Bait Casting For Beginners

[Shane_]

I've never used a bait caster before but I have a little money and I'm thinking about getting one and it will most likely be a used one but is there any someone would recemened to start with?

[hooah212002]

I would recommend something with dual brakes (centrifugal AND magnetic), like a BPS Pro Qualifier (regularly $80 on sale). Spool it up with cheap-ish mono like Sufix Elite and drench it with line conditioner (I use KVD, but others work as well I'm sure). Make a good cast, then pull a bit more line out. Lay a piece of tape on the line so when you get a birds nest it only goes so far down and you don't have to ruin the entire spool.

 

If you get a cheap-o, you will have a bad time. Higher quality reels are far more forgiving. Unless you have greasey fumble fingers and throw your reel around, beginners are fine with high price reels. It's the line that you are going to waste due to backlashes that gets expensive.

 

Depending on your budget, there are a number of choices:

 

$50 H2O mettle at Academy

 

~$80 (typically): BPS PQ

 

~$100: Lew Speed Spool

 

~$120 (this is the price point where reels start to get really good and where price really equals performance): Shimano Citica, Abu Garcia Revo S.

 

I wouldn't recommend any higher than that since you never know if you will like BC reels

[Shane_]

I would recommend something with dual brakes (centrifugal AND magnetic), like a BPS Pro Qualifier (regularly $80 on sale). Spool it up with cheap-ish mono like Sufix Elite and drench it with line conditioner (I use KVD, but others work as well I'm sure). Make a good cast, then pull a bit more line out. Lay a piece of tape on the line so when you get a birds nest it only goes so far down and you don't have to ruin the entire spool.

If you get a cheap-o, you will have a bad time. Higher quality reels are far more forgiving. Unless you have greasey fumble fingers and throw your reel around, beginners are fine with high price reels. It's the line that you are going to waste due to backlashes that gets expensive.

Depending on your budget, there are a number of choices:

$50 H2O mettle at Academy

~$80 (typically): BPS PQ

~$100: Lew Speed Spool

~$120 (this is the price point where reels start to get really good and where price really equals performance): Shimano Citica, Abu Garcia Revo S.

I wouldn't recommend any higher than that since you never know if you will like BC reels

Wow that helps alot thank you. Would I have to buy a nice rod for it or would an ugly stick work?

[hooah212002]

Wow that helps alot thank you. Would I have to buy a nice rod for it or would an ugly stick work?

 

Yes. Get a "nice" rod and use that ugly stick for junk fishing (worm and bobber beer drinkin). What is your budget? Berkley Lightning Shock rods get high accolades for budget rods, however you should up that to at least $70 and spring for a Powell Diesel or better yet, $100 for a *** *** Black.

[Shane_]

Yes. Get a "nice" rod and use that ugly stick for junk fishing (worm and bobber beer drinkin). What is your budget? Berkley Lightning Shock rods get high accolades for budget rods, however you should up that to at least $70 and spring for a Powell Diesel or better yet, $100 for a *** *** Black.

Right now it's like$150 for a rod and reel... I can keep saving up or I could try to find a used one on here or ebay just message me if you find anything thanks so much for helping out

[Thatbasstardbrent]

Get a pinnacle. I had a pinnacle reel for my first baitcaster and it was an easy and cost effective cast.

[hooah212002]

That's your call, then. If you can gather another $50 quickly, then get a Citica 200G6 on fleabay for ~$105 and a *** rod. This set up will be the *** of all and is by no means a "beginner" one. this will last you a long time with proper maintenance.

 

if you don't want to save, then go to Academy and grab an H2O Mettle for $50 and still get the *** for $100.

 

OR swap rod/reel prices (your choice) and get a Berkley Lightning shock or Shimano Sellus (both about &50) and get a Lews Speed Spool.

 

I know how I am and I am impatient, with the baitmonkey burning a hole in my pocket so I tend to make very poor decisions and you can just keep saving (you say you have $150, someone says "well save a bit more and get this", but when you save that much, someone says "well save only a little more and get this". It's a never ending cycle for someone indecisive lol).

 

I can't make your decision because this crap ALL comes down to personal preference. There is no right choice, only not so good ones.

[hooah212002]

Get a pinnacle. I had a pinnacle reel for my first baitcaster and it was an easy and cost effective cast.

 

Everyone has their own experiences, but imo, Pinnacle can't even make golf balls right. I have had nothing but trouble with all the (low end/budget) Pinnacle reels I have bought. However, I have heard good things about the Matrix line which is $50 at Dicks.

[gramps50]

The 1st 2 baitcasting reels I bought were from Walmart, I took both of them back after trying to use them for a couple of days. Don't remember which ones they were but were name brands. Could not either of them to cast without a birds nest. Then I saw a Lews combo at my local sporting goods store and decided to give that a try. To my amazement it was much easier to cast. I still got birdsnest but not as many as before. Used it some then bought a Lews Tourament Pro and a Falcon rod to go with it. I still get birdsnest and am not real good with it but that's because I don't use it enough to really get the hang of it.

 

Last fall I would only fish with the BC and was getting decent with them but then came winter and I got real rusty and this spring pulled out the spincast stuff again.

 

Go to Bass Pro and get a pick, it's a handy little tool for helping to dig out birdsnest, it's a big help.

[DanielSweeney]

Full disclosure:  I'm new to baitcasting (just picked it up this spring), so I don't have experience to fall back on.  But for what it's worth, I started on an Abu Garcia Black Max combo from Dicks.  It was $80 with a $20 mail in rebate.  I really like it.  It was forgiving enough where I was able to get hang of casting it much sooner than I thought I would.  I don't have anything to compare it to, but for the price, I think it was a good investment.

[MDP4BASS]

i learned on a lews reel that had 2 brake systems it was almost inpossible to backlash it haha

[WarEagleBassin]

I am pretty new to baitcasters myself. I would recommend the Lew's speed spool. It's usually $99. I use it more than my abu garcia revo sx lately. Almost impossible to make it backlash. I was able to dial it in within about 10 casts. Awesome reel for a good price.

[Fishwhittler]

Full disclosure:  I'm new to baitcasting (just picked it up this spring), so I don't have experience to fall back on.  But for what it's worth, I started on an Abu Garcia Black Max combo from Dicks.  It was $80 with a $20 mail in rebate.  I really like it.  It was forgiving enough where I was able to get hang of casting it much sooner than I thought I would.  I don't have anything to compare it to, but for the price, I think it was a good investment.

 

The Black Max has a graphite frame.  I would steer clear of any baitcast reel that has a graphite frame, as graphite simply is not as rigid as aluminum.  It will flex under load, causing premature wear on the internal parts, and graphite reels have much higher fatality rates than metal-frame reels.  The H2O Xpress Mettle is the only $50 reel I would recommend.  It has an aluminum frame and is built by Daiwa with the same clutch as the Lexa 100.  It's a good reel.

 

I am pretty new to baitcasters myself. I would recommend the Lew's speed spool. It's usually $99. I use it more than my abu garcia revo sx lately. Almost impossible to make it backlash. I was able to dial it in within about 10 casts. Awesome reel for a good price.

 

Heard lots of good things about the Speed Spool, though I haven't used them.  They can be had for less than $100 if you look around—Tackle Trap has them for $90.

 

I personally would go with the Mettle of those two reels for starting out in bait casting.  The centrifugal brakes are probably going to be easier to learn on than the SS's magnetic-only brakes, and the Mettle will leave more money for the rod.

 

Shane_, you might want to check out the Daiwa Ballistic rods.  Tackle Warehouse is blowing them out for $65, down from $100/$120.  I just ordered one of the 7'11" cranking rods, and while I can't speak from prior experience on the Ballistic, both the $70 Team Daiwa T and $50 Daiwa Aird series are nice rods.  I can only assume the Ballistic is even nicer.

[Pegwedge]

 

 

OR swap rod/reel prices (your choice) and get a Berkley Lightning shock or Shimano Sellus (both about &50) and get a Lews Speed Spool.

 

 

I have this exact set up with 12 lb Yo-Zuri on it at the moment and I love it. It was also the first low profile baitcaster set up I've owned that I didn't backlash every other cast. The rod is pretty dang good for a $40 Walmart pole too. (Just make sure it's straight. When I bought mine it was the only one that was even close to being straight.) I can fish all day and not get tired. It's supposedly made for braid but I'm going to wait until I use up this spool of Yo-Zuri before I invest in some.

[OnthePotomac]

And read this:

 

http://pages.infinit.net/fishing/bait101.htm

http://pages.infinit.net/fishing/bait201.htm

[CxThree]

Everyone has their own experiences, but imo, Pinnacle can't even make golf balls right. I have had nothing but trouble with all the (low end/budget) Pinnacle reels I have bought. However, I have heard good things about the Matrix line which is $50 at Dicks.

 

I bought a Pinnacle Obsession at Academy to try to learn baitcasting.  I have to say it casts better than the more expensive rod and reel I bought at the same time.  I was surprised and wind up using it more than anything right now.  Has anyone else tried this combo?

[Khong]

I've never used a bait caster before but I have a little money and I'm thinking about getting one and it will most likely be a used one but is there any someone would recemened to start with?

 

You pay for what you get Shane. I personally don't like any of the performance baitcast reel that cost less then $100.  They just fail in comparison to spinning reels.  The cheapest baitcast reel i would buy is a Shimano Citica that really performs well.  Even that reel is above $100.