I got my first bait caster its a Eagle Claw Gold Eagle 2 by Wright & McGill paired with a Abu Garcia ambassadeur xlt plus and i need some pointers on using it and how to adjust the reel.

There's plenty of info out there. Videos, magazines, ect. Or you could just spool it up and start figuring it out. The knob by the reel handle is for spool tension. Make sure it's not too loose. You'll figure it out, it gets easier.

You could start with this thread. http://www.bassresou...baitcast%20reel

I have a very long-winded repy in this thread. Read what BobP has to say. http://www.bassresou..._1#entry1020574

There may be some help in this thread. http://www.bassresou...baitcast%20reel

Baitcasting 101. http://pages.videotr...ing/bait101.htm

Link posted by Hammer 4. Has lots of youtube "how to" videos. http://www.youtube.c...esnum=0&spell=1

Read J Franco's first post in this thread. http://www.bassresou...__1#entry332816

It has been said "You get what you pay for." I'm not familiar with that rod or reel. I tried searching for some info on the reel. Is it the 521 XLT? I'm going to take a WAG, and say you probably will be able to do alright with that outfit. However, I've handled some of the rod/reel combos at Dick's. If I had started with one of them, I probably would still be using spinning gear.

People often don't want to spend very much money on their first baitcasting setup because they aren't sure if they will like it. However, cheap reels seldom are good casters. There are some exceptions, such as the Mettle from Acadamy Sports (so I've read). If you can't get any distance, and all you do is backlash, then you probably won't stick with a BC reel.

That is a shame because BC reels are a lot of fun to use. They do have a higher learning curve than spinning reels for most of us. I hope that your outfit is relatively easy to learn on because I like to see people coming into the fold.

Thanks for the info, i spend today messing around with it and managed to get where I could cast without getting a backlash 8 out of 10 casts. Im not familiar with this setup as it was given to me by my uncle so im not sure what the exact model number on the reel is but the stuff yall posted helped alot. Im also not seeing a gear ratio on the reel anywhere so how would i figure that out?

Yikes, you shouldn't be getting a BL every 4 or 5 casts. Make sure you have the braking system on rather strong with a weight towards the upper limit of your rod and make sure you do not cast back into any wind. Also don't "sissy" cast... give it a good toss out there and use your thumb to apply just a little pressure at the end of the cast. When you get your BL ratio more along the lines of 20:1, then start easing up on the brakes. Keep up the practice and you'll be efficient in no time.

The reel is an older model. I found several for sale, but none mentioned a gear ratio. I tried several searchs for you with no luck. However, if you are comfortable taking it apart (I'm not), then you could figure the ratio yourself.

Directly from a fishing encyclopedia:

The basic numerical ratio of the drive and pinion gears in any fishing reel merely establishes the number of revolutions made by the reel spool or rotor per turn of the reel handle. That number is determined by counting the gear teeth on the larger drive gear and dividing that by the tooth count of the smaller pinion gear.

In a gear set consisting of a 60-tooth drive gear and a 12-tooth pinion gear, the ratio would be calculated at 5:1 (read as “five to one”), since the pinion will turn five times for each full rotation of the drive gear. The drive gear is normally linked to the reel handle, and the pinion gear is engaged with the spool or rotor. Thus, in a 5:1 ratio reel, one turn of the handle will cause the spool or rotor to turn five times.

Norcal-What thats supposed to say is i only backlash 2 or so times out of 10 and i already got all the brakes off

Its actually very easy to tear down so ill look at that and see if i cant figure it out