going with all spinning reels. My two camping, fishing buddies only fish spinning. Me, I fish both. I personally don’t understand the now trend of BFS. Fifty plus years ago I cut my teeth on Ambassaduer 5000 bait caster. If you can cast that reel, you can pretty much cast any modern bait caster. I don’t pay attention to type of brakes and my spools are fairly loose, but then again I been doing that for 50 years.

 

I have recently added Daiwa Tatula bait casters. Agree with the poster that recommended Daiwa SV reels. I really have to work at it to get a SV to backlash.

 

There is nothing wrong with going all spinning or all bait casting. What works for one may not work for another.

 

 

 

I will add I have caught a 30lb cobia, a 22lb carp,  13lb drum, 16 pound catfish (Ned rig) all on spinning tackle. All but the cobia on 8lb line.

10lb 6oz bass 

also

The Okuma Hakai is the easiest baitcasting reel I have ever seen. I have recently taught two people to throw a baitcasting reel with them. 

37 minutes ago, CaughtMeABiggun said:

The Okuma Hakai is the easiest baitcasting reel I have ever seen. I have recently taught two people to throw a baitcasting reel with them. 

That's a broad statement.  How many brands have you fished?  How many styles of brakes?  Don't get me wrong.  Absolutely love my Okuma Helios Air casting reels.  Unfortunately I've only been out once with my Hakai.  I'll try to pay more attention next time I take it out.

 

I still think a Daiwa with MagForce 3D braking is the most foolproof reel out there.  I've also had exceptional luck with my Pinnacle Primmus HS Xi.  Whenever I visited Florida, I had to make minor adjustments to the brakes due to having to change my casting stroke.  All except for the Primmus.  Well...that and the Exsence DC.

 

EDIT:  How do you have the Hakai set up?  Also have to add the Exsence DC for a foolproof reel as long as the number brake option is set at its strongest setting.  Never had a problem with any of the other optional settings.

No reel is easier to set up than Daiwa MagZ and SV.  

Pick the right spool for your max weight, and set linear mag for your light end.  

 

On 11/9/2025 at 7:46 PM, bulldog1935 said:

Generally, the correct way to set MagZ and SV mag scalar on Daiwa, you cast a high arc using the lightest weight you ever plan to cast, and dial out mid-cast backlash.  (MagZ and SV moving inductor takes care of start-up backlash and heavier weights.)  Use this scalar setting as your base number - you may dial it down a notch or two to increase heavy-lure distance.  You increase it a notch or two for casting into wind.  

 

Wind backlash is mid-cast backlash, and you dial it out with (any) linear mag brake.  The motion of SV and MagZ inductor is a non-linear start-up response, giving mag brake the increased force of centrifugal to prevent start-up backlash.