My daughter skunked me

[Traumabrew]

I took my daughters out fishing; their first time ever fishing. I bought them cheap 9.99 Zebco push button combo rigs from Walmart. I set them up with a basic Texas rig. My oldest daughter caught 3 large mouth (her very first fish ever)......I caught none on my high end rods. Though I did have technical issues. I was using a baitcaster for the first time and was not casting very well and had a couple backlashes. I then switched to my spinning rod and had a backlash there too. Once I finally cleared that, then my spinning reel started jamming up and not cranking. It is a 10 year old Shimano stradic. I am going to tear it apart and see if I can fix it. If not, I got an excuse for a new spinning reel.

 

 

[Darren.]

Yes, this happens to us men often...LOL.

 

Out-fished by kids using Barbie rods.

 

Nature's way of humbling us.

[Traumabrew]

Is it normal to cast horribly when first learning too use a baitcaster?

[Rahlow]

First few times I took my son fishing, I didn’t even take my stuff lol

[Darren.]

8 minutes ago, Traumabrew said:

Is it normal to cast horribly when first learning too use a baitcaster?

Absolutely! You have to learn the nuances, thumb control, brake

management, etc. There are some good tutorials out there on

YouTube, and probably here at BR on the topic.

 

A good idea for you is to either cast a plug or a lure out as far as

you will normally cast (hopefully no backlash). And at that point,

do NOT reel in. Instead cut a piece of electrical tape the width of

your spool and apply it on. Rub it on with your finger, then reel in

the rest of the line.

 

Now if you cast and backlash, your backlash will stop at the tape

and you won't lose a whole spool of line. A tip I learned when 

watching Bill Dance many years back.

[Glaucus]

19 minutes ago, Traumabrew said:

Is it normal to cast horribly when first learning too use a baitcaster?

Yep. The biggest things are, you need to properly set up your braking system and the spoon tension knob thingamajig. Once those are set, it gets easier. Also stop the spool with your thumb right as the lure makes water contact. You'll get to the point where, with a properly setup baitcaster, you'll barely need to use your thumb. 

The only backlash I've had this year was when a frog decided to eat my Trick Worm. So I'm like, ok big guy, you wanna eat my bait so now you're the bait. Went to cast his butt out there for a bass to slurp up and joke was on me because I backlashed.

[Bankbeater]

The first time I took my daughter fishing I think I made two casts.  She caught about 50 sunnies, and I caught 1.

 

It took me an entire summer to learn how to use a baitcaster.  Sometimes I just got so discouraged that I put it away after one cast.  Then one day everything just came together and I was casting.  Couldn't believe it.  I thought I would never get it.

[Koz]

Backlashes happen. I had a doozy of one yesterday, but it was my own dang fault when I tried to snap it hard for extra distance. It's better to reduce the brakes and cast easy.

 

My suggestion is to be humble and dial the brakes up nearly all the way to start. You won't cast very far, but you'll get the hang of stopping the spool. Within a day or two you'll have the brakes at 60%-80% and gain some distance. It's better to start slow than miss chunks of fishing time picking or cutting out backlashes.

 

Oh yeah - don't forget to set the tension for every lure!