I just got my baitcasting reel. What should I know before my 1st cast?

[new2BC4bass]

11 hours ago, diehardbassfishing said:

Roll cast might not be such a great "early to try" exercise. It's very rod sensitive - if have a broomstick, OhOh.

 

Just good even swing side-arm is best way to start out.

 

Karl

 

I learned with a side arm cast.  Was tough for me.  It wasn't until later that I tried the roll cast.  Maybe it was because I knew how to cast before trying the roll cast, but I find it vastly easier to execute.  I use it from Light to Heavy power rods.  I don't notice a difference in my ability to use any of my rods....but I don't own a cue stick.      Hopefully the OP didn't buy a cue stick for his first rod.

[Wizzlebiz]

8 hours ago, Sam said:

Suggestions:

Balance rod, line test, bait weight with the reel. Stay within the rod's parameters. Use the "average line test" by adding up the high and low line test limits and divide by two. You now have the optimum line test for your rod.

 

Set up baitcaster ready to fish while at home and go outside. Point rod tip to 11 o'clock and using the spool tension knob to slow or speed up the line coming off the spool, release the line on the spool. You want the bait to fall slowly to the ground (not carpet) and have the spool stop when the bait hits the ground.  You do this a few times and use the spool tension knob and your drag to set this up. You do this every time you change baits while fishing.

 

Then cast your lure as far as you can and pull out three arm-lengths of line off spool. Place Scotch tape or some electrical tape over the remaining line on the spool. This will stop backlashes from going deeper into your line. You don't need much tape. Just enough to cover a  section of the line on the spool.

 

The 11 o'clock trick will have your bait stop as it approaches or hits the water. When throwing your baits you can start your retrieve as the bait gets ready to hit the water on each cast. No worries about backlashes unless you hit a tree, bush, or the boat's windshield while casting.

 

Always look up and all around yourself when bank fishing to avoid overhanging trees that can snag your bait and create the Backlash from the Devil.

 

Adjust the bait's fall rate so you will maximize your casts and avoid backlashes. You will get the hang of it and never have a backlash.

 

Good luck.

 

 

The avg test limit for the rod is 22.5 lb. The drag on the reel is 18lb. Ive been told by my local bait shop I shouldnt go over the drag limit but I dont think they know much of anythig about bass fishing tbh. Lol. Then again neither do I so I think its a case of blind leading the blind. Lmao

[Ratherbfishing]

Until you get the hang of it, try not to use it as a hammer.

[Wizzlebiz]

9 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

Until you get the hang of it, try not to use it as a hammer.

Yea. Im gonna stay smooth as a cucumber until I am extremely comfortable.  

1 hour ago, new2BC4bass said:

I learned with a side arm cast.  Was tough for me.  It wasn't until later that I tried the roll cast.  Maybe it was because I knew how to cast before trying the roll cast, but I find it vastly easier to execute.  I use it from Light to Heavy power rods.  I don't notice a difference in my ability to use any of my rods....but I don't own a cue stick.      Hopefully the OP didn't buy a cue stick for his first rod.

Med heavy fast tip 7 foot 3 inch. 

 

[new2BC4bass]

27 minutes ago, Wizzlebiz said:

Yea. Im gonna stay smooth as a cucumber until I am extremely comfortable.  

Med heavy fast tip 7 foot 3 inch. 

 

Excellent choice.  Versatile.  My MHF rods out number all other power rods.

[islandbass]

Two last things 

 

1) you must learn how to let the weight of the lure load the rod so that the rod can toss your lure like a catapult. You probably know as well as I do that you can get away with not doing this with a spinning rod with zero consequence/penalty but NOT with a casting set up.  Other than figuring out the timing of the release, This is probably the second most challenging thing for spinning background folks to overcome if they have the bad habit of failing to load the rod properly on the cast. If they already do this, this point is moot. 

2) do not hesitate to stop the spool dead cold if suspect or feel something isn’t or wasn’t done right. For example if you realized you let your thumb off too late on an overhand cast, stop it could turkey before the lure smacks down in front of you. Or, if you were mindful enough to realize your made your cast but failed to load the rod properly, stop the spool cold and start over. 

Stopping the spool from spinning before the lure hits the ground, water, or a shrub does a heckuva lot to prevent a birdsnest. Why? Because a spool can’t overrun if it isn’t spinning, lol.  

[Bankbeater]

When your casting remember to look behind you to make sure you won’t hit anything when you cast. Nothing kills a spool of line faster than hitting a bush that’s behind you that you didn’t know was there. 

[Sam]

Don't be too concerned with the drag. You can put the drag wherever you want it. Just be sure it is tight enough to hold the spool in place.

 

Your goal is to set up the spool to avoid backlashes.

[BassNJake]

You will backlash and when that happens a crochet needle is what I found to be the best tool to use.

They are cheap and have a rounded point so it wont dig between braid and some have a pointed end.

 

Can be found in the craft section of Walmart or stores like Joanne Fabrics or Michael's and of course online.

 

 

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, BassNJake said:

You will backlash and when that happens a crochet needle is what I found to be the best tool to use.

They are cheap and have a rounded point so it wont dig between braid and some have a pointed end.

 

Can be found in the craft section of Walmart or stores like Joanne Fabrics or Michael's and of course online.

 

 

You know, I’ve been considering getting one for the longest time. I know they come in different sizes so I’ll try to find one that would be decent for both thin and thick lines. At the very least, if the fishing is slow I suppose you could crochet a couple of reel covers, lol. 

[Wizzlebiz]

So I decided to go out to the delta. I live in northern California.  I dropped a line in the water with frozen anchovies for stripers (tis the season) and spent 6 hours throwing the Baitcaster. A couple of backlashes but nothing terrible. No Braid lost at all. Every backlash I was able to fairly easily get it pulled and back on the road. I used a rattle trap 1/2 oz as my 1st lure. I found the brakes half down work well for me. My thumb is already able to feel if and loops are forming during the cast and applies pressure to slow the spool. 

 

I am absolutely loving this! The ability to trully control the distance, accuracy, and the entry into the water are just leaps and bounds better than my spinning set up. 

 

Thank you all for the info before I went out today. Without it I wouldnt have known to stop the spool right before it hit the water. That was probably the most important piece of information you all gave me. 

[Hammer 4]

27 minutes ago, Wizzlebiz said:

So I decided to go out to the delta. I live in northern California.  I dropped a line in the water with frozen anchovies for stripers (tis the season) and spent 6 hours throwing the Baitcaster. A couple of backlanshes but nothing terrible. No Braid lost at all. Every backlash I was about to fairly easily get it pulled and back on the road. I used a rattle trap 1/2 oz as my 1st lure. I found the brakes half down work well for me. My thumb is already able to feel if and loops are forming during the cast and applies pressure to slow the spool. 

 

I am absolutely loving this! The ability to trully control the distance, accuracy, and the entry into the water are just leaps and bounds better than my spinning set up. 

 

Thank you all for the info before I went out today. Without it I wouldnt have known to stop the spool right before it hit the water. That was probably the most important piece of information you all gave me. 

And it only gets better with time on the water..

[Wizzlebiz]

10 hours ago, NHBull said:

This works for me 90% of the time

 

 

This technique saved me a lot of time picking at the nest tbh. It didnt get tham all undone. I had to do some picking but it worked alot more often than it didnt. 

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/cast-adjust-baitcast.html

 

[onenutinthewater]

That once you get the hang it you will become obsessed with owning many more..........

[islandbass]

On 8/22/2019 at 1:25 PM, Bankbeater said:

When your casting remember to look behind you to make sure you won’t hit anything when you cast. Nothing kills a spool of line faster than hitting a bush that’s behind you that you didn’t know was there. 

So true, lol! Or you knew was there but you thought you had enough space.  I did this just this week but with an overhanging tree.  It was clear behind me but not completely above me. Luckily, it was a spinning rig, but if it were a baitcasting rig, I'm pretty sure that rig would have been laid to rest until I got home.

[Wizzlebiz]

9 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/cast-adjust-baitcast.html

 

Just learned from this. Thank you. I went again today for about 5 hours. I brought only the baitcaster so no matter what I had to deal with the situation.  I figured out a bunch but I realize when setting up my reel I may have been holding the rod to high. I was holding it at a 45 degree angle and Glenn said 90 degrees. Further more I was good side arm casting but not over head casting. It was due to my hand positioning.  

 

Thank you for the link. Its very helpful. 

[ClackerBuzz]

On 8/21/2019 at 8:43 PM, M0xxie said:

Baitcasting is about training your thumb -- most backlashes occur because of improper settings for whatever size lure you're using, true, but even if you don't have reel tuned properly, you can nearly always avoid a backlash with a "smart thumb" instead of a "dumb thumb".  Use your thumb as an extra set of breaks to feather the spool during cast, and then clamp down with thumb to stop the spool completely just before the lure hits the water, which makes for a less noisy entry that's less likely to spook fish, as well as stops overrun.

 

If you can feel line coming off too fast, you can always just abort the cast with thumb pressure, reel in, readjust, and try again.

 

Also during your cast, if you hold rod so that the spool's axis is vertical, instead of horizontal, this seems to prevent a lot of backlash, too.

Well said.  Only thing I'll add is go cast in ur backyard at night.  No house lights and preferably in the complete dark.  You will instinctively do two things:

Make short casts.  Thumb spool the entire cast.

 

Not being able to see ur lure/weight means you won't know when it's going to hit the ground.  It will force you to thumb brake the entire time.  Go crazy and over thumb brake.  There is no consequence to stopping the lure mid air with a total spool thumb brake (something even us 'experienced anglers' should do during an aborted cast). You'll have a smart/educated thumb much faster and make shorter casts from muscle memory alone.  Help a blind man see.

[Chris at Tech]

On 8/22/2019 at 3:02 AM, Sam said:

Then cast your lure as far as you can and pull out three arm-lengths of line off spool. Place Scotch tape or some electrical tape over the remaining line on the spool. This will stop backlashes from going deeper into your line. You don't need much tape. Just enough to cover a  section of the line on the spool.

 

 

This, this, this!!!

[M0xxie]

2 hours ago, ClackerBuzz said:

Well said.  Only thing I'll add is go cast in ur backyard at night.  No house lights and preferably in the complete dark.  You will instinctively do two things:

Make short casts.  Thumb spool the entire cast.

 

Not being able to see ur lure/weight means you won't know when it's going to hit the ground.  It will force you to thumb brake the entire time.  Go crazy and over thumb brake.  There is no consequence to stopping the lure mid air with a total spool thumb brake (something even us 'experienced anglers' should do during an aborted cast). You'll have a smart/educated thumb much faster and make shorter casts from muscle memory alone.  Help a blind man see.

One thing I forgot to mention, I tend to keep my spools slightly under-filled because it exposes the sides of the spool, which is more comfortable for me to thumb-brake on than having my thumb entirely on the line itself, especially if you're touching braid all day.  Instead of thumbing entirely down on the line, I'm mashing the spool to the left to knock it against the bearings or tensioner, depending on your reel design/handedness.

 

Any one else under-fill their baitcasters?

[Wizzlebiz]

6 hours ago, ClackerBuzz said:

Well said.  Only thing I'll add is go cast in ur backyard at night.  No house lights and preferably in the complete dark.  You will instinctively do two things:

Make short casts.  Thumb spool the entire cast.

 

Not being able to see ur lure/weight means you won't know when it's going to hit the ground.  It will force you to thumb brake the entire time.  Go crazy and over thumb brake.  There is no consequence to stopping the lure mid air with a total spool thumb brake (something even us 'experienced anglers' should do during an aborted cast). You'll have a smart/educated thumb much faster and make shorter casts from muscle memory alone.  Help a blind man see.

My yard is small. But I see the logic here and will just got to the delta and cast with closed eyes for a week. Same theory just no hitting the shed lmao

[islandbass]

On 8/24/2019 at 10:38 AM, M0xxie said:

One thing I forgot to mention, I tend to keep my spools slightly under-filled because it exposes the sides of the spool, which is more comfortable for me to thumb-brake on than having my thumb entirely on the line itself, especially if you're touching braid all day.  Instead of thumbing entirely down on the line, I'm mashing the spool to the left to knock it against the bearings or tensioner, depending on your reel design/handedness.

 

Any one else under-fill their baitcasters?

You might actually be at optimum line capacity since many spools are considered “full” about 1/8” below the spool’s lip. That is usually considered full and not “up to the brim.” That’s over spooled, lol. 

[Wizzlebiz]

Day 4 now with it. Still have not had to cut out any line. Had minimal backlashes and when I did have them I had them undone and back to fishing within 20 seconds. 

 

Aim is improving alot as well. 

 

I do have a  couple of question though. For soft entry into the water at a decent distance what has to be done? I have noticed that following the lure down to the water with the rod tip and pulling back a small bit seems to help. Im sure there is a way to feather the spool as well to help. I am just not exactly sure what I am supposed to be doing. 

 

Also is flipping and pitching done with the same settings on the reel? It just doesnt seem to have much velocity at all. Probably my form lol

[The Bassman]

You pretty much answered your own question. Feathering is the key word. Again, as in the driving/clutch analogy your thumb will develop a natural ability to ease the lure down. Flipping really doesn't involve any particular settings as you're manually dropping the lure in place. Pitching requires very light settings. I would initially focus on your casting. Looks like you're making good progress.

[M0xxie]

17 hours ago, islandbass said:

You might actually be at optimum line capacity sine many spools are considered “full” about 1/8” below the spool’s lip. That is usually considered full and not “up to the brim.” That over spooled, lol. 

It usually more like 3/8s exposure, but yeah, definately dont fill to the rim.