Why you should never go fishing without a spinning rod

[QED]

22 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I do it different - mainly because I don't do BFS and I skip using spinning gear.

For me fishing is just a hobby so my thesis is to just do what works for you and makes the sport fun.  I started using UL gear just because it was challenging and in the SJ County Delta system, which has a lot of boat/ship traffic, there weren't a lot of things to get hung up on so ultralight worked really well for me.

[ErieCan]

I usually have 3 spinning combos on the boat along with my casting rods.  A medium/fast, a med-light/fast, and a med-light/Xfast.  I'll have a wacky or tube, ned rig, mojo rig, tied on respectively. 

[dodgeguy]

I never use spinning rods.

[PaulVE64]

All spinning rigs

 

I like the line pick up and control better and i believe its easier to use in a wind.

 

But i would like to learn the BC soon. Seems like the better gear for cranks, frogging and "walk the dog" though i have no personal experience.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

All spinning rigs

 

I like the line pick up and control better and i believe its easier to use in a wind.

 

But i would like to learn the BC soon. Seems like the better gear for cranks, frogging and "walk the dog" though i have no personal experience.

Cranks - proper rod and IPT of the reel and they're easy. I do light cranks on a ML/MF (1/8-5/8) spinning rig with a 2500 reel that has an IPT of 25.0. There are MH/Mod-Fast spinning rods out there for larger cranks.

Frogging - any decent MH/F spinning rod will work for that. I do have one, but it's relegated to my heavier skipping duty (jigs, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, etc)

Walk the Dog - for my Zara Puppies, I use my M/F spinning rod more than my M/F casting rod for them. Again, larger topwaters (Zara Spooks, etc) could be done on that MH/F rod.

[Fat Ika]

I was on the bank the other day fishing a local pond while the wife was having fun with the dog. Late spawn/early post-spawn in my parts. I was frogging, and out of the corner of the humanoid eye I saw that big swirl we as bass anglers get all excited about. I had 3 other rods with me. 2 casting - 3/16 oz flipping jig & 5" senko on whatever nylon line cant remember.  Soaked both by the swirl.

 

I'm talking unpressured/dirty water stupid/dumb fish pond fishing. 

 

The last rod attempt was with a spinning rod 15# braid to 8# copoly leader. I pitched a t-rigged 3" senko and soaked for 8-10 seconds, before "big ole tired of spawning Betty" picked it up and didn't move. 

 

Did I not feel the bite on casting gear? Did I not give the fish time to reset after the bank-spooking swirl I saw? Or was it, the less intimating bait? 

 

Could I fish the weightless 3" senko on BFS or a med/light casting setup? Sure. In that situation I didn't need a spinning rod to pitch a 3" senko 5 yards. Could we fish light neds, small hair jigs, small spys, dropshots etc on bfs casting? Yeah, but not with the casting distance, feel, and the control you get with a spinning rod....IMO of course.

 

 

[Tatulatard]

5 minutes ago, Fat Ika said:

I was on the bank the other day fishing a local pond while the wife was having fun with the dog. Late spawn/early post-spawn in my parts. I was frogging, and out of the corner of the humanoid eye I saw that big swirl we as bass anglers get all excited about. I had 3 other rods with me. 2 casting - 3/16 oz flipping jig & 5" senko on whatever nylon line cant remember.  Soaked both by the swirl.

 

I'm talking unpressured/dirty water stupid/dumb fish pond fishing. 

 

The last rod attempt was with a spinning rod 15# braid to 8# copoly leader. I pitched a t-rigged 3" senko and soaked for 8-10 seconds, before "big ole tired of spawning Betty" picked it up and didn't move. 

 

Did I not feel the bite on casting gear? Did I not give the fish time to reset after the bank-spooking swirl I saw? Or was it, the less intimating bait? 

 

Could I fish the weightless 3" senko on BFS or a med/light casting setup? Sure. In that situation I didn't need a spinning rod to pitch a 3" senko 5 yards. Could we fish light neds, small hair jigs, small spys, dropshots etc on bfs casting? Yeah, but not with the casting distance, feel, and the control you get with a spinning rod....IMO of course.

 

 

What experience do you have with bfs gear?  

[Fat Ika]

30 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

What experience do you have with bfs gear?  

Very little. Just used a alde bfs xg 4-5 years ago for 1 year with a buddies 5 1/2 ft bfs rod.  I don't see Cory Johnston or any other elite smallie anglers launching a 1/16 oz hair jig on the great lakes flats for spooky smallmouth utilizing bfs gear. Maybe elite anglers don't have time to tinker with this stuff as much as a local tourney/rec angler. Maybe their are great big water smallie vertical drop shotters that have a ton of both great lakes DS and bfs experience that can control and feel just as well as with bfs equipment while battling 4-6 footers? So maybe you can sling 1/16 oz hair jig on the best bfs setup as far as I can using a 4000 vanford on a 8' st croix avid hair jig rod with 6# j-braid? 

[Tatulatard]

3 minutes ago, Fat Ika said:

Very little. Just used a alde bfs xg 4-5 years ago for 1 year with a buddies 5 1/2 ft bfs rod.  I don't see Cory Johnston or any other elite smallie anglers launching a 1/16 oz hair jig on the great lakes flats for spooky smallmouth utilizing bfs gear. Maybe elite anglers don't have time to tinker with this stuff as much as a local tourney/rec angler. Maybe their are great big water smallie vertical drop shotters that have a ton of both great lakes DS and bfs experience that can control and feel just as well as with bfs equipment while battling 4-6 footers? So maybe you can sling 1/16 oz hair jig on the best bfs setup as far as I can using a 4000 vanford on a 8' st croix avid hair jig rod with 6# j-braid? 

It was the control comment that got me.  My experience had been I can thumb the spool and control bait placement to a far higher degree than I can feather the line off a spinning reel.  This was something I heard before getting into it and I had my doubts because I am pretty good about feathering my line on a spinning reel but after using both there is no comparison.  The lighter you go the more it favors the casting reel for accuracy.  I'll throw some truly UL baits and as soon as I feather with the spinning reel the baits slow too much. With a UL capable casting reel i can apply miniscule ammounts of pressure to the spool to get it where I want.  

 

For distance I get better with a long spinning rod when using a long leader drop shot and still prefer spinning for that.  For short leader drop shots I use either or but prefer spinning.  I like the bfs stuff for precision casting to targets and any bait that I move by tuning the handle like micro cranks, swim jigs and ned rigs.  I hate cranking on spinning reels.  

[Fat Ika]

7 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

It was the control comment that got me.  My experience had been I can thumb the spool and control bait placement to a far higher degree than I can feather the line off a spinning reel.  This was something I heard before getting into it and I had my doubts because I am pretty good about feathering my line on a spinning reel but after using both there is no comparison.  The lighter you go the more it favors the casting reel for accuracy.  I'll throw some truly UL baits and as soon as I feather with the spinning reel the baits slow too much. With a UL capable casting reel i can apply miniscule ammounts of pressure to the spool to get it where I want.  

 

For distance I get better with a long spinning rod when using a long leader drop shot and still prefer spinning for that.  For short leader drop shots I use either or but prefer spinning.  I like the bfs stuff for precision casting to targets and any bait that I move by tuning the handle like micro cranks, swim jigs and ned rigs.  I hate cranking on spinning reels.  

Gotcha. I do not have enough experience with bfs target casting, but I have no doubt bfs is superior for specific situations. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Holy cow this thread took off just like OP’s spinnerbait thread. 
 

Shaky head on a spinning rig wins the day again for me. Could you have thrown the same thing on BFS? Sure but that means you are bad and you should feel bad. Also you stink ?
 

Edit: Also, I skip with a BC out of a kayak just fine. 

[Tatulatard]

3 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

So maybe you can sling 1/16 oz hair jig on the best bfs setup as far as I can using a 4000 vanford on a 8' st croix avid hair jig rod with 6# j-braid? 

With a long enough casting rod I'm sure it's possible. They exist for "light game" and other salt water applications.  Typically run 7'6" to 9' in length.  I've actually thought about getting one for 1/8 oz cranks but decided not to go down that rabbit hole.  

[Takemetothebank]

5 hours ago, PaulVE64 said:

All spinning rigs

 

I like the line pick up and control better and i believe its easier to use in a wind.

 

But i would like to learn the BC soon. Seems like the better gear for cranks, frogging and "walk the dog" though i have no personal experience.

In my expirence baitcasters are more accurate at short distance and give a better ability to work jerkbaits walk the dog jigs and Texas rigs for me most of my spinning reels are 6:6:1 I haven’t bought any new ones in a while so I don’t know if they have 8:1 ratio spinning reels but I know they make 8:1 bait casters this slows for much better line pickup i use baitcaster for jerkbaits topwater cranks jigs Texas rigs chatterbaits spinnerbaits and swim baits and I use spinning for shakeyheads and fitness jigs 1/4 oz or under and a floating work and that’s pretty much it sometimes I will throw a smaller size shad rap on them too 

3 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Holy cow this thread took off just like OP’s spinnerbait thread. 
 

Shaky head on a spinning rig wins the day again for me. Could you have thrown the same thing on BFS? Sure but that means you are bad and you should feel bad. Also you stink ?
 

Edit: Also, I skip with a BC out of a kayak just fine. 

Hot takes my man spinnerbait thread was mine too lol I’m very opinionated and I guess everyone else is too 

[LrgmouthShad]

19 minutes ago, Takemetothebank said:

I guess everyone else is too

Uh yep. Are you a mono or fluoro guy? Just start a thread explaining why you like one or the other while making generalized claims about the other and you’ll have as many responses as you care to read, lol. Until those big bad moderators inevitably lock your thread down. 

[Jrob78]

I don't know why people get so defensive about this specific topic, happens every time. 

 

I only fish for fun and spinning gear just isn't that fun to me, so I don't use it. There aren't any techniques that I can't comfortably fish with the casting gear I own. I also wouldn't tell anyone my way is the right way, it's just the way I like to do it. Use what works for you.

[Finessegenics]

51 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

Use what works for you.

[roadwarrior]

12 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Uh, Until those big bad moderators inevitably lock your thread down. 

 

 

                                                     

[Cgolf]

17 hours ago, Tatulatard said:

It was the control comment that got me.  My experience had been I can thumb the spool and control bait placement to a far higher degree than I can feather the line off a spinning reel.  This was something I heard before getting into it and I had my doubts because I am pretty good about feathering my line on a spinning reel but after using both there is no comparison.  The lighter you go the more it favors the casting reel for accuracy.  I'll throw some truly UL baits and as soon as I feather with the spinning reel the baits slow too much. With a UL capable casting reel i can apply miniscule ammounts of pressure to the spool to get it where I want.  

 

For distance I get better with a long spinning rod when using a long leader drop shot and still prefer spinning for that.  For short leader drop shots I use either or but prefer spinning.  I like the bfs stuff for precision casting to targets and any bait that I move by tuning the handle like micro cranks, swim jigs and ned rigs.  I hate cranking on spinning reels.  

I think it differs for everyone. My index finger is better trained than my thumb so I am more accurate with a spinning rod. Especially on mid range pitches to reeds or other vertical cover. With the spinning rod I also don’t need to worry about backlashes in these scenarios, as the softer lazier casts are the most difficult for me with a baitcaster, but it doesn’t stop me from doing it of course. 
 

Trip out today though is 4 baitcasters and 1 spinning rod. The spinning rod will be for plastics only on this lake. It is structure less for the most part so a lot of fan casting cranks and spinnerbaits. 

[Takemetothebank]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:17 PM, Jrob78 said:

I don't know why people get so defensive about this specific topic, happens every time. 

 

I only fish for fun and spinning gear just isn't that fun to me, so I don't use it. There aren't any techniques that I can't comfortably fish with the casting gear I own. I also wouldn't tell anyone my way is the right way, it's just the way I like to do it. Use what works for you.

Everyone has an opinion and while there may be baits you can’t throw on a baitcaster like a 1/8th or 1/16 oz shakeyhead a floating worms or small 1/8oz prop swimbait heads if you don’t want to throw them don’t however these techniques specifically atleast on my bodies of water will catch numberous fish and even fish in the double digits when nothing else will i remeber a couple nights ago I was on my dock throwing around a Jerkbait and a shakeyhead and had 3-4 tournament anglers came by complaining about how they haven’t caught a fish and I just smiled and waved and said me either knowing a had caught 5 in the last 45 mins in the same spot they were casting spinnerbaits and jigs with a 1/8 oz shakeyhead sometimes especially in the heat and cold bass like extremely small profile baits like a squirrel tail worm or a kvd100 jerkbait or 2.8 keitech 

On 6/11/2022 at 8:24 AM, Cgolf said:

I think it differs for everyone. My index finger is better trained than my thumb so I am more accurate with a spinning rod. Especially on mid range pitches to reeds or other vertical cover. With the spinning rod I also don’t need to worry about backlashes in these scenarios, as the softer lazier casts are the most difficult for me with a baitcaster, but it doesn’t stop me from doing it of course. 
 

Trip out today though is 4 baitcasters and 1 spinning rod. The spinning rod will be for plastics only on this lake. It is structure less for the most part so a lot of fan casting cranks and spinnerbaits. 

This is generally my arsenal as week I may be buying another spinning rod just because I want a vanford lol and my spinning rod has a shakeyhead on it 99.9% of the time then I have a cranking rod jerkbait rod underspin or chatterbait rod, jig rod and that’s pretty much it 

[Jrob78]

9 minutes ago, Takemetothebank said:

Everyone has an opinion and while there may be baits you can’t throw on a baitcaster like a 1/8th or 1/16 oz shakeyhead a floating worms or small 1/8oz prop swimbait heads if you don’t want to throw them don’t however these techniques specifically atleast on my bodies of water will catch numberous fish and even fish in the double digits when nothing else will i remeber a couple nights ago I was on my dock throwing around a Jerkbait and a shakeyhead and had 3-4 tournament anglers came by complaining about how they haven’t caught a fish and I just smiled and waved and said me either knowing a had caught 5 in the last 45 mins in the same spot they were casting spinnerbaits and jigs with a 1/8 oz shakeyhead sometimes especially in the heat and cold bass like extremely small profile baits like a squirrel tail worm or a kvd100 jerkbait or 2.8 keitech 

I do throw all of those baits and weights on casting gear. I'm not missing out on any techniques by not using spinning gear.

[ironbjorn]

8 hours ago, Takemetothebank said:

Everyone has an opinion and while there may be baits you can’t throw on a baitcaster like a 1/8th or 1/16 oz shakeyhead a floating worms or small 1/8oz prop swimbait heads if you don’t want to throw them don’t however these techniques specifically atleast on my bodies of water will catch numberous fish and even fish in the double digits when nothing else will i remeber a couple nights ago I was on my dock throwing around a Jerkbait and a shakeyhead and had 3-4 tournament anglers came by complaining about how they haven’t caught a fish and I just smiled and waved and said me either knowing a had caught 5 in the last 45 mins in the same spot they were casting spinnerbaits and jigs with a 1/8 oz shakeyhead sometimes especially in the heat and cold bass like extremely small profile baits like a squirrel tail worm or a kvd100 jerkbait or 2.8 keitech 

This is generally my arsenal as week I may be buying another spinning rod just because I want a vanford lol and my spinning rod has a shakeyhead on it 99.9% of the time then I have a cranking rod jerkbait rod underspin or chatterbait rod, jig rod and that’s pretty much it 

Holy run-on sentences. I think I just had a seizure looking for a punctuation mark. ?