switchin over to baitcaster, any tips?

[White Bucket]

Get a good reel and a piece of crap rod.  Next time you get some more cash, then buy a nicer expensive rod.

The kid lives next to Springton, not North Philly, so I don't he's strapped for cash.

You always get what you pay for!

[nic]

Get a good reel and a piece of crap rod.  Next time you get some more cash, then buy a nicer expensive rod.

The kid lives next to Springton, not North Philly, so I don't he's strapped for cash.

You always get what you pay for!

As someone who actually bass fishes with baitcasting gear (and doesn't make generalized assumptions of gross household income based on geographic location  ), this wouldn't me my preferred course of action but its really up to you Flyers.  Probably the two best bass fisherman I know don't even use casting gear, so its all personal preferance really.  Tan is correct in saying that you get what you pay for, you just have to try to maximize what you get for your budget.  Maybe you should just take myself, Tan, and Dave to the store with you.  ha. 

[mr.fish]

And before you take any one persons advice, listen to someone who actually catches bass.

[nic]

like who?

[DON]

And before you take any one persons advice, listen to someone who actually catches bass.

And with a baitcasting set up

But really though,No matter what you get It's going to take practice to perfect,Don't be like me and get frustrated with backlash everytime you use it. when i first started out with them i was buying those cheap combos for like 60-70-90$ range,that was many years ago,Each lure has a different weight...so you must pay attention to your braking adjustments everytime you change lures......Who has time for that crap right?,So what i do now is,use 3 different casting rods,all set for the type of lure i'm going to use,that way you don't waste time playing around,especially when it's a biting blitz

BTW,Warning.....Always take old faithful/spinner with you  ,I have had bad times with all 3 of them in 1 night after a few beers

[Jesse]

I bought a bunch of stuff from a guy on craigslist, he had 3 or 4 curados for sale. His stuff was in great shape, and cheap too. PM me if any of u guys want his number, hes in glenside.

[Aki]

Some good advice here, and some confusing ones.

mr.fish said it right about 5000size abu.  They are good for bigger lures, 1oz and up.  Nic is right that 5000 size abu can cast lures down to 1/4oz, but I would use smaller reel (4500C, 3500C, 2500C, 1500C, or low profile model) for anything under 5/8oz lures. 
My first baitcaster was 5500C over 20 years ago and I struggled to educate my thumb since I was trying to cast small lures on it. 
I would reccomend 4000 size or lowprofile reel for a first baitcaster and practice casting with zara spook which is easier to cast.  It doesn't have to be abu though.  Shimano and Daiwa makes awsome casting reels.  Shimano 100 size or daiwa 200 size round reel can handle smaller lures down to 1/4oz nicely. 

Tan is right about getting expensive reel and less expensive reel especially when it comes to baitcasting set up.  If I have $200 budget, I would spend at least $150 on reel and get less expensive rod. 

Nic is absolutely right about the softer rod being easier to cast.  I sometimes take someone who never fished before to bass fishing and they master casting setup within 15min or so.  There's one chinese-canadian-american guy who took longer to learn though...    Anyways, the reason why they can master it so quick is because they're using slower tapered glass rod and heavier lure.  It is making it super easy to load up on the rod and cast.  I highly reccomend slower taperd soft rod to start with.  But keep this in mind.  This kind of rod is not suitable for bottom fishing like texsas rigged worm or rubber jigs.  but perfect for crank bait, topwater.  Little stiffer rod is good for spinner bait and deep diving crankbait.  Fast tapered stiffer rod is good for bottom fishing like t-rigged worm, jigs, and weedless fake frogs.

I guess you're a shore based bass angler for the most part walking in the woods casting between trees and bushes, I reccomend short rod in 5' to 6'.  This is about the length oof the rod that I choose when I fish between trees.  6' is the maximum length that I prefer and I sometimes use 4' rod when I know casting space is very limited.  Short rod is pretty handy when casting space is limited.  Longer rod (6'6" ~ 7'6") is great for long cast situation.  6'~6'6" is great all purpose rod length for bass fishing.

Stick to spinning gear on shore based back bay fluke, striper, and blues.  Don't know much about carp fishing unless topwater carping, so not sure about carping with bait casting gear.

Depends on the size of the reel, but 14~20lb mono or 30~65lb braid should be perfect for bass fishing. 

If you want to save money, get a abu max series and medium action glass rod.  That'll handle spinner bait, crank bait, and topwater plugs and good set up to learn casting.  You need stiffer, faster action graphite rod for texsas rigged worm or rubber jigs.  I would reccomend 40lb braid to start with.

If you're willing to spend more, get shimano culcutta 100 size, maybe 200 size if you want to go big on lures for bass fishing.  You can find them under $200 on internet and spend whatever the amount of money left on the rod.  It will handle bass size lures perfectly.

Hope this helps.

[nic]

Aki summed this up very well.  When I first learned, i started off bait fishing for channels with my 5500 and then adapted it to bass fishing.  A smaller capacity reel would probably be a lot easier to start off on, thats just the way I went about doing it.  My first bass rod was a shorty, pistol grip like aki suggested.  I know you don't see many pros using those stubby rods, but they do come in handy, either when casting space is limited or when making short accurate casts with a spinnerbait or topwater lure.  For me, baitcasting gear is more specialized and gear toward certain applications, than most spinning gear.  For example, I can wade the river with a 7' M action fenwick HMX and shimano 3000 and fish MOST of the stuff I normally use for smallies.  I can fish a spook on that rod if I really wanted too, but a casting set up handles it much better.  Once you get good at it, its easier (and less tiring) to present those certain lures.  Let us know what you decide Flyers! 

[White Bucket]

My point was don't expect to become fluent at baitcasters using cheap equipment.

The high-end reels make learning to use a baitcaster alot easier.

[matt]

I am a total noob when it comes to baitcasters for ANY application, but, I do know that baticasters are really popular for carp fishing among anglers down south.  I believe the abu ambassador series is most popularly used for carp with the good ole boys.

[flyers1kak]

just got back from cabela's. the guy in the reel section was great, and he gave me a sweet deal. i ended up going with the abu garcia revo s, it looks really smooth and i will be able to cast that thing for miles once i get the hang of it. i was looking at st croix rods and the guy comes up to me a says if i get a cabelas rod he will package it and give me 50 bucks off, so i get a real nice cabela's prodigy rod, 6'6" medium heavy action with a fast tip, and the newer kind of butt, not the cork i'm used to, like this-

, which was  a hundred minus the 50 he took off. so for 179.99 i think i did pretty well. thanks everyone for your great advice. i think i would have ended up with one of these if i didnt go on here first  

[David]

Good deal man.  You are better off with the Cabelas rod then a low end St, Croix - you got more rod for your money


Now comes the practice part - make sure you take video so we can all share in the fun



Also, make sure you know how to spell "birdsnest" 

[DON]

You can do it flyers,i use mine all day..no birdsnest,ask HD he will tell ya!

[Jesse]

I was watching some fishing show, and the guy said to peel off the first fifty feet of line, and put tape over the rest of the spool. That way u can only birdsnest the first fifty feet....

[Enoch]

Whats up Jesse?

Good to meet you finally.  If you hit the water with your kayak let me know.  Weather is warming up soon