Spinning rods for everything?

[Big Swimbait]

When I was recovering from shoulder surgery, I bought an Ugly Stick Tiger Elite spinning rod ($80 at the time) and a 4000 size spinning reel for my big baits. I never had an issue except I had to tape my index finger that grabbed the line. The heavy baits were just too much friction on the cast. In fact I still use it for big topwaters and wakes. With the qualty of spinning reels and rod actions available today, I see no reason why you could not do everything.

[JHoss]

I don't think a spinning rod can possibly be as effective as a casting rod for most powerfishing presentations.

 

My main reasoning is a decreased ability to control your lure splashing down and a hard time controlling accuracy. Yes, you can thumb a spinning spool, but it's much harder and less precise than casting reel.

 

I'd also say that a casting reel is more efficient than a spinning reel. While minor, the act of flipping a bail twice a cast adds a second or two which may add up to an extra few casts over the course of a day. 

[The Rooster]

On 3/16/2025 at 12:09 PM, MediumMouthBass said:

 

Casting rods arent the issue, its the brand and model.

Interesting that you said this. I’m currently using Bass Pro Shops Extremes that I bought new a year ago. Caught them on sale and I bought 4 of them for $60 each, and I also added one new rod to the mix to go along with the other three I already had. The others are all old, one I’ve had for 15 years through 4 different reels. It’s never been uncomfortable until now. I thought it was because I was just getting older. 
 

What’s odd to me is these rods and reels are all very comfortable in hand just holding them. And as long as I’m casting a light bait like 1/4oz crankbaits they are just fine. But that 3/8oz spinnerbait (that really weighs 3/4oz) was making my hand hurt to hold the rod and throw it. I have no idea how I’m going to throw all those new 1/2oz (true 7/8-1oz) spinnerbaits I just bought. 

 

Just prior to this I had Abu Garcia Orra SX 2 reels and they were comfortable and fantastic, but out of production now. I could throw 1/2oz baits on them just fine.
 

Another reason I’m looking at going with spinning gear is because of a personal hangup of mine. These Extreme baitcast reels have aluminum frames, brass gears, and 7 bearings. They should be fairly nice reels, however they are not smooth. Brand new they seemed fine but within a few months they were making noises and feeling geary and grindy inside and I have no idea why. I know they’re house branded reels, but they should be directly comparable to Lew’s and Abu. The one I use the most I opened up and greased it but it’s still got a constant buzz in the gears and I just cannot stand that! Hate it with a passion! But I also don’t really want to spend $200 on nicer baitcast reels either, and it seems I’ve always had good smooth spinning reels for well under $100. So I figured for me to have the amount of rods I want, and have them all be smooth, the cost factor is just another reason why spinning would be the way to go. 
 

Either way, I think I’m done with Bass Pro Shops branded reels. If I don’t go all spinning, then I might try the Lew’s LFS, or possibly the Daiwa Fuego. The Daiwa has a kind of wide frame though so I’m wondering just how comfortable that is going to be. Also looked at the Shimano SLX, but do they make it in more than one gear ratio? 

[Eric 26]

@The Rooster I’ve got no dog in this fight therefore I didn’t offer any response but I see you mentioned the Shimano SLX. To be honest I’m all over the place with reel brands and if I could only use one brand it would be Daiwa for me but I had a SLX that I sold and to be honest it’s the only reel I wish I would have held onto. There was something about the way that reel just “fit” in my hand and although if you’re changing lures/weights you might have to open the side plate and adjust a brake shoe on or off I didn’t have a problem with that considering the side plate is attached and takes less than 2 minutes start to finish, ymmv. And to answer your question yes they offer a 6, 7 and 8 speed in both left and right hand retrieve. 

[WRB]

Gary Yamamoto only used Spinning outfits. I am sure he had his reasons why.

Tom

 

[Jar11591]

Rods are tools and I try to have the right tool for the job I’m doing. Can I drive nails by bashing them with a crescent wrench? I suppose. Will you see me doing it? No. Does that mean it won’t work for someone else? Also no. Use whatever gear you want. But if you find you can’t drive your nail all the way with the crescent wrench, you might want to get a hammer. 

[ike8120]

You need to do what is best for you. If using a BC causes you pain then by all means go to spinning. It is what you feel comfortable with. There are certain situations where a spinning reel my not work as well as as baitcaster IMO. Just go out enjoy fishing with what works for you.

[Swamp Girl]

On 3/14/2025 at 9:57 PM, The Rooster said:

Anyone here use spinning rods for everything?

 

I do. I use MH rods. I mostly power fish and they work well. Like Tom wrote:

 

On 3/15/2025 at 7:43 PM, WRB said:

Like conventional casting reels spinning reels have made tremendous design advances and today it’s possible to use either one for everything in bass fishing.

 

I cast big lures too. Mostly big lures. I know that @MediumMouthBass reports discomfort casting big lures with spinning outfits, but that's not my experience. 

[MediumMouthBass]

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I cast big lures too. Mostly big lures. I know that @MediumMouthBass reports discomfort casting big lures with spinning outfits, but that's not my experience. 

Its not discomfort. Its severe pain from pinching the line when launching heavier lures. All of that line digs into the finger, and your finger is the only thing keeping that lure from dropping to the ground. The pressure from that can only go to one place, the finger holding it. Anyone i talk to in person feels the same way, which is why i got nudged into baitcasters by all of them. They werent wrong, i love these reels, if it werent for my dislike against BFS i wouldnt even own a spinning combo.

 

Including a big indent in my finger tip that remains long after the rod gets put down, but its worth mentioning it might just be the way i cast. I put 110% effort into every cast i make no matter what im using.

Edited Tuesday at 02:14 PM by MediumMouthBass

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, MediumMouthBass said:

Anyone i talk to in person feels the same way, which is why i got nudged into baitcasters by all of them.

 

I plan to use my baitcasters more this year. I have some experience with them dating back to my musky years. 

 

I have no experience with "severe pain" when casting five-inch and even seven-inch lures with my spinning outfits. I have experienced some discomfort if I paddle and fish a lot over a span of a few days, but that's in my wrists. I have thin old lady wrists.

10 hours ago, WRB said:

Gary Yamamoto only used Spinning outfits. I am sure he had his reasons why.

 

My reason is distance. I cast a lure farther with a spinning reel. I'm a stealth angler and I have hooked so many unwary bass at the very end of my farthest casts.

[Swamp Girl]

23 hours ago, JHoss said:

My main reasoning is a decreased ability to control your lure splashing down and a hard time controlling accuracy. Yes, you can thumb a spinning spool, but it's much harder and less precise than casting reel.

 

I've seen this assertion before and I think there's truth to it. I watch some masters with baitcasting outfits make one incredible cast after another on YouTube. However, after decades of using spinning outfits, I'm pretty accurate too. I fish a lot in heavy cover and I've had mornings where I only missed one or two casts. Every other cast landed in a notch two feet wide or under a woody bush. I'm not always that accurate, of course, but I expect that those master casters on YouTube miss a cast here and there too.

 

 

However, I'm open to using baitcasting outfits more and will in 2025. In the end, we all just have to find what works best for us where we fish and how we prefer to fish. 

[IYAOYAS]

I think it's kinda funny. Back in the day you would have been lucky to see one spinning rod on somebody's deck before blastoff. Nowadays the whole deck is nothing but Uncle Randy's finest weenie worms on "fairy wands". I don't even use FFS and I still have no less than 3 spinning outfits on my deck at any given time. Sign o the times I guess.

[TOXIC]

Can you get by using either a baitcaster or a spinning outfit only? Sure.  There are a lots of reasons for both.  Setting aside medical or any kind of mandated need to use one or the other, I go by what is the right tool for the job.  I’ll use screwdrivers as an example.  There’s flat head screws and Phillips head screws for example.  Each requires a specialized tool (screwdriver head) to effectively work.  But wait…have you ever seen the phillips head screws that have one of the notches cut all the way across so that you can use either a flat head or phillips head? Same with baits.  Some are specific and some are and either/or in my book.  

[F14A-B]

I have several spinning and baitcast rigs.. in fact I have one spinning rod from NFC- Edge that is 7.3” and is rated MH / MBR which is to say Magnum Bass Rod. I actually use it in Florida or GOM. The point is, this rod can be used in lieu of a baitcast rig in heavier cover. If that’s your preference. It’s no joke. A great caster that’s rated at 1/4-3/4. 
 

The equipment is available to fish either baitcast or spinning. Remember, fishing is a hobby therefore fun. Chose your equipment and have fun. 

[Swamp Girl]

23 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Can you get by using either a baitcaster or a spinning outfit only? Sure.  There are a lots of reasons for both.  Setting aside medical or any kind of mandated need to use one or the other, I go by what is the right tool for the job.  I’ll use screwdrivers as an example.  There’s flat head screws and Phillips head screws for example.  Each requires a specialized tool (screwdriver head) to effectively work.  But wait…have you ever seen the phillips head screws that have one of the notches cut all the way across so that you can use either a flat head or phillips head? Same with baits.  Some are specific and some are and either/or in my book.  

 

@Jar11591 made the same analogy upthread and it's a good one:

 

Quote

Rods are tools and I try to have the right tool for the job I’m doing. Can I drive nails by bashing them with a crescent wrench? I suppose. Will you see me doing it? No. Does that mean it won’t work for someone else? Also no. Use whatever gear you want. But if you find you can’t drive your nail all the way with the crescent wrench, you might want to get a hammer. 

 

Where I quibble with the status quo is buying a different rod for each type of lure. I think this approach was started by rod makers. Let's say that you boarded my canoe with 20 rods for 20 different types of lures. I'd be in the stern with four rods, which I'd use with all my lures. Do I think I'd be outfished? No, unless I was primarily focused on putting you on bass, as I sometimes am by spending half my morning positioning the canoe to give you the best casting angles, but I don't think your extra rods would give you an advantage. They'd actually disadvantage you because you'd spend half the morning untangling them. 

 

#I'mnotahereticIjustwanttofishsomewhatsimply

 

14 minutes ago, F14A-B said:

Chose your equipment and have fun. 

 

Yep. If whatever gear works for you, cast away with just that. 

[The Rooster]

Well I think I’ve decided for now not to go exclusively with spinning gear. But I did decide to add more spinning rods to my collection and basically create a spinning combo that covers each range that my baitcasters currently do. I’ll just fish them side by side of the baitcasters and just see which I like best for the baits they’re for. But I just don’t want to let go of my casting rods. However, I did put all those reels up for sale on FB Marketplace. Gonna just accept that I bought the wrong ones and then really focus on what ones are the right ones when I replace them. I’ll try them on a rod in the store and see how they feel. One thing I noticed on these reels that I forgot to mention here, and I noticed it right after I bought them a year ago also, is that when I hold the rod one handed to cast, something about the reel’s shape presses into my trigger finger and it is uncomfortable as can be. I kinda forgot that since I hadn’t fished since September of last year until just last Friday. My Abu Orras never did this. I’ll just have to put more emphasis on ergonomics as I shop this time. 

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, The Rooster said:

I’ll just fish them side by side of the baitcasters and just see which I like best for the baits they’re for.

 

Good plan. Determine what works best for you.

[JHoss]

On 3/18/2025 at 6:34 AM, Jar11591 said:

Rods are tools and I try to have the right tool for the job I’m doing. Can I drive nails by bashing them with a crescent wrench? I suppose. Will you see me doing it? No. Does that mean it won’t work for someone else? Also no. Use whatever gear you want. But if you find you can’t drive your nail all the way with the crescent wrench, you might want to get a hammer. 

I was always told that was called a "Navy Hammer".

 

22 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I've seen this assertion before and I think there's truth to it. I watch some masters with baitcasting outfits make one incredible cast after another on YouTube. However, after decades of using spinning outfits, I'm pretty accurate too. I fish a lot in heavy cover and I've had mornings where I only missed one or two casts. Every other cast landed in a notch two feet wide or under a woody bush. I'm not always that accurate, of course, but I expect that those master casters on YouTube miss a cast here and there too.

I'm not trying to say people can't become as accurate with a spinning rod, I just think a baitcaster is easier to be precise with once your somewhat skilled with one. I was reminded how much harder it is to land a spinning reel softly this past weekend when fishing with my dad. He's got twice the fishing experience as me and his accuracy with a spinning rod was fine, but he could not land a spinnerbait quietly to save his life.

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, JHoss said:

He's got twice the fishing experience as me and his accuracy with a spinning rod was fine, but he could not land a spinnerbait quietly to save his life.

 

And that's because he couldn't thumb brake the spool right before the lure landed, right?

[TOXIC]

Also keep in mind that it’s not uncommon nowadays to upsize what would normally be finesse baits well suited to a spinning outfit to oversized “bubba” applications. Then they work just as well on baitcasters.  Dropshot upsized to Bubbashot, Senkos from weightless to weighted punch baits, shakeyhead upsized to magnum sizes, etc.

[JHoss]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

And that's because he couldn't thumb brake the spool right before the lure landed, right?

Exactly

[msgf91]

Hello,  you can go all spinning tackle and do fine. I've been fishing my whole life and have gone through phases where I only use spinning tackle for years, or years only using casting. I'm proficient with both.  My favorite beater rods have been spinning. I caught my top PBs with my beater rod. 

 

For close accurate casting,  i flip the bail and hold the line with my off hand and do a underhanded cast. I can cast further than I can pitching while still being accurate.

 

To feather the cast I just make a C with my hand around the spool. Slow the line with my hand till I need to stop completely,  then just grab the spool. Similar with a wild cast straight into a tree, just grab the spool to stop the spool. 

 

If you are going to be casting heavy weights and you want to avoid hurting your finger, you can try wrapping your finger with electrical tape. That's what I did when I was younger. Now I don't really need to, I just release it in a way it doesn't hurt. I'm not sure what I do, I just do it automatically.