2 or 3 reels to a rod

[jwo1124]

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this, and I'm sure there are some that practice this, but I thought of owning a couple reels to every rod in hopes to be able to fish more technique specific applications with as little gear as possible(mainly because I'm a broke college kid and I don;t have the expendable income for fishing as I wish I did.)

I'll give two examples of a crankin; rod and a flippin stick.

You can have one 6'6" M or MH/Mcrankbait rod and have a reel spooled with 10-12# mono the standerd mono size for fishing crankbaits, one spooled with 14-17# mono for fishing topwater plugs like Spooks and poppers, and you can have another spooled with some fluro carbon when you need that extra no stretch sensitivty when bottom bouncing or deep crankin.

In this example you exxentailly have three set ups and save the cost and space of two rods. This can be a savings of any where from $100-$500 depedning on what type of rods you fish with.

Another example is having a 7' MH or H/F flippin stick. With one reel, you can only fish with either mono, braid, or fluoro(not talking about backing and leaders) With two reels you can fish with heavy 80-100# braid when working that nasty stuff around trees, docks, or any other heavy cover where you are liable to break off in, and another reel spooled with some 14-17# fluoro to use when carolina rigging. Sure you could use a leader to attach mono or fluoro to the braid, but for the guys like me, who aren't knowledgable or experienced in line to line knots, or who don;t want to lose a fish due to a slippage in one of these knots, two reels seems like a good choice.

This can be applied to any type of rod, a M spinning rod with 10# mono, second spool or second reel will allow you to fish 40-50# braid. This allows a guy, who was before limited to fish mainly open water with sparce cover due to only have 10# mono, to be able to fish heavier cover because now he/she has the power of braided line.

Now, obviously this is aimed at a certain demographic of angelrs. This is not an efficient way for tournament anglers to fish. They just don;t have the time or energy to spend on switching reels and untying and re tying lures. But for recreational anglers who are not fishing against a clock, and can take 5 minutes to un tighted a reel and put a new one on and re tie a lure, this makes sense. Now I'm not saying buy one or 2 fishing rods and a dozen reels...becuases that's just rediculous. But a couple reels for 2 or 3 rods betters your chances of fishing in more places where the fish might be, and fishing more techniques that may be needed to catch those fish at any given time.

If anyone practices this method, please let me know how it works out, or if it is more trouble then it's worth. I figured it would be a good way to be a more successful, yet more frugal angler.

[=Matt 5.0=]

Well, sounds alot like what I used to do...Why not buy one reel and get a few extra spools for that reel instead?  For example, most reels today come with a "free extra spool". Expanding upon that, you can buy spare spools on ebay or usually from a tackle shop. Instead of spending the extra on the reel, just buy the spools!

[LAO162]

Interesting question.  However I've been wondering 2 reels for 3 or 4 rods?  My intent has been to put different lines on the different spools, but have not needed to yet...  Cheers

[roadwarrior]

Well, my solution is simple:

Spinning tackle: #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft

Baitcasting gear: #12 Ultra Soft

I have never been broken of by a fish using these lines.

8-)

[jwo1124]

I know what you mean Matt, and that would be a good idea with spinning gear, but I was also talking about baitcasters.

By the way, how are the carrot sticks? I was thinking about getting one or two of the $150 models.

But RW, have you tossed that 12 into and around the "nasty stuff"?

[roadwarrior]

But RW, have you tossed that 12 into and around the "nasty stuff"?

I fish "The Rocks From Hell" on the Tennessee River and associated reserviors. I have also fished it in timber and gunk (Lake Fork). If I were fishing pads or heavy vegetation on a regular basis, I might fish braid for strength and more importantly, cutting power. For me, braid would definitely be a "specialty line".

p.s. Just to note that I'm not completely stuck in a rut, I'm currently experimenting with #15 orginal Hybrid on a couple of rigs. The biggest problem I have had with this line so far is that it is almost impossible to break if you are not in a boat or have plenty of room to manuever on the bank. For some, this might be an advantage, but the jury is still out for me.

8-)

[jwo1124]

RW, does the Hybrid float line mono or sink like fluoro? I just got done reading over a couple dozen reviews of the line on cabelas.com and only two reviewers had problems with the line.

[roadwarrior]

The line floats on its own, but don't confuse that with causing

any type of lure or bait to float. This feature has absolutely

no impact on fishing weightless soft plastics.

8-)

[Ballpark Frank]

I am kinda like RW, I use only two lines.

8# Trilene 100% Flouro on spinning gear

15# Trilene 100% Flouro on baitcasting gear

I used Big Game and XL for a long time, but this new Flouro is great. I do have one rig with braid, but it got used twice last year.

To your original question, I tried the reel swapping for awhile(a few years back). While fishing from the bank, I would take one spinning rod and one baitcasting rod, with 3 spools for spinning and 2 reels for baitcasting. There was no need to have that many different lines for fishing. I finally settled on 1 spinning outfit(6'6" M) and 1 baitcasting outfit(6'6" MH). Many times we get caught up in the gear for techniques instead of the practicing techniques.

I can't find it, but RW had an excellent post about having just one or two rods.

[jwo1124]

I saw that post, I was thinking about just getting two new General Purpose rods for bass fishing. It seems that only in bass fishing are there so many different rods for some many different applications. I was think about a ML spin and a MH spin. I'll throw weightless and finnese soft plastics, small jigs, Medium sized topwater plugs, jerkbaits and shallow and medium cranks on the ML. And then I'll use the MH for jigs heavier plastics applications bigger spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. Maybe some frogs and toads. I like what you said about focusing on the rods for the techniques instead of practicing the technique. Sort of like lure, we focus on buying thousands of lures, and only use them for a dozen casts then swtich to another...

[roadwarrior]

This might help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1196114229

8-)

[Styx]

I know what you mean Matt, and that would be a good idea with spinning gear, but I was also talking about baitcaster.

Why wouldn't it work for BC? One reel for each rod, then order a couple of spools from the parts list, ebay, etc......have them spooled and ready to go. Choose reels with easy spool access and you're set. The spools are far easier to store and carry then several reels and far less expensive.

[ww2farmer]

I know what you mean Matt, and that would be a good idea with spinning gear, but I was also talking about baitcaster.

Why wouldn't it work for BC? One reel for each rod, then order a couple of spools from the parts list, ebay, etc......have them spooled and ready to go. Choose reels with easy spool access and you're set. The spools are far easier to store and carry then several reels and far less expensive.

Why wouldn't it work??? Call Daiwa, Shimano and/or Abu Garcia and ask for a spool assembly for any of the popular casting reels, then bend over!! It is almsot better to buy another reel for what they get for spools. Last time I inquired to Daiwa about this aspare spool for a TDA was $60+

[TeamBerettaGold]

Im with ww2farmer, I looked into a spare spool for some Quantum tour pt's........$$$$$.  Its like half the price of the reel is spent on the spool!  With that being said.  I myself am a college student, I think this is going to be my 5th year....kinda forgot, its all a haze.  I have found that if I cut back on my bar time, and dont spend $100 a night, I can afford a lot of fishing stuff!!!!!  ;D   But it is tuff to give up!  Im now the guy that cant go out on thursday night cus he bought a $200 fishing rod the day before!  

[Styx]

I know what you mean Matt, and that would be a good idea with spinning gear, but I was also talking about baitcaster.

Why wouldn't it work for BC? One reel for each rod, then order a couple of spools from the parts list, ebay, etc......have them spooled and ready to go. Choose reels with easy spool access and you're set. The spools are far easier to store and carry then several reels and far less expensive.

Why wouldn't it work??? Call Daiwa, Shimano and/or Abu Garcia and ask for a spool assembly for any of the popular casting reels, then bend over!! It is almsot better to buy another reel for what they get for spools. Last time I inquired to Daiwa about this aspare spool for a TDA was $60+

I realize the spools prices can be inflated but still they're less expensive than the reel in general.

[Styx]

Im with ww2farmer, I looked into a spare spool for some Quantum tour pt's........$$$$$. Its like half the price of the reel is spent on the spool! With that being said. I myself am a college student, I think this is going to be my 5th year....kinda forgot, its all a haze. I have found that if I cut back on my bar time, and dont spend $100 a night, I can afford a lot of fishing stuff!!!!! ;D But it is tuff to give up! Im now the guy that cant go out on thursday night cus he bought a $200 fishing rod the day before!

I checked Quantum's web site and found this http://www.tackleservice.com/shopItemDetail.asp?SID=&ItemDept=10&txtKeyword=&selDepartment=10&selClass=88&shopperid=FCR5L4UAUFTH9KTLJ0K1T0N21HBECMK2&selReelItem=TE1160PT.&txtproductId=UX321-03 I hope it comes up right. I don't own a Tour Edition but from the diagram it appears the spool would be all that was needed as a extra/spare for swapping out. The spool lists for $22.61 on the 6.3:1 ratio and $28.85 for the 7:1.