How do you cope with no anti-reverse switch on new spinning reels?

[fin]

You pick up your rod which has a lure tied-on, and the lure is tight up against the rod tip guide. How do you get line out of the reel to prepare to cast? Do you force the bail open? Do you pull line out by hand?

 

I don’t understand why the switches are going away. Is it all in the interest of lighter weight? Are they just considered unnecessary with modern drag systems? Is there any other reason?

[A-Jay]

To answer your question, I pull line out against the drag,

but I don't ever reel baits to my rod tip either. 

Seems to jack up the tip top insert eventually. 

In the past every spinning came with it, but I rarely actually needed it. 

Currently, I have a mix of reels (older & newer) with it and without.

I NEVER back reel or really don't have any other need for the anti-reverse deal.

So I don't miss it at all.

A high quality bearing in the line roller is more important to me. 

YMMV

A-Jay

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Just pull drag out. 
 

I have one reel without the switch, I didn’t pick it out but it works fine. I like backreel for landing larger fish but I still know how to use drag 

[Bass Rutten]

I usuually spin the spool by hand to loosen the line, I don't miss the switch on my stradic fl's, never really used them anyhow.

[fin]

14 minutes ago, Bass Rutten said:

I usuually spin the spool by hand to loosen the line

 

I like that idea better. Easier than grabbing and pulling on the line with my old fingers.

 

I’ve never used the switch for back-reeling, just to release line to prepare to cast. I only reel baits close to the rod tip when I’m done fishing, or switching rods. I don’t tighten them to the tip, but if the handle gets bumped, which happens a lot, the lure may get kind of jammed to the tip.

 

I guess if I had learned on a spinning reel that didn’t have the switch, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve been doing things the same for too many years. I’m sure if I bought one now without a switch, I’d still be reaching for that switch all the time.

 

 

[Team9nine]

Looks pretty much covered above - spin the spool, release the bail or pull against the drag. I’ve done all 3, though my preference is to use the AR switch 😎 Only bought 1 reel by accident that didn’t have it…won’t make that mistake again, but I’m a fan of backreeling.

[Steveo-1969]

I cope by NOT buying reels that don’t have the anti-reverse switch. 😁😁

 

I don’t back reel when fighting fish but I still use the switch frequently. Most of the time it’s when there is a weed or something on my bait I want to pick off. I won’t notice it until the bait is a foot from the rod tip so I flip the switch and back reel until I can grab the bait.

[bulldog1935]

if you're using these reels correctly, you should be using manual bail technique.  

 

since your free hand is so familiar with the bail, it's nothing to partially lift the bail and let out a single loop of line.  

 

If your drag is set properly, pulling against the drag is incorrect, but if you know which direction the spool turns to pay, you can turn the spool by hand.  

 

The reels I own with optional A/R, the only time I use it is when putting a cover on the reel.  

 

btw, crank-auto-bail-close is a weight dinosaur that will go away in this generation.  

Nobody misses (or even remembers) optional A/R and bent A/R dogs on their baitcasters.  

[Big Hands]

9 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

if you're using these reels correctly, you should be using manual bail technique.  

 

For me, it's automatic and unconscious for me to flip the bail by hand prior to retrieving. So much so that I had to go fishing and pay attention to it to realize I was actually doing it, LOL.

_____________________________

As for backreeling, it's not my style. There's plenty of ways to deal with a bait wound against the tip, and for me, that's way down the list for reasons I would care about a switch. But since everyone doesn't have to do it exactly like I do, I'm happy those that care about it still have options. It's also fine with me that some reels don't include it as it does add cost, complexity and another weather/water sealing challenge to the equation.

 

No sense in everyone paying for that if they don't need or want it. Kind of like having an ashtray and a cigarette lighter in a car.

[A-Jay]

25 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

If your drag is set properly, pulling against the drag is incorrect, but if you know which direction the spool turns to pay, you can turn the spool by hand.  

Interesting opinion right there.

These may be rhetorical questions however I'd like to ask,

how does the reel know the difference between 

a bass pulling drag vs an old guy ?

And how is one more correct than the other ?

A-Jay

 

[bulldog1935]

humor, of course, should be humorous, and everybody screams for giant drag, but most people don't use 2-lbs on their spinning reels (or even their bait reels).  

Quoting myself out of context this time, this was the correct answer

since your free hand is so familiar with the bail, it's nothing to partially lift the bail and let out a single loop of line.  

@A-Jay The credit I get to take on Susie's two-50-yd-run 25" male schoolie was handing her a rig with a spring-balance-preset drag.  

[MN Fisher]

Since I set my spinners light - 3# with 8# test leader on 10# braid...I just pull by hand. Of the five spinners in my bass arsenal, four don't have the AR switch.

[FrnkNsteen]

Same as above. I never used it anyway.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

crank-auto-bail-close is a weight dinosaur that will go away in this generation.

I would love for that happen to happen, but  I have my doubts.  Auto bail trip on a high end reel is like a Harley with training wheels.  Auto trip should have been scrapped decades ago, which is why I have a hard time believing it's going to disappear soon.      

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Set the drag and go fishin

[bulldog1935]

@GetFishorDieTryin it's mostly the sealed salt reels that have disposed of trip-bail-close already, e.g., Tsunami TSS, and it's a genuine liability in the surf where a mid-cast bail close is a disaster.  

The use of braid makes it a bad-habit wind-knot liability (loose braid behind the spool, etc).  

 

It took one generation for everybody to forget optional A/R switch ever existed on baitcaster.  

With the drive for light weight and improved reliability, I'll stand on my prediction.  

I replaced 3 bent A/R dogs on this reel.  It gets pretty exciting landing a redfish without a free hand.  

[Mobasser]

Many nicer reels are being made with no AR switch these days. Eventually, well all be fishing non AR reels I think.                                 I was a dedicated backreeler for many years. I've learned to set the drag on some of my newer stuff. And, I'll add, Shimano spinning reel drags are super smooth. I try to never reel any baits to the rod tip, just out of habit.

[Captain Phil]

I never use the drag on a spinning reel when bass fishing. Back in the day drags were so inconsistent, I found it easier to back reel.  Bass don't make long runs, so I have never had a problem.  If you try this with a Bonefish or Tarpon, you will never catch the spinning handle.   Training yourself to flip the bail over manually is worth the effort.   You can say goodbye to bird nests forever.  So is learning the right way to fill the spool. 

[WRB]

Set the drag about 1/3rd the weakest line strength and trust it, you paid good money for it!

It’s a PIA when the anti reverse doesn’t work when you hook set one handed and the reel handle turns backwards.

Can’t remember using the reel to open or close the bail other then a Mitchell 300 back in the 50’s.

Tom

[RB 77]

Don't back reel, so I never used it.

[FishTank]

I put the baits on the hook keepers.  Not an issue for me.

 

My buddy doesn't. He deep sixed two of his rods getting line caught on them when bringing fish in. He also broke a rod tip and he gets lures hung up on stuff all over the boat. Bigger issue, he got a hook in his big toe. It was a blast removing it for him. 

 

So ya it has become a pet peeve of mine when we fish together.  

[redmeansdistortion]

I only ever back reel when jigging for walleyes.  It helps when you're trying to pinpoint a certain depth.  Other than that, I have no use for it.

[MN Fisher]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Can’t remember using the reel to open or close the bail other then a Mitchell 300 back in the 50’s.

My 60's era Mitchell 320 and my early 70s era Pflueger 640 both had to be reel-closed. They used metal tabs that inserted into the bail end - Pflueger from the side, Mitchell through a hole - there was no way to manually disengage those.

 

[MickD]

6 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Nobody misses (or even remembers) optional A/R and bent A/R dogs on their baitcasters.

It is a different situation with spin since a simple, quick stroke of the thumb doesn't release the line like it does on a baitcaster.  I simply will not buy a spin reel without an AR switch.  

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If your drag is set I don’t see a scenario where quick disengagement is essential. To each his own though. There are no absolutes in these things.