Is it possible to use nothing but baitcast gear for everything??

[Raul]

What Raul said.

I've come to hate spinners for the line twist and rarely use one for bass fishing.

Tie a snap/swivel combination ---> line twist problem solved.  

[Big Tom]

For me, I don't think a spinning reel will ever be replaced by baitcasting gear.  They are so user friendly and when the fishing dictates using small baits, they just far exceed baitcasters.  I have buddies that prefer baitcasting only and I also have friends that use straight spinning gear.  Fishing is so preference oriented anyway, it just all depends on what you feel comfortable with.    

[JL Zingg]

I bought my first BC in August 08, Quantum E760PT matched with a Quantum Tournament rod.  I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to use my favorite 1/8 ounce spinner-bait with the BC.  Rod and reel are rated 1/4 ounce or higher with 12lb mono, however, after putting it to the test one day, I've found that by adjusting the brakes and tension I cast cast pretty much whatever I want with just as much accuracy as 1/4 ounce or higher lures.

[bipr8]

I say NO WAY (at least I can't with the way I fish).

I use a lot of finese techniques in NJ where there are 20+ boats on a 75 acre lake.

For instance.

3" weightless senko's (one of my favorites).

3.5 " Kut tail worms with 1/32 bullet heads.

Finese Tubes with NO WEIGHT (I can hardly cast them with my spinning rod).

THE BIGGEST THING is skipping.  I dont fish docks much, HOWEVER, just about every time out I skip under overhanging trees or through tall grass.

I personally cant do any of that stuff with a baitcaster.

If you dont use any of these techniques, then I suppose you are OK without it.

[Raul]

I say NO WAY (at least I can't with the way I fish).

The problem is not you but the combination of rod/line/reel

1.- your reels can 't cast the lighter baits.

2.- your rod doesn 't load enough with light weights

3.- your line is not the appropiate line for those weights.

Match a Daiwa Pixy to a GLoomis CR721 and spool some 4-6 lb test and you can cast a 3 inch senko into the next zip code with a flick of the wrist.

[bipr8]

I dont use 4-6 lb test.

The Pixy costs $300.00!!!

So, I personally cant do it this way, so I use a Spinning rod.  

"THE BIGGEST THING is skipping.  I dont fish docks much, HOWEVER, just about every time out I skip under overhanging trees or through tall grass".

I however never tried to skip with the pixy or smaller type baitcaster reel with 4-6 lb line.  How does that work out?

[Raul]

I dont use 4-6 lb test.

The Pixy costs $300.00!!!

Exactly, you say it can 't be done with your gear, I say it can be done if you have the proper equipment .... I didn 't say it was going to be cheap.

Don 't got the dough to get the proper bc equipment to do it then don 't think it too much, for the lighter stuff you will end up getting at least one spinning setup to handle the lighter weights.

[bipr8]

So you can skip under a bush with the pixy and other smaller baitcaster reels? If so, maybe i will look into it.

On the other hand, it might be tough yanking a bass from under brush/cover with 4-6 lb test and a ultra light rod though.

I guess you can use a baitcaster for any appliation if you have the right equipment.  I personally wouldnt want to though.

[J Francho]

I pretty much agree with Raul here.  Skipping with a BC is simply a matter of practice.  There is the financial consideration.  I'd love to grab a Pixy and a nice, light fast action casting rod, but for now, it's tough to drop that change when a $200 rig works fine.  I do use an Sol and an AC70MM for cranks I previously would have thrown with a spinning rod, and I have no problem handling 8# line.  I just feel a BC rig is much more comfortable to fish all day than a spinning rig.  there is a lot of wasted motion with spinning gear, and with the crank below the rod, I find it gets uncomfortable after several hours.  Someday, a nice, yellow Pixzilla will be mine, though .

[The Rooster]

As promised, I did some testing with my BPS Extreme baitcast reel in my back yard to see how light a lure it would throw. Wind was calm sometimes, then others it would be about 5 to 10 MPH. Didn't seem to make much difference with the casts though, only blew the baits off to the side was all.

I think the reel did very well considering this rod/reel is not set up for throwing these types of baits. It's spooled with 14# Berkley Transitions fluorocarbon line, reel is on a Quest LS-7 medium rod (fast tip??) 6 feet long, 1/4 to 3/4 lure weight.

Keep in mind, I've never had any experience using fluorocarbon line as far as casting goes (3 hours Saturday was the first time ever), and of course I wasn't trying for accuracy, just distance only. My baitcasting skills are just OK only, I'm not an expert at all.

I had the ITB brake set at about 9 out of 10. Seems it needs to be there to compensate for my thumb not being experienced enough alone, but at that setting I nearly do not have to touch it with my thumb anyway. I had the spool tention relatively loose, looser than it normally might have been in an effort to get some distance. I done fine casting though, enough that I'm interested in doing some light line and lure fishing with a casting reel. Anyway, here's the results.....

3" grub on 3/0 EWG hook, weightless (hook too large for bait ) -- 35 feet

7" Berkley power worm on 3/0 EWG hook, weightless -- 40 feet

1/8 oz. Strikeking Bitsy Bug jig, no trailer -- 50 feet

1/8 oz. Roostertail 33 feet

1/6 oz. Roostertail 62 feet

#9 Rapala floating minnow (don't know weight, 2 trebles only) -- 41 feet

#7 Rapala floating minnow (don't know weight, 2 trebles only) -- 35 feet

I think the results are pretty fair all things considered, but I'll need a better rod more suited for this, and some lighter line of course, to use it out on the lake much. The rod I used did much better with overhand casts than it did with sidearm casts. All the results above are overhand casts. Almost all of those lures though, I've never done any better than that on a spinning rod with 8# mono Trilene XL, overhand or sidearm either one. I think the baitcaster would hold it's own against them.

My primary goal with this was to see if a BPS reel could cast lightweight baits at least as good as a spinning rod. I'm going to go out on a limb though and guess that if I had this reel on a more suited rod with lighter line that it would compete with the higher dollar baitcasters as well doing this same thing. Seems like it would anyway.

[Raul]

So you can skip under a bush with the pixy and other smaller baitcaster reels? If so, maybe i will look into it.

On the other hand, it might be tough yanking a bass from under brush/cover with 4-6 lb test and a ultra light rod though.

I guess you can use a baitcaster for any appliation if you have the right equipment. I personally wouldnt want to though.

My friend, skippin is casting technique to place a bait in places where you can 't reach with other casting techniques and that 's about it, it doesn 't mean that every time you skip a bait it has to be done to the thickest and nastiest stuff you can find underwater. You may have nasty stuff above water level, but that don 't mean it 's the same underwater.

If you are to fish nasty stuff then your gear should be appropiate for such conditions and then your reel may or may not handle light baits assuming you have the right line and the right rod.

[Red]

i fish with only BC gear, i have one HVY and one MED HVY.  i can cast everything in my box  with these two rods and my Revo S's.  even a weightless trick worm.

[rfrazier]

I recently switched to all BC gear. I'm also using the "proper equipment" as raul would say.

[Garnet]

As they say it's how you wiggle your bait!

Power Pro has made heavy line spinning.

So now you can take 1/2 piching jig off your BC and fish comfortably.

Just switching baits between BC and spinning makes you fish with a wider range of wiggles weather it's cranks, spinnerbaits,jigs.

Garnet

[lubina]

I'm 90 % BC

[Sam]

When the lure hits the water with a spinning rig it falls straight down.

When the lure hits the water with a baitcaster rig it falls back towards you.

So a baitcaster has more accuracy in placing the bait where you want it to go.

Just one more piece of the puzzel when considering to use a spinning or baitcaster setup.  

[Trick Worm]

I just bought my first baitcaster two days ago. I have experience with open face baitcasters but have never used a low profile. I started off with pitching and flipping to get a feel for my rod and reel and minimize backlashes. I found the feel came very very fast most likely b/c of my previous experience and I can now cast with my brake on three all day long with no problems. It is a Quantum code burner 7-1 gear ratio. I really like the fast gear ratio for some reason. I'm not sure if I just bought an awesome baitcaster or I am loving it b/c it is my first time with these reels but either I enjoy casting it over my spinning reels.

[ptomacbass]

I use a baitcaster for everything.  I always leave the spool tension as low as I can without the cap falling off and I leave the brakes on zero. It seems to work fine.

[The Rooster]

I use a baitcaster for everything. I always leave the spool tension as low as I can without the cap falling off and I leave the brakes on zero. It seems to work fine.

You must have the greatest thumb of any baitcaster fisherman anywhere.  With settings like that on my Extreme, it would constantly be backlashed severely.  

[The Rooster]

3" grub on 3/0 EWG hook, weightless (hook too large for bait ) -- 35 feet

7" Berkley power worm on 3/0 EWG hook, weightless -- 40 feet

1/8 oz. Strikeking Bitsy Bug jig, no trailer -- 50 feet

1/8 oz. Roostertail 33 feet

1/6 oz. Roostertail 62 feet

#9 Rapala floating minnow (don't know weight, 2 trebles only) -- 41 feet

#7 Rapala floating minnow (don't know weight, 2 trebles only) -- 35 feet

Quoted myself to have both sets of results together.

Today I went back out to try the rod I used for the above results again, but this time for it's actual range of use. Again, it's a 6' medium rod (maybe a fast tip??) 1/4 to 3/4 lure weight, and I have it spooled with 14# Transitions fluorocarbon line. Bass Pro Shops Extreme baitcast reel.

With a 1/4 oz. crankbait I am able to hit 75 feet casts consistantly and with moderate accuracy

With a 7/16 oz. spinnerbait I was at 109 feet just trying for distance only

With a 3/8 oz. roostertail I was 120 feet trying for distance only

Again this reel amazed me, I didn't know it was casting as far as it does with my novice skills. I was also making it my business to learn to use the reel right. For the past 12 years I've been into fishing I've been using baitcasting reels but have always relied on the brakes to do the bulk of the work. I don't think I've ever really truly learned how to use these reels, only just enough to not have constant backlashes and that's it. Today I backed off the brakes a lot, down to 3 out of 10, and up to 5 out of 10 max (previously I had them set on 9 out of 10). Then I tightened up the spool tension somewhat cause I did have it ridiculously loose in order to get cast distance. I let my thumb do more work that it used to do today and I was able to cast like what I did.

I think there's potential that I could let casting reels replace spinning reels for me.  That would mean far less line twist, only would be a risk for lures such as inline spinners that tend to rotate on retrieve.  Also it would mean more comfort for me, maybe increased distance too cause I can't imagine a spinning rod doing any better than what I've seen so far.  If I get a casting rod in the right power and action, a reel to match and some light line that is.  And everytime I disassemble it to clean it, the job will be simpler, I think casting reels are a bit easier to work on than spinning reels are.  Not as many parts to take down.