Why Baitcasters Are Better Than Spinning Setups: Fatigue

[tcbass]

I'm not saying that baitcasters are better than spinning set ups just that in some circumstances one will outshine the other and in the case of lures with a lot of size, resistance, baitcasting setups will mostly be the better choice.

 

 

One area is fatigue. When your throwing something with a lot of resistance or something that is heavy, usually a baitcaster is easier on you. When you see muskie fisherman they are throwing those big lures with heavy duty baitcasting setups. And no one would recommend throwing an Alabama/Umbrella Rig with spinning gear. If you did your reel and rod would be huge.

 

 

Yes, spinning gear can be used for heavier-duty applications and a lot of off-shore saltwater fisherman will use them for bigger fish. But mostly you see heavy duty baitcasting setups. And for the same fish you can have a medium sized baitcasting setup while the comparable spinning rod setup would be considerably larger. Baitcasting setups can be downsized more and keep the same performance while a spinning setup will be bigger IMO. If you see a lot of commercial fisherman they use baitcasting setups, not spinning. They need to get the fish in efficiently and as quickly as possible. Same for downrigger fishing, I don't know anyone who uses spinning rods for downrigger fishing. Baitcasting setups just seem to be more heavy-duty but still a moderate size.

 

 

 

I came to this realization the other day when I was fishing a very small lure. I was casting a Rapala Scatter Rap shallow on my baitcasting set up. Worked great. However, I decided to put it on my medium spinning rod for longer and easier casting. It did great in that aspect however, I noticed that reeling it back I felt a lot more resistance and it felt a lot hard and after 10 casts I knew I would get tired more quickly. I switched it back to my baitcasting setup and wasn't fatigued at all the rest of the day.

 

 

I realized that this might be because of the distance of the reel from the rod. On a baitcasting setup the reel is right at the rod. On a spinning setup the reel is actually quite a bit away from the rod. I don't know if this effects angle, torque, or what. But it is easier to reel in an object with a baitcasting rig than it would be with a spinning rig. When I fish spinning I use the reels base to split my fingers, so I have two above and 2 below.

 

 

Also of note, with a baitcaster I reel with my right hand (dominant hand) and hold the rod with my left, when I'm using spinning, I'm reeling with my left hand and holding the rod with my right hand. This could also effect fatigue.

 

I could tell though that the Scatter Rap's resistance put much more strain on the spinning setup than it did the baitcasting setup.

[new2BC4bass]

Oooooh.  Look out. 

[iceintheveins]

Agreed.

[Tywithay]

What's the gear ratio on your spinning reel?

[Raul]

Still not convinced with the argument.

[Jrob78]

Oh dear god, why?

[kickerfish1]

Just about every spinning vs. casting debate has been about 3 - 6 pages of a "holier than thow" debate and locked when Irene goes to bed. I see this happening again here.

[tcbass]

What's the gear ratio on your spinning reel?

 

9:0:1

[Tywithay]

9:0:1

What reel is that? A ratio that high on a spinning reel would have no power. A 4.8:1 spinning reel has similar IPT to faster baitcasters and quite a bit of power.

[tcbass]

What reel is that? A ratio that high on a spinning reel would have no power. A 4.8:1 spinning reel has similar IPT to faster baitcasters and quite a bit of power.

 

 

Abu Garcia Revo Rocket.

[RoLo]

As the members can attest, I fished with spinning gear almost exclusively for many years. 

Yet in the ocean, I fished with conventional gear almost exclusively (conventional = saltwater casting).

 

Since I've been on both sides of the fence, I can fully understand why an angler might use spinning gear exclusively,

or use casting gear exclusively, or better yet, a combination of both (they're both super tools).

Fatigue? Well, even at my advanced age, fatigue from spinning gear or casting gear has never been an issue. 

Fatigue could be the result of flawed technique.

 

Roger

[tcbass]

As the members can attest, I fished with spinning gear almost exclusively for many years. 

Yet in the ocean, I fished with conventional gear almost exclusively (conventional = saltwater casting).

 

Since I've been on both sides of the fence, I can fully understand why an angler might use spinning gear exclusively,

or use casting gear exclusively, or a combination of both (they're both super tools).

Fatigue? Even at my advanced age, fatigue from spinning gear or casting gear has never been an issue. 

Fatigue is often the result of flawed technique.

 

Roger

I'm very small. It actually makes fishing much harder. When I stand I can't reach the trolling motor pedal. Holding a baitcasting rod and reel correctly is nearly impossible. My hands get cramped up sometimes attempting to make the stretch.

I can guarantee you it's not flawed technique.

I use both baitcasting and spinning. They both have here purposes and both do better at some things then the other.

[SirSnookalot]

 

Yes, spinning gear can be used for heavier-duty applications and a lot of off-shore saltwater fisherman will use them for bigger fish. But mostly you see heavy duty baitcasting setups. And for the same fish you can have a medium sized baitcasting setup while the comparable spinning rod setup would be considerably larger. Baitcasting setups can be downsized more and keep the same performance while a spinning setup will be bigger IMO. If you see a lot of commercial fisherman they use baitcasting setups, not spinning. They need to get the fish in efficiently and as quickly as possible. Same for downrigger fishing, I don't know anyone who uses spinning rods for downrigger fishing. Baitcasting setups just seem to be more heavy-duty but still a moderate size.

 

I think you have raised two different issues, offshore in the ocean is it's entity IMO has very little in common with bass fishing.   I fish both fresh and salt but way more saltwater.  Off shore saltwater can be done easily with spinning or conventional.  For the most part when fishing offshore drifting or trolling is done, as long as the right size rod is being used either type of reel is fine, many spinning reels 4000-8000 have 30# of drag, my Penn 7000 has 32# and holds 300 yds of line.  Quite true conventional reels have more line capacity and in some cases that is advantage but for the most part 200-300 yds is good.  Commercial fishermen down here don't use rods down here, they hand jig and use a winch to pull up the fish.

 

Use whatever your preference is for freshwater or inshore salt, mine is spinning.

[Bluebasser86]

[kikstand454]

change the handle on your spinning reel to the right hand side.

Problem solved. /thread.

[flyfisher]

LOL...fatigue from reeling, that is funny in and of itself.  

[tcbass]

LOL...fatigue from reeling, that is funny in and of itself.

You've never seen anyone fight an ocean fish for a long time and get tired?

After palming a baitcaster for a day my hand is sore sometimes afterward.

[MacP]

Here in about 5 weeks it's dropshot fishing time.  Fatigue from spinning reels is real.  My wrist already aches.

[FlipSide]

Here in about 5 weeks it's dropshot fishing time.  Fatigue from spinning reels is real.  My wrist already aches.

 

All hail the might dropshot  

[roadwarrior]

I fish both, but have a strong preference for one over the other.

 

Generally:

Power fishing = baitcasting gear

Finesse = spinning tackle.

 

The exception is "moving" lures. For cast & quick retrieve I always prefer baitcasting equipment.

[F14A-B]

Yea they are tools and both are great tools, I too use both and love both, they are used quite different from one another, fatigue can happen for a multitude of reasons, I use baitcasting 75% 25 spinning... I generally like my spinning gear at the higher end of the cost spectrum same as my baitcasting, I like good and or really good equipment . Use the rods and reels the way you choose to, and so will I.

[FrogFreak]

I said I wouldn't reply but I have to. Here's the deal, why does anyone care to convince others as to which is better? Go try em out, try em with different techniques and pick the one you like. Use a snoopy rod for all I care! I prefer BCs but so what,. The fish don't care. My grandfather and his best friend used to hand line fish in the ocean and they had a ball!

 

If you'd like to ask which setup is optimal for a certain type of fishing so you can go and purchase the right stuff, fine. But this debate is senseless. 

[Raul]

I have both, most of the times I fish from shore, since the lakes nar my hometown which I fish from the bank have all sorts of dense thorny vegetation and have steep sloping banks is difficult to fish with bc gear, try to swing the rod just to find out you can´t so spinning gear is what I use.

 

However, I´m still not convinced of the argument.

[flyfisher]

You've never seen anyone fight an ocean fish for a long time and get tired?

After palming a baitcaster for a day my hand is sore sometimes afterward.

yeah i have but i am pretty sure no ocean fish live in freshwater so your argument is irrelevant.  

 

I get the hand being sore piece but to be physically fatigued from fishing is funny to me....sure being out in the heat and on your feet al lady can bother some people but the actual act of fishing has bothered me one time and that was the first time i went out and used my 7wt fly rod with a full sinking line, that was a tiring day but more because of bad technique that was fixed for the next day's outing.

[Catch and Grease]

I fish both, but have a strong preference for one over the other.

Generally:

Power fishing = baitcasting gear

Finesse = spinning tackle.

The exception is "moving" lures. For cast & quick retrieve I always prefer baitcasting equipment.

Exactly....