Not talking about finesse fishing, but for power fishing for bass does anyone use spinning gear, and if so, why?

yes, easier to use in all weather and less time messing with tackle...

Most of my " power fishing " is done with casting gear but for fluke type baits I feel that spinning gear works better.

5-6" soft jerk baits skip better than any bait I've thrown and I fail miserably skipping with a bait caster.

I use my light saltwater setup Shimano Stella 4k on a Star Paraflex rod. I’ve caught some pretty big tarpon on it so it’s way overkill for a bass yet still light enough to use all day. So I make good use of it, mainly topwater. I can cast lures further than any baitcaster which helps me cover a massive amount of water. I’ve even won sone tournaments using spinning gear only.

I use heavier spinning outfits for a couple of presentations. Line is straight 35lb braid. First, I use it dragging baits on St Clair. Usually a football head and Senko. Second is pitching in Florida around the grass and reeds and on St Clair for beds deep in the reeds. I feel like I can get a little better accuracy with spinning and I want the bait to fall on a slack line.

There’s a lot of guys that use spinning gear for everything. Tom Mann made a career of it, Leroy Bertolero went so far as having a Lamiglas spinning rod built that he would flip and throw frogs with.

I absolutely have a 7' MH spinning rod with 20lb braid/12lb leader ready often once things get heavy. Wind days and some baits I prefer that rig. She can turn and burn a good bass in heavy cover quite well, though I've gotten it handed to me in thick weeds before with it.

I built a 7foot 3 medium heavy spinning rod for just for bass. It works really well. I used a NFC MB 736 HM. It works really well casting in to the wind which is harder with a casting setup.

You can do anything with the right spinning tackle that you can do with casting tackle. It may not be the absolute most efficient or preference, but it will work.

I grew up fishing both salt and fresh. From blues to bass, when not flyfishing, it was spinning gear all the way for me.

I was fishing with a friend a few weeks ago that only uses spinning gear for everything. He noticed me picking out a small backlash and commented "that's why I don't fool with those things".

Oh yeah . I use a fairy wand quite a bit especially when casting into the wind.

Not if I can help it

BC is just far more efficient at it when it comes to power

So back in the late 97 when i started to get hardcore into fishing I hadn't learned how to use a baitcasting reel yet.

So I got a 7 foot MH spinning rod with a Stradic 4000 and used 12 pound Berkeley trilene and did very well.

It can definitely be done. Believe it or not 12 pound mono casts and works great on a 4000 or 5000 size shimano as long as you are throwing 3/8 or 1/2 oz and up lures.

I recently put together what I call a "power spinning" combo, relative to what I normally use spinning gear for (finesse). I wanted it for using spinning gear to throw things like a texas rigged weightless Senko, Ika, or other such plastics while using a bigger hook (3/0 EWG). I will also be using it to throw good size topwater plugs for bass and stripers. It needs to have the power to set the bigger hooks, but be OK with trebles on larger topwater plugs.

• Rod: Shimano Zodias ZDS73MPB (7'3" medium +, fast). The lure rating is 3/16 to 3/4 ounce, and rated for 5-10 lbs line.

• Reel: Daiwa Caldia LT 3000S-CXH, 6.2:1 @ 37" IPT, 195g

• Line: 15 lbs braid with 10 lbs fluoro or mono leader

So far, I like it a LOT. A very usable tip section and a firm powerful backbone. I chose the Caldia 3000S-CXH because it weighs around 195g, which balances better than something like a Vanford.I find with many medium and higher power spinning rods, they feel a bit tip heavy with a reel that weighs in the 165g territory. Shimano doesn't offer reels (that I could find) with shallow spools, higher gear ratios, and a little more weight that also have some of the better build quality and drag features. I was shooting for right around 200g, so the Caldia 3000 being 195g is right on target for weight, along with the other attributes I was aiming for.

Shallow spool 3000 size reels are not common, even though they are widely available in 2500 and 2000 sizes.

IMO anything that you want to fall on completely slack line, like a senko, wacky, spybait or backsliding rig, I think spinning gear just does it better. I feel like shaky heads and some other more finesse techniques are a little better suited to spinning gear as well.

My spinning reels top out at 2500 and spinning rods at Medium. Anything above medium is casting gear for this heathen. But I do have many medium casting rigs and BFS rigs. It's a sickness.😁

I do 100% agree with @GetFishorDieTryin about spinning and slack line.

Personally I don't. Just a me thing. I did see Bill Dance one day throwing a crankbait using spinning gear so it can't be all taboo I guess.

Considering how and where I like to fish the most, I’d rather stay home than use spinning for anything

Mike

I use spinning gear 99.9% of the time. I even started musky fishing with spinning gear, but soon realized it wasn't stout enough for those beasts. However, spinning gear works for me with bass fishing. However, I don't think it would work in the Everglades.

When I'm in and/or around more than light to perhaps,

Medium levels of softcover casting gear usually gets the nod.

In open water and/or well above or away from that same cover,

Spinning gear is my preference.

I fish medium-light and medium blanks with 2500/300 size reels.

All light braid mainline to Mono or FC leader.

Which rod used is mostly predicated on the presentation and technique being employed.

Deals that are spinning only are few; they include, but may not be limited to:

Drop shot, Ned rig, spin baits & hair jigs.

Some presentations I use on both casting & spinning but usually prefer spinning include

Topwater hard baits, jerkbaits, and smaller (less than 4.2 inches) paddletail swimbaits on a jighead that are 1/2 oz or less.

You'll never see me throwing an A-rig on spinning gear.

Conversely, I'm not tying a hair jig to a flipping stick.

There's quite a bit more to this, but it's still only June,

and I'm pretty sure I've reached my limit on this one.

YMMV

A-Jay

I would hate to have to pay for Ajay's fishing line ....

Types of reels/setups are tools in the fishing realm. You want to include as many tools as are available.

You could tighten a Philips screw with a flat head screwdriver but a Philips screwdriver works a whole lot better.

If you are limiting yourself to one or the other, you're doing a disservice to yourself.

6 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

IMO anything that you want to fall on completely slack line, like a senko, wacky, spybait or backsliding rig, I think spinning gear just does it better.

Nailed it.

Braid to leader really changed my fishing game. My boat locker holds 10 rods...and I'm frequently carrying 6-7 spinning rods to go with 3-4 casting rods.

I typically bring one medium heavy spinning rod, two medium, and 2-3 medium-light.

All are spooled with 10lb bright yellow braid...and the leaders are anywhere from 6-10lb fluorocarbon.

Another thing that helps...all my casting rods are right hand reel...all my spinning rods are left hand reel. So I get balance throughout the day.