Backreeling with a spinning reel

[Chance_Taker4]

12 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

I know Mark Davis likes to back reel, but I don't. 

Iaconelli still back reels to. I read an article that Abu wasn't going to leave that feature off their Revo spinning reels but Ike threw a huge fit and they added it back into the design.

[J Francho]

I've never seen him back reel, or just didn't notice.  I have seen him literally strip line off the reel to feed it to the fish.  Personally, it seems a little melodramatic to me.  Set the drag in the first place.  They work.

[desmobob]

11 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I've never seen him back reel, or just didn't notice.  I have seen him literally strip line off the reel to feed it to the fish.  Personally, it seems a little melodramatic to me.  Set the drag in the first place.  They work.

What?  Ike being overly dramatic?  Come on...  

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[volzfan59]

My dad taught me to back reel back in the 60's and I still do from time to time just to stay in practice. Usually I let the drag do it's thing.

[Russ E]

I have seen people do it but,  have never felt the need for back reeling. 

it seems to me, one more thing to worry about in the heat of catching a large fish.

I make sure the drag works and just fish.

[Paul Roberts]

I've never used drag on a spinning reel. And you don't have to keep two hands on the reel either.

[HookRz]

On 3/7/2018 at 8:28 PM, Mobasser said:

HookRz, I have to agree. Pretty much what I do too. I set my drag tight and adjust after I hook a fish. Only time I've had trouble is one or twice hooking into a good size fish. I've had a couple break off on the hookset

 

On 3/7/2018 at 8:28 PM, Mobasser said:

HookRz, I have to agree. Pretty much what I do too. I set my drag tight and adjust after I hook a fish. Only time I've had trouble is one or twice hooking into a good size fish. I've had a couple break off on the hookset

 

12 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I first learned about it from reading about Billy Westmorelnd. Still one of my favorite guys. It really is choice, I like it

The reel drags today are great. But when backreeling I am in control. You can also do what I call "counterpunching" and tire out a fish much faster. Fish runs, backreel with him than do half turns forward. Snap his head a bit.  You can't do that with the drag slipping. 

 

But it backreeling is just a Bass and Walleye thing. Don't try it on Steelhead. No one can backreel as fast as a slime rocket can run! 

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

...And you don't have to keep two hands on the reel either.

OK, you have piqued my curiosity. 

 

I understand someone with hands like Andre the Giant could just wrap his big mitt around the entire rod and reel handle, but for normal mortals, how pray tell do you you do that?

[Yumeya]

On 3/7/2018 at 6:14 PM, reason said:

No back reeling for me. If you have a decent drag and it is set properly, there should be no need, but if you enjoy doing it, and it works for you, that's really all that matters. 

x2

[N Florida Mike]

I dont backreel unless the brake disengages., which has happened a few times.

I have mostly mid range reels with decent, if not great drags. With any larger fish, I "help the drag " by stripping line by hand when the fish surges. I have done this for many years and it works well for me.

 

[Crestliner2008]

Many years ago I use to back reel almost exclusively. Back then, spinning reel drags left a lot to be desired too! And I also wanted (needed) to land every fish I got to bite. These days, successfully landing every fish is less important to me. And I gotta admit, the modern spinning reel drags are so much better today as well. Besides, there is nothing like the excitement of a screaming drag!

[mattkenzer]

No back reeling for me, I do well just to reel forward ......

[DubyaDee]

12 hours ago, HookRz said:

You can also do what I call "counterpunching" and tire out a fish much faster. Fish runs, backreel with him than do half turns forward. Snap his head a bit.  You can't do that with the drag slipping. 

This sounds like a great way to lose a fish. I'm using light line (6-10 lb) with my spinning set ups and I always try to keep things as smooth as possible. Getting all herky jerky on light gear makes me nervous.

 

I guess we all have our own approach and we use what works best for us. 

[A-Jay]

I never did nor do I back reel. 

I prefer to fish with a pretty 'loose' drag relatively speaking. My style when fishing spinning gear is to have the hookset be the most pressure I place on the fish & my tackle, if I can.  After that, I'm rarely in a big hurry to land a bass (or any big by catch).  I will often 'check' my drag during a fight (especially on bigger fish) by pulling a little line out against the drag; just to make sure / have confidence that it will slip when called upon & not bind (though I've not really had a problem with that - mostly just paranoid).  Additionally and as long as the conditions permit, I have no problem 'letting the fish have it's head' but I will however 'feather' the spool a bit now & then to add just a touch of pressure.  

A couple of falls ago I landed a tanker of a 25 lb pike on 10 lb line loaded spinning set up. 

While some of the smaillies I get into can pull my string pretty good, this PB Pike fight lasted over 15 minutes, drag worked fine.  

YMMV

A-Jay

 

[JLBBass]

I catch around 2,000+ smallmouth a year, on spinning gear, and as you know, you'll need to use your drag, or backreel when fighting smallies!

I use my drag 100% of the time!

[Paul Roberts]

15 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

OK, you have piqued my curiosity. 

 

I understand someone with hands like Andre the Giant could just wrap his big mitt around the entire rod and reel handle, but for normal mortals, how pray tell do you you do that?

The fingers on my rod hand can reach the rotor. I have regular sized hands -wear a Lg glove. All I need to do -if I leggo the handle, say, to lip the fish- is stop the rotor with my fingers that are already draped off the handle. It's... easy.

 

Adding a short video clip:

Back-Reel.mp4

 

16 hours ago, HookRz said:

 

The reel drags today are great. But when backreeling I am in control. ... 

 

But it backreeling is just a Bass and Walleye thing. Don't try it on Steelhead. No one can backreel as fast as a slime rocket can run! 

Exactly. Bingo.

 

As to steelhead, I've back-reeled a number of them, and some salmon too. Even took a steelie on 1lb (2kg) Trilene XT with a 6ft ultra-light, in wide open water on the lake. Took 10 minutes to land on a watch. My biggest concern was the fish landing on the line during those jumps. Wouldn't recommend it, but I learned a lot about fighting fish in those 10 minutes. Most of my steelies were caught with single-action fly reels though.

 

[J Francho]

I do almost the same process to stop a spool's drag slipping, if needed.  There really isn't a right or wrong here.

[WRB]

I only use spinning for finesse fishing and always set and trust my drag.

When a big bass gets close to the boat is the moment of truth and the reason they break off is your drag was set too high. Back reeling can help with a big bass near the boat which means your anti reverse must be off in advance and mine never is.

Tom

 

[crypt]

I use Penn ssg reels,can't backreel. so I use my trusty drag.

[HookRz]

3 hours ago, DubyaDee said:

This sounds like a great way to lose a fish. I'm using light line (6-10 lb) with my spinning set ups and I always try to keep things as smooth as possible. Getting all herky jerky on light gear makes me nervous.

 

I guess we all have our own approach and we use what works best for us. 

Yup. Few bass can break line. Cover might break line, or a Bass might break a bad not, but that's about it. I've landed hundreds of 5+ and 6+ Erie Smallies in open water on line as light as 4#, and never give break offs a thought. Throwing the hook on jumps is another matter. 

[OCdockskipper]

5 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

All I need to do -if I leggo the handle, say, to lip the fish- is stop the rotor with my fingers that are already draped off the handle...

 

Thete is a good chance I would clumsily get a finger caught under something, dislocate it and be off the water for a month...

[HookRz]

5 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

The fingers on my rod hand can reach the rotor. I have regular sized hands -wear a Lg glove. All I need to do -if I leggo the handle, say, to lip the fish- is stop the rotor with my fingers that are already draped off the handle. It's... easy.

 

Adding a short video clip:

Back-Reel.mp4

 

Exactly. Bingo.

 

As to steelhead, I've back-reeled a number of them, and some salmon too. Even took a steelie on 1lb (2kg) Trilene XT with a 6ft ultra-light, in wide open water on the lake. Took 10 minutes to land on a watch. My biggest concern was the fish landing on the line during those jumps. Wouldn't recommend it, but I learned a lot about fighting fish in those 10 minutes. Most of my steelies were caught with single-action fly reels though.

 

That sir, is a masterpiece of fish playing. We ain't talkin' no largemouth here. How big was it? Even a three pound jack would be a challenge on that tackle. 

[FishDewd]

I have a Lew's that will back reel with a toggle on the bottom that cancels the anti-reverse. I've only used it a few times as a substitute for a drifting set up with a proper rod and baitcasting reel. Since I now have a drifting rod and baitcasting reels, I won't need to use it that way anymore. And it's not often I even drift. I've done it a few times down the Guadalupe up north, a few times in my creek after a flood, and once or twice in my pond when it was so windy there wasn't much other option but to let it drift a bit with the created current.

[Paul Roberts]

52 minutes ago, HookRz said:

That sir, is a masterpiece of fish playing. We ain't talkin' no largemouth here. How big was it? Even a three pound jack would be a challenge on that tackle. 

The 1lb test fish was 9lbs. I've back-reeled browns to 14lbs, steelhead to 12lbs (back-reeled and lost one about 15, but not due to back-reeling), and Chinooks to 24# -although that old Mitchell 300 was toast after a few such fish. Gotta have good gears. I then got a Quick 441N (high speed, big spool) which allowed me to backreel salmon to 15lbs without letting go the handle.

[HookRz]

8 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

The 1lb test fish was 9lbs. I've back-reeled browns to 14lbs, steelhead to 12lbs (back-reeled and lost one about 15, but not due to back-reeling), and Chinooks to 24# -although that old Mitchell 300 was toast after a few such fish. Gotta have good gears. I then got a Quick 441N (high speed, big spool) which allowed me to backreel salmon to 15lbs without letting go the handle.

 

8 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

The 1lb test fish was 9lbs. I've back-reeled browns to 14lbs, steelhead to 12lbs (back-reeled and lost one about 15, but not due to back-reeling), and Chinooks to 24# -although that old Mitchell 300 was toast after a few such fish. Gotta have good gears. I then got a Quick 441N (high speed, big spool) which allowed me to backreel salmon to 15lbs without letting go the handle.

What this tells us is those that don't "get" backreeling never learned it. Control the fish rather than letting the drag, however good, let the fish control you. I believe it may be because our southern friends that started with baitcasters with heavy line never had to. No largemouth gonna break my braid. A big King on the other hand may yank me outa the boat!