Baitcasters for light braid?

[Andy007]

First a little background.
Due to a bum wrist I’m going to switch away from spinning to casting rods. My favorite way to fish is with plastics on jigs or Texas rigged in the deeper weeds. About 12+ years ago went from mono to 10 pound braided line and ML fast spinning rods and that setup has worked quite well.  Have used casting reels but mainly for heavier line and lures for pike and muskies. After reading about light lures on baitcasters I grabbed my Abu Garcia 4500c and loaded it with 10 pound power pro and a 6’ MH rod. After I've caught few hundred fish I’m hooked!! I've had no line digging in or bad birds nest. Gets a little tricky with ¼ lures and wind, but doable
For a winter project, plan on building 2 rods to start with, a 7’ ML jig spin for my lighter plastics, and a 7’ MH crankbait rod for the heaver side. Maybe not ideal but both rods will also second for chatter baits, spinners and cranks.  To start with I will put my 4500 on the MH rod and buy a low profile for the ML blank.

After searching and reading many forums, not many use lighter than #30 braid, and with lighter line some have bad luck while others like it. In the few post that I find there’s usually no mention what brand or make of reel!

Finally to the question……….Are there brands or models of casting reels that work better with 10 pound braid?

Any incite or experience, good or bad would be most helpful

Thanks and have a good weekend!!

[buzzed bait]

i have braid in 10, 15, 30 and 40lb all on casting gear and rarely ever have any dig issues myself.  just have to be mindfull about pulling on it sometimes.

[crypt]

I also use abu 45/4600 reels with light braid with no problem. but my favorite setup is an older 1600 pro max. perfect reel for light braid.

[Andy007]

20 minutes ago, buzzed bait said:

i have braid in 10, 15, 30 and 40lb all on casting gear and rarely ever have any dig issues myself.  just have to be mindfull about pulling on it sometimes.

What kind of reels do you use?

[Mike L]

I personally wouldn't use 10# braid, just too thin. Just my opinion... 

20# is the lowest I go. Anyway to answer your question I use it on a Chronarch 100SF reel paired with a Loomis MBR 843C rod. 

I also use 20# in a Shimano 3000FJ spinning reel on a 7' 2" Crucial spinning rod, but hardly ever use it anymore. 

 

Mike 

[Darren.]

I've used 10# braid on an old Quantum Accurist, even caught
my PB of 7.5# on it with a 10# leader - caught her during spawn
in thick slop.

But I prefer using 20#. That's just me. You simply need to be aware
that, as @buzzed bait said, be mindful of pulling.

If I have had a tough pull, a snag, or other, I'll pull out a decent length
and wind it back on thru my fingers. Rarely dig in.

[Turkey sandwich]

I've tried 20lb and lighter braid on casting gear, only to end up very frustrated with backlashes due to the line digging into the spool.  I was using SS Powerpro, and looking back, the coating on the line may have contributed to my problems, but the results were so dramatically negative when compared to 30lb 832 that I never considered going back.  The reel I spooled was a Lews Speed Spool BB1 with the theory being that the thinner diameter would improve my cranking.  No such luck. To me, 20lb and lighter braid makes spinning reels a dream, while 30lb braid does essentially the same for casting gear.  Whatever you decide, good luck, and post the results.  I'm curious if it's worth me revisiting or if I'm better of spending the money on whisky and cigars. 

[Mike L]

55 minutes ago, Darren. said:

If I have had a tough pull, a snag, or other, I'll pull out a decent length
and wind it back on thru my fingers. Rarely dig in.

Ditto

 

Mike

[buzzed bait]

2 hours ago, Andy007 said:

What kind of reels do you use?

All low profile baitcasters lew's, Shimano and daiwa. 

[BobP]

Like Crypt, I also like to use an old Abu Pro Max 1600 for light line baitcasting.  Six bearings, a small light aluminum spool that casts small baits well.  To me, it's the easiest to use, least backlashing reel ever - and I've used a bunch of the newer Shimano and Daiwa baitcasters.  I like Suffix 832 braid on it.  If you're familiar with the internals of a 4000 series Abu, a Pro Max will be the same, just smaller.

[Fishnow]

You may check some finesse reels,like Shimano Aldebaran,Daiwa Alphas Air,Daiwa SS SV. It's for really small weights and lines.

I use on Aldebaran51 shallow spool with 4# PE braid,and 4# fluoro on genuine spool.

[new2BC4bass]

One of my Black Max 1600C's came with a light braid. I'm guessing more than 10# and no more than 20#. Would have to mic it for a better guess. Have had no problem casting with it but it has broken. However I have no idea how long it has been on the reel. 

Possibly the Zillion PE Line Special would be a good choice. It was designed for braid. I think mine currently has 20# on it. I have to admit that it has only been used a couple times since the line was put on. I haven't been able to develop a love affair with it yet like I have with my other Zillions. 

[shaggydog]

none. use spinning

[JustJames]

If you gonna use 10lb braid on bait caster why dont you try copolymer / hybrid line. They are smaller than mono with the same strenght. For example #6 hybird would have 10-12lbs mono strenght. I like using #4 Izorline on my dedicated lite setup reel(calcutta 50). It soft very manageble and got some strenght with it. I landed 23 lbs carp with this setup before.

[Andy007]

6 hours ago, JustJames said:

If you gonna use 10lb braid on bait caster why dont you try copolymer / hybrid line. They are smaller than mono with the same strenght. For example #6 hybird would have 10-12lbs mono strenght. I like using #4 Izorline on my dedicated lite setup reel(calcutta 50). It soft very manageble and got some strenght with it. I landed 23 lbs carp with this setup before.

Have considered using a copolymer line but really like the braid because of the stretch. Once in a while I grab one my ladies rods that has a spin cast reel with mono and it takes a bit to get used to. It has a lot of give when you have 50’ out and wrapped around weeds, there’s a noticeable difference in sensitivity and the larger diameter won’t cut through the weeds nearly as nice when they’re 10-20 foot in. I’m not saying my way is the best but it works for my style of fishing. I often wonder if I get fewer bites not using an invisible or somewhat invisible line? Guess I try to compensate for an invisible line with the smallest I can get away with! Everybody has stupid ideas……….This is maybe mine?  

Thanks for your help everyone!   

On 10/14/2016 at 2:15 PM, crypt said:

I also use abu 45/4600 reels with light braid with no problem. but my favorite setup is an older 1600 pro max. perfect reel for light braid.

I've read about the old pro max reels and will be high on the garage sell list next season.

[WRB]

On October 14, 2016 at 10:38 AM, Andy007 said:

First a little background.
Due to a bum wrist I’m going to switch away from spinning to casting rods. My favorite way to fish is with plastics on jigs or Texas rigged in the deeper weeds. About 12+ years ago went from mono to 10 pound braided line and ML fast spinning rods and that setup has worked quite well.  Have used casting reels but mainly for heavier line and lures for pike and muskies. After reading about light lures on baitcasters I grabbed my Abu Garcia 4500c and loaded it with 10 pound power pro and a 6’ MH rod. After I've caught few hundred fish I’m hooked!! I've had no line digging in or bad birds nest. Gets a little tricky with ¼ lures and wind, but doable
For a winter project, plan on building 2 rods to start with, a 7’ ML jig spin for my lighter plastics, and a 7’ MH crankbait rod for the heaver side. Maybe not ideal but both rods will also second for chatter baits, spinners and cranks.  To start with I will put my 4500 on the MH rod and buy a low profile for the ML blank.

 

After searching and reading many forums, not many use lighter than #30 braid, and with lighter line some have bad luck while others like it. In the few post that I find there’s usually no mention what brand or make of reel!

 

Finally to the question……….Are there brands or models of casting reels that work better with 10 pound braid?
 

 

Any incite or experience, good or bad would be most helpful

 

Thanks and have a good weekend!!

 

10 lb test braid is about .007 diameter, most bait casting reels can operate OK with .009 dia as the smallest diameter. The problem is two fold; spool clearance and backlashes. Line less than.007 dia tends to get in between the reel frame and spool OD during a cast if the line loosens during the cast. When you get a backlash it's because the spooled line loosen during the cast forming loops. Trying to handle 10 lb super braid to untangle backlashes can cut your fingers.

Bait casting creates more wrist strain then spinning tackle. Is your problem weight or motion?

Tom

[Andy007]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

10 lb test braid is about .007 diameter, most bait casting reels can operate OK with .009 dia as the smallest diameter. The problem is two fold; spool clearance and backlashes. Line less than.007 dia tends to get in between the reel frame and spool OD during a cast if the line loosens during the cast. When you get a backlash it's because the spooled line loosen during the cast forming loops. Trying to handle 10 lb super braid to untangle backlashes can cut your fingers.

Bait casting creates more wrist strain then spinning tackle. Is your problem weight or motion?

Tom

I might be asking for too much and if needed I’ll maybe go to heaver line or I maybe the Abu 4500 can be tweaked a bit for lighter lures. Been reading and will probably start with a Lews tournament MG and hope I can make it work.

I have a nice spinning St Croix I built with a bit longer handle that can lay along my forearm while fighting fish and 2 handed casting has helped, but on them 30+ fish evening the wrist lets me know.
I added 2 inches to the butt of the casting blank I’ve been using so it can be held between my elbow and side so the stain on my wrist isn’t too bad. Not sure if it weight, motion or position but the bait casting setup seems to help.

Andy

[Finnz922]

Daiwa Liberto Pixy or PX Type R or PX68 or Alphas Type F or Alphas Finesse Custom or Alphas SV or  well you get the idea

[BradGinKC]

Not sure if you've tried this yet, or if this would even help your particular ailment, but there are a lot of different wrist/hand braces that might help you continue using some of your spinning gear. There are places that specialize in making custom braces that are actually comfortable and less bulky than generic ones. My dad fought the same issue for years until he found the right brace. Might be worth looking into it, if you haven't already. Sounds like you put in a lot of work building some nice spinning rods, and I'd hate for them to just be collecting dust!

[Big Bait Fishing]

use some 20 lb. braid , you'll like the way it casts and it's plenty strong for most all uses . just try to stay away from lines that have coatings that'll make the line stick to itself .  

[NHBull]

In my neck of the woods few are using more than 15 lb braid on casters. Most are at 10.  

[Andy007]

15 hours ago, BradGinKC said:

Not sure if you've tried this yet, or if this would even help your particular ailment, but there are a lot of different wrist/hand braces that might help you continue using some of your spinning gear. There are places that specialize in making custom braces that are actually comfortable and less bulky than generic ones. My dad fought the same issue for years until he found the right brace. Might be worth looking into it, if you haven't already. Sounds like you put in a lot of work building some nice spinning rods, and I'd hate for them to just be collecting dust!

I have not tried a custom brace but have used braces, wrapped and taped. Taping works good but what a PITA!  Ibuprofen works great also, just trying to stay away from drugs for as long as possible.
And I can turn those nice spinning rods into casters if they get to dusty!!

2 hours ago, NHBull said:

In my neck of the woods few are using more than 15 lb braid on casters. Most are at 10.  

Any particular brand of reels in your neck of the woods that rule the roost more than others?

[WRB]

Do you have a price range you are looking at?

Most of the smaller precision bait casting reels 50 size or smaller are pricey.

Tom

[Angry John]

I dig the alphas 105 or the air the megabass zonda or a pixy. 

[J Francho]

Most of the recommendations I see here are for light lures.  Now, this may mean light line too, but what I'm reading in the OP is not really light stuff.  The main thing you want with light line is a shallow spool.  There are tons of options where a super shallow after market spool would suit your purposes.