voxborealis

Thanks! In truth. I am not sure if I have ever had more than one or two bite offs ever. Even when a pike grabs a lure when I am using my smaller spinning set up and light line, most of the time the fish grabs the back of the lure and front where it connects to the line is out of its mouth. Especially since I am fishing from the back, where the biggest pike are usually at most 26" or 28" inches, and most are smaller. You're right that I am probably worrying to much about losing the lure and should tie direct. Also thanks! I sometimes use a very light wire leader (like 12#) and it seems not to interfere with action too much. I have tried cutting off the small swivel and just tying directly to the loop on the wire. I have read about tie-able wire before but never used. This is another good option. Thanks!

I mostly bank fish, and where I'm located there are a LOT of northern pike. If I throw any topwater or horizontal presentation (inline spinner, spinner bait, chatter bait, etc) and depending on the time of year, I am as likely to catch a toothy critter as a bass. In the past I used wire leaders to protect against bite offs, but I find even the smaller gauge leaders can foul up the lure action--especially prop baits--since the wire leaders virtually all have a swivel (to connect to main line) and a snap (to connect to the lure). I got a spool of 50# fluorocarbon leader on sale and have been using that instead of wire. I like that I can tie direct, which is great for spinner baits and prop baits. However, the fluoro is very thick and stiff, which makes tying knots a bit challenging. I am also not sure the best knot to use to connect the leader to my main line, which is usually 15# or 20# mono or 20# braid, depending on my combo. (I am using more mono these days than braid for some reason.) The difference in diameter between even 20# mono and 50# fluoro is significant. I've experimented with using a swivel to connect main to leader, which is ok, but I would prefer to use a line-to-line knot. I usually use an alberto knot to connect braid (main) to lighter fluoro (leader). I am not sure this would work with mono (main) and much thicker leader. Also, I don't know if an albert knot is recommended at all for use with a mono main line. Any suggestions for knot to connect lines of very different size, when the lines are mono and fluoro? I suppose with 50# leader, no matter what knot I use it's going to be big and clunk around the line guides, so I'll need to keep the leader short.

An update FWIW: So I decided to ignore the advice of seasoned veterans (@MN Fisher) and got the Pflueger Monarch combo (7" MH two piece). I got it on sale and the price was just too good, especially given how expensive things are in Canada. So far it's...not bad, as far as I can tell anyway as I am no expert. The reel components do feel somewhat cheap. That is just my impression. We'll see how long before it wears out. The spool tension is not very sensitive. The magnetic brakes seem ok and work as advertised. The rod is not super sensitive and "feels" a little more M than MH to me. The reel is slow (6.1:1). I tend to use a lot of moving lures like inline spinners and choppo/ploppers for pike. So that means really having to crank to get the right action, but I have caught a few fish on it. The learning curve has been steep: really humbling to a longtime angler. I spooled it with 15# Trilene Big Game that I had laying around, probably a bit heavy but I am still in the learning phase. I am getting better at casting but still get a fair number of overruns, though only rarely catastrophic birds nests. I still am not getting much distance or accuracy, but I have been able to dial in specific lures in the 1/2 to 3/4 oz range. My goal is to largely eliminate overruns by the end of the summer. So overall, seems like a decent combo for a newbie to learn on. We'll see how long it lasts before breaking or wearing out. In a couple of years, I'll upgrade.

Thanks for the advice. I had a couple hours today to test run the set-up, landed a couple of blue gills and (surprisingly) a 2lb smallmouth on a trout magnet. So the combo is certainly working!

I probably overfilled a bit, but I don't think that is the whole story. And yeah, on this tiny reel there is not much to be done, I suspect. I'll play around with it some on the water and see how it performs. With UL, it is not like I will bombing casts! Here is a photo. I thought that line lay bias at the bottom = remove washers, not add. Yes, I should have put backing--TBH, given the small capacity, I was lazy and just spooled up the 4# that I bought.

Here is a schematic of the exact reel that I found online and here is also a picture. The only washer is a fairly thick (white) plastic one, number 9 on the schematic (hard to read, I know). Everything from 1 to 8 is part of the drag system.

I read through a number of threads on the forum regarding line lay on spinning reels, but did not see my exact question. I just bought a Pflueger ultralight combo (President 20 spinning reel + 4'8" two piece rod rated 2-6#), mainly for fun. I want to play around with some really light baits, maybe even flies, for pan fish. I spooled it up with some 4# copolymer and it filled up really heavy to the bottom of the spool. I know the general advice in this case is to remove one of the line lay washers so the spool will go down farther, however...when I opened the reel, there is only one plastic washer. Looking at a schematic online, it is called the "click gear washer" and sits on top of the "click gear." So, here is my probably dumb question. Is it OK to remove this washer? I am thinking no: this washer presumably has a function besides spacing. I ordered the combo online and so I did not receive a reel box or further instructions or spare parts.

Thanks! I have been using braid for a few years on spinning. It is great...but line management can be a real issue. Certain techniques simply lead to wind knots no matter what. So yeah, it will be mono for the foreseeable future on a bait cast set-up. I can only imagine the birds nests I'll encounter on that learning curve!

OK then, for an entry-level, off-the-shelf combo what about the two Uglistik combos (GX2 and Elite)? The reels look like utter crap but again, I have no basis to evaluate casting reels. As for the rods, they're Uglistik. Usually too heavy and soft for my taste, but the elite didn't feel that bad to me. I don't know yet. I want to challenge myself to learn how to use them, and then go from there. I find that the fishing I have been doing the last few years really beats up spinning reels--throwing a lot of heavy pike lures and dragging it through weeds. At the same time, I want to become more proficient with soft plastics for bass and I can see that casting is just so much more accurate--if you know what you're doing! But mainly, it's for the challenge to learn.

I have seen this advice on a bunch of forum threads talking bit about bait casters. But to be honest, I pretty much need a 2-piece. I live in Montreal, and basically 99% of my fishing is done from shore while biking. So I have to sacrifice a bit of performance for convenience/portability. Interesting. I do love their spinning gear but I have no way to assess the casting stuff. Advice noted! I have seen this name come up a lot, will look into it.

I feel like I am always here asking advice on roods and reels! Here we go again. I am a longtime spinning reel guy, but I'd like to try to learn to use a baitcaster. I'd like to get a combo so I don't have to worry about pairing the rod and reel (from what I can tell, combos are less prevalent with bait casters than with spinning). Naturally I would like something budget friendly since I am just starting out, but I don't want to buy something that is total junk. Ideally a two piece rod since I do a lot of biking/fishing (again, I know that two piece is less common with bait cast). Lastly, being Canada means that some items are less readily available at the same price point. Local tackle shop dude recommends one of the Uglistik combos (GX2 or Elite, 6'6" MH), but I have read that the reels are not very good. I am also looking at the Pfleuger Monarch combo 7' MH. Similar price point as UglyStik (similar price point or a bit higher). I have a bunch of Pflueger spinning reels have been impressed with them for the price. I have one Pflueger rod (part of a spinning combo) which is meh but gets the job done. Is the Pfleuger Monarch baitcast combo decent beginner quality/value? Advice for this newbie always appreciated!

Roger that. I probably need only a medium. I wanted to upsize a couple of years ago since I ran into to some bigger pike and wanted to throw some heavier spoons (3/4 to 1 oz), so a MH seemed like the best fit for my “big fish” set up. But outside of big spoons, it’s probably more than I really need. And mostly what I can get from shore 16 inch bass, 24-28 inch pike) can be handled on a medium. then again, this could be a good time to up my game! I really liked my Procyon, though I preferred the older MH Fast to the newer MH XFast. Maybe best just to order a replacement. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

Thanks! Mostly I use 1/2 oz hard baits, e.g. for pike I usually throw Mepps inline spinners #5 (1/2 oz), and spinner baits without trailers. I am not very skilled with soft plastics, and not sure how this beefy rod would handle them. I'll take a look at the rod next week when the next shipment comes in. My gut tells me the build is not quite as nice as the Daiwa Procyon (fewer guides for example). But the price is pretty good. Maybe I will end up giving it a shot.

My Daiwa Procyon 7" MH spring rod snapped on a cast the other--I have no idea what happened. I know that I did not overload the rod since I was using a small bait at lower end of the lure weight range (1/4 oz). I am looking to replace it with a more or less comparable rod. The local tackle shop has a decent deal on an Okuma Reflexions B 7"2' MH Fast spinning rod (2 piece, which I prefer since I bike and do only bank fishing, no boat.). The rod is rated for 12-20# line and 3/8- 1 1/4 oz lures. That is a lot "heavier" than my Daiwa (8-17# and 1/4-1 oz). The shop owner is talking is up as a good pair with my reel but I have no experience with Okuma products. And as I wrote, from the rating this sounds more like a heavy rod. Not sure a lot of my current lures (mostly 1/2 oz) will perform well. For background, my target species are mostly small south bass and northern pike, though I hook the occasional walleye. Any feedback or experience sharing would be great. edit: I should add that I have a few spinning set ups for different purposes. My medium heavy rod is paired with a plueger president xt 4000 reel (the last generation, not the new ones), it’s a pretty husky reel. I use this combo to target bass and pike from shore. The largest I catch are not monsters but there is a fair amount of vegetation in summer to drag them through. i prefer the longer rod for more casting distance. So I tend to like 7” over 6 or 6.6”.

Thanks for the feedback. To be honest, I don't always wet the not, or at least do not wet it consistently enough, before cinching. And I also don't inspect closely after tying. So pretty sure I have been sometimes stressing the mono leader with some bad knot tying habits. (And also, I just use regular mono line for the leader rather than leader-quality FC).

This may be a dumb question, or maybe just a simple question from a dumb angler! I use braid main line, generally light (10# or 20# braid), connected to a mono leader of lower test strength, e.g 15# mono leader to 20# braid main. I do this so that mono serves as a break-off, so if I get snagged I don't leave potentially a big trail of braid in the water. Plus the mono is usually slightly lower visibility than the braid. Anyway, I connect the leader to main using an Alberto knot, and I think that I have gotten pretty good at tying these. However, a couple of times I have had the line break exactly at the Alberto knot, for example one time on a cast (sent the lure and leader into orbit), another time when a fish was pulling the line and I set the hook and started to reel in. The knots did not "fail" or come unraveled. Instead, the knot was completely intact at the end of the main line, but the mono was broken off right beneath the knot. I suppose my question, is the braid actually cutting into the mono and causing the break? If so, am I sometimes doing something wrong when tying my Alberto knots (like cinching them too tightly, or messing up the weave)? Is this something that commonly happens with this kind of knot?

Heh. I’m an old dog and not quite up to new tricks just yet. Maybe someday I'll teach myself baitcasting. I generally throw very light stuff…in the old days always on medium light, but the last few years I’ve upsized a bit. Mainly because I relocated and live near bigger water with some pretty husky pike. So the heavier lures tend to be big spoons and spinners for the toothy guys. The other outfits are for panfish and bass (not too many lunkers up here) and walleye. Yeah, I had thought about going longer than 7’ to balance. Thanks for the tips.

I have two Pflueger President XT SP40X spinning reels. One is paired with a 7' MH Daiwa Procyon spinning rod, which I use for throwing heavier lures. The rod is rated for 1/4 oz to 1 oz, but I find that anything less than 1/2 oz is pretty tough to cast. This eliminates a lot of the baits in my tackle box. Originally, I was going to use the second reel as a spare, but I am now thinking of trying to match it to a medium rod that is better suited for throwing my lighter lures. Thing is, I worry that a 4000-size reel is going to be too heavy or bulky for a M rod. Any suggestions for pairing? Or should I simply get a proper medium combo. (As an aside, I also have a Pflueger President 25 combo with a 6'6" M rod, but the rod is super noodley and acts almost like a ML. I use that for pan fishing and throwing really, really light lures. So I am looking for something in between the MH and the smaller rod for 1/8 and 1/4 oz stuff, and more finesse than the heavy things I use on the MH rod.)

Phew, that's what I was thinking/hoping. I've spooled and respelled several times and this is about as good as it gets. It's tradeoffs. I like using braid though that means I need to pay more attention to line management and probably have to accept the periodic birds nest when the line digs into itself over time on the spool. Otherwise, I suppose two options are: put a lot more mono backing and a lot less braid on the spool (maybe run only 50 to 75 yards of braid as opposed to the entire 150 yards...after all, I am casting from shore not deep trolling). Or, just go back to mono. Anyway, thanks for all of the advice. It really sounds like a combination of line twist (me not managing this) and reeling in slack line from windy days/tossing soft stuff/throwing big casts with lots of arc/etc (also me not managing this). And shorter leaders with the micro guides is probably not a bad idea, either. Give me enough time, I'll get the line right. Now, if only I can manage to get some bites...

Washers? Not heard of this, will have to look. I unspooled all the remaining braid and dragged it through a field then respelled under pressure. Again it is not stacked quite right. It's not hour-glassed but somewhat the opposite: higher in the middle with "notches" at the top and bottom (see photos). This works fine for awhile but eventually some line will get caught up in the top or bottom and then it will start to dig into itself. I can also see some loose/crossed line even though I respelled under pretty good pressure. I love braid, but life was easier back in the mono days!

Yeah..went out today and looked closely at the spool--it is stacked funky. Must be built up over the last few weeks. I'll definitely have to respool, or at least let out a whole bunch and rewind under pressure.

Bingo! I’ve never had alike bite off my lure. It will happen someday, but I’m not going to gear up with wire leaders etc just for. 20# braid with lighter leader than I am using sounds good.

Thanks for the advice! I was trying to follow the manufacturer (Mepps) advice to tie direct, but to be honest I have never notice a performance difference for the lure with or without (I’m not skilled enough!). I had also thought of dropping leader seize to 10# or 12# but figured 15# was minimum to deal with most of the pike I run into to. Where I fish from shore it’s pretty much mixed bass and pike for the big fish. But the occasional bite off may be worth not having other hassles. I’ll definitely need to be more careful while I try to learn soft plastics. I find that unless I am using a big weight and casting a mile, the line on the spool eventually loosens and tangles when I try dragging or hopping a worm. I'm sure this is mostly my poor technique. To clarify, I always manually close the bail no exception, so I think the problem(s) are elsewhere...some other mistake I am making!

So, then it sounds like I should get rid of the Alberto knot (direct tie main line to leader) and go back to using a swivel to connect main to leader. aside from the line twist, is it a problem to hear the knot rattling through the guides? Are those guides simply too small for direct connection between main and leader?

I am have problems with wind knots and casting distance since, and wondering if my leader is making things worse. Here is my set up: Pflueger President XT SP40 spinning reel Daiwa Procyon 702MHFS 7’ spinning rod Sufix 832 20# braid 15# mono leader connected with Alberto knot I am fishing from shore not targeting any specific species, but with heavier tackle I catch some decent bass and pike. I tend to throw a lot of inline spinners (my confidence bait), but also heavy spoons if the pike bite it on, some spinner baits, and spin jigs. Occasional crank baits. Basically, I am not very skilled with finesse techniques—still learning after growing up deadsticking night crawlers—so I tend to fall back on cast and wind. I am trying to learn to use soft plastics (more below). I like to use a leader for three reasons. (1) I tend to switch lures frequently, and rather cut off leader than braid. (2) I use a weaker leader than main line for break offs, so I don’t have to cut a long chunk of braid when snagged. (3) I use 15# leader because it’s strong enough to handle most of the cover I’m fishing as well as the small to medium pike I get. I’ve yet to have a bite off. I started by using a barrel swivel to connect main line to leader, but recently I switched to using an Alberto knot. I have a second, much lighter rod that I use for panfish, with 10# braid connected to 6#or 8# mono with an Alberto knot, and it works like a dream. I can set up a 5 foot leader and tie and retie for days before needing a new leader. Set up works great for lost fishing, light jigs, small spinners, etc. So I began trying the same thing with my heavier rod. so here is the problem.the Daiwa rod has pretty tiny guides. The top three or four are only about 3mm wide with the ceramic inserts. Even though I am tying a really tight knot, I can still feel it banging through the guides and I am pretty certain it is cutting down my casting distance. I addition, I am getting lots of pretty bad wind knots, especially if I try to do anything other than throw my heaviest cat and retrieve lures. Just today I was trying to practice Texas rigging a worm with a 1/4 oz weight, about 10 casts in a wind knot blew the whole thing up. I am wondering if the small guides rattling the Alberto knot and slowing the cast is somehow contributing to the wind knots. I have been using braid for a couple of years now, and I am pretty certain it is spooled correctly. But I can't seem to be able to do anything "lighter" or more finesse on this rod without making the line looser on the spool, and now I am banging the leader off the guides. Any advice for this novice? Are the guides too small for tying a long leader, and is this contributing to the casting problems I am experiencing? I am really keen to learn to use soft plastics, especially as the summer approaches and the shoreline weeds up and call for more seedless presentation.