Do I Need A Baitcast Combo?

[Mitch f]

I've followed Al in a canoe enough to know that he practices what he preaches. The number of casts, and accuracy of casts in a day is greatly increased with a baitcaster. I agree that if I were a beginner starting out again today and were right handed, I would learn on a left handed baitcasting reel. Why waste the motion of switching hands for the rest of your life? Efficiency catches more fish at the end of the day. The best is if you learned to cast with both hands like a switch hitter in baseball, so you could work both sides of the river equally.

Funny, I'm used to a right handed baitcasting reel but when I use a spinning rod, the reel handle is more comfortable on the left side.

[Flysmallie]

Funny, I'm used to a right handed baitcasting reel but when I use a spinning rod, the reel handle is more comfortable on the left side.

Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

[Al Agnew]

Nope, I think what Mitch means is the same situation as myself. I am much more comfortable using my right hand to reel a casting reel, but much more comfortable using my left hand to reel a spinning reel. Doesn't make sense, but when I've picked up somebody else's spinning reel that had the handle on the right side because they were lefty casters, it felt even less comfortable to me than the casting reel with the handle on the left...and by the way, within five minutes I could cast the lefty spinning reel with acceptable accuracy, just couldn't get used to reeling in!

One nice thing about casting the baitcaster left handed but the spinning reel right handed is that you can rest one arm for a while by switching off. But I'm finding myself using the spinning outfit less and less. Up until this winter, I've always carried two spinning reels and three or four casting reels when in either the canoe or the boat. One of the spinning reels was my jig/tube outfit, the other was my soft jerkbait outfit. I always found spinning rods to be slightly more sensitive when fishing jigs/tubes. But having now obtained a couple of high end casting rods with superior sensitivity, I'm now switching my jig/tube outfit to baitcasting, leaving only my soft jerkbait rod as a spinning rod...and the only reason for that is that I like to skip those lures under overhanging limbs and such, which is one of the very few things that baitcasters can't handle well.

[fishinSWMO]

The best is if you learned to cast with both hands like a switch hitter in baseball, so you could work both sides of the river equally.

Funny, I'm used to a right handed baitcasting reel but when I use a spinning rod, the reel handle is more comfortable on the left.

Then what side the handle is on shouldn't matter, you will always have those times you switch hands.

[jdmidwest]

Great advice.

I cast with my right arm and reel with the left hand when spin fishing and fly fishing. Being right handed all my life has led my left hand astray. I have never been too ambidex in anything I do. But now I have developed this thing called a "tennis elbow" so I may have to learn to switch. Not really sure what brought it on, but I remember drawing a bow last fall and felt a pop. Since then it has been sore and I have been limping it along. It is bothering me right now, I have been using a drill and a screwgun all afternoon.

I was thinking stiffer rod and heavy line with the tube jigs would be better with a casting rig. And faster retrieves would help too when I need to drag them in. I have been tossing 1/4 oz jigs so that seems to be border line. A friend has tried to get me started into the plastic world of worms. He has been trying to get me to switch to a casting rod for them. Looks like another investment.

What line weight would balance a 1/4 oz jig and 3 1/2 inch tube?

[OzarkFishman]

Being a spin fisherman myself, I may be a little flawed. That being said, I got a great deal on a Quantum Tour Edition and that thing can straight chuck ANYTHING you want a long way with little to no backlash. Many others have alluded to this, but you get what you pay for with baitcasters.

From the bank, I truly feel a spinning reel gives you more versitility. With a baitcaster, you have to have a nice and open area to cast from (like a boat OR a really open bank). The problem with the Ozarks (and beauty) is that all the banks are overrun with trees and other vegetation. I fished a pond this last week and the hardest part was finding an area to properly backcast my baitcaster. I am fighting the battle of being able to cast my baitcaster VS the incredible fighting power of a baitcasting reel. It really is a big difference. If you fight big fish, then you want to fight it with a baitcaster OR a high dollar spinning reel.

In my humble opinion, a true bank fisherman is probably a spin fisherman. I can cast incredibly accurate with my spinning gear NO MATTER what is around me.

Other BETTER fisherman will disagree, but a good spin fisherman can fish in nastier situations than a baitcaster. But then again, in a boat ... I LOVE MY BAITCASTERS!

Have fun with the battle. Sometimes I just take my baitcaster to challenge myself when shore fishing, it is rarely as productive as taking a spinning reel.

Remember, fishing is fun ... so enjoy yourself while fishing!!!

[Mitch f]

Then what side the handle is on shouldn't matter, you will always have those times you switch hands.

What I meant was that most people have a preferred side of the boat to cast and retrieve a walk the dog bait for example. For me the perfect cast would be going downstream and fishing the right bank. My rod tip will be pointing on a 45 degree angle toward the bank and downstream and walking it toward me with the rod in my left hand like doing wrist curls. This way the lure stays close to the bank in the strike zone longer. Down the left bank would be a completely different dynamic, the lure would end up either coming to the outside of the boat or I would be banging my rod tip against the boat with every wrist movement.

Oh Yea, I forgot to mention I meant having 2 rods, one right and one left.

[joeD]

Jack- On Ozark streams, your fishing success will absolutely NOT depend on your usage of a baitcaster, nor a spinning reel for that matter. So don't fret about which is "better." The underlying subtext of your question is that using a baitcaster is somehow related to fishing prowess. That, spinning reels are for amateurs, and real fisherman use baitcasters. And you are somehow deficient if you can't operate one effectively. Like graduating from a Zebco 33, to a Daiwa spinning reel from Grandpas, to a Shimano Stradic from Bass Pro, and now you need the next evolutionary step, a baitcaster. It's nonsense. I'm not saying don't try or buy one. But do it for the right reasons. You might love it. Or you might hate it. But it won't make you a better fisherman. Remember this fact: the majority of all trophy bass (in lakes anyway) are caught in 5 foot or less of water. The type of reel used is rarely mentioned, if at all. Because it didn't matter.

Moral of the story. Some people love baitcasters. Some don't. There are caveats for both spinning and baitcaster reels. It's not a question of better. Don't feel you have to have one to feel "complete."

PS: All this talk about arms and wrists and angles and reeling and pressure per second per second is twaddle. You throw a lure out with your rod and reel and bring it back. Rinse. Repeat.

[rps]

Great advice.

....

What line weight would balance a 1/4 oz jig and 3 1/2 inch tube?

I find 8 pound is more than sufficent for embedded hook rigs. 6 will work well for exposed hooks.

[fishinSWMO]

Jack, I can give you the general location

where one now rests in the river. It's about a 1/4 mile stretch of water to look thru, my son noticed it fell off his kayak just as he got to the takeout yesterday.

It bummed him out big time.