Is reel weight an issue for you?

[The_Natural]

I feel that lighter weight reels/combos have a decisive advantage in jig and worm fishing.  For me, it's not necessarily the extra weight of holding the rod at the 10 o'clock position all day, but making my jig dance and hop with my wrist.  I can make my jig breakdance when I am holding a featherweight combo.  Couple that with the hypothesis of mine that a lighter weight in your hand will allow your hand to feel and absorb more vibrations (nothing scientific here!).  For moving baits however, it doesn't make a difference...and it may even pay to have a heavier reel.  It seems to me that my aluminum framed reels are smoother under load and have more definite cranking power.  I'm holding them in a downward postion so the weight really doesn't affect me working the bait.  

[senile1]

I feel that lighter weight reels/combos have a decisive advantage in jig and worm fishing.  For me, it's not necessarily the extra weight of holding the rod at the 10 o'clock position all day, but making my jig dance and hop with my wrist.  I can make my jig breakdance when I am holding a featherweight combo.  Couple that with the hypothesis of mine that a lighter weight in your hand will allow your hand to feel and absorb more vibrations (nothing scientific here!).  For moving baits however, it doesn't make a difference...and it may even pay to have a heavier reel.  It seems to me that my aluminum framed reels are smoother under load and have more definite cranking power.  I'm holding them in a downward postion so the weight really doesn't affect me working the bait.  

You're touching on something here that I was wondering about when I made the original post:  Does an extra ounce or two in the reel decrease the vibrations we feel from the fish?  

[The_Natural]

I feel that lighter weight reels/combos have a decisive advantage in jig and worm fishing.  For me, it's not necessarily the extra weight of holding the rod at the 10 o'clock position all day, but making my jig dance and hop with my wrist.  I can make my jig breakdance when I am holding a featherweight combo.  Couple that with the hypothesis of mine that a lighter weight in your hand will allow your hand to feel and absorb more vibrations (nothing scientific here!).  For moving baits however, it doesn't make a difference...and it may even pay to have a heavier reel.  It seems to me that my aluminum framed reels are smoother under load and have more definite cranking power.  I'm holding them in a downward postion so the weight really doesn't affect me working the bait.  

You're touching on something here that I was wondering about when I made the original post:  Does an extra ounce or two in the reel decrease the vibrations we feel from the fish?  

Well...it sure feels like my 6.2oz TD-Z's make a more sensitive combo than my other GLX's paired with say...even my alphas.  Maybe it's just that magnesium framed reels transmit vibrations better.  So maybe it is a combination of weight and frame material?  I'd like to hear from anybody else who owns a few aluminum framed casting reels as well as a few Magnesium framed reels and have fished with them for a while.  Like I said though, aluminum framed buttery smoothness feels better to me when retrieving spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and any other moving bait that pushes water.  I've got to have my ultralight magnesium reels for worms and jigs though...I'm spoiled.

[Catt]

I use Shimano's Calcutta 100A, Calcutta 50A, Cardiff CDF100A & Chronarch 50Mg; don't feel any advantage with either.

All my rods must have exposed blanks with fast to extra fast actions; to me sensitivity is in the rod not my reel. With my reel palmed I have two fingers on the blank which I think allows me to feel the bite before it is transmitted to the reel. When fishing a Texas Rig or Jig-N-Craw I never lower my rod below 10 o'clock except when moving my bait. When paused between movements my rod is at 11 o'clock leaving me 11-12 o'clock to take up slack without turning the reel handle.

[fishfordollars]

Weight is a big factor to me. a few ounces can make or break the way I feel at the end of the day. For all you young bucks it probably doesn't matter, but it will when your old bones and muscles start feeling their age.

[.RM.]

Only when trying to balance up a system.....