Recommendations for first broadcasting rod and reel.

[Cowpokey]

I'm a righty, cast right handed and crank right handed. I've been a hand swapper from the begining...unless it's a fly rod, that stays in my right hand and spin the spool with my left.

[Turtle135]

I am a lefty and I use a right handed baitcasting reel. I find not having my left hand leave the rod after the cast to be a big advantage in pitching and flipping for bass (you are ready to detect a bite and set the hook right away).

I would recommend you get to store where you can hold a combo. Try reeling it, one way will likely feel much more natural than the other. Being a righty you will likely be better off with a left hand reel but if it just "feels wrong" go with a right hand reel. Plenty of pros who know much more than I switch hands after the cast.

[JohnE]

I have a few baitcasters, but they just don't get used very much. I think they are shimano and have adjustable magnets to help with backlash/birdnesting. They do cast just fine once you get used to it.

And actually conventionals also can be used for casting if you know what you are doing. Definitely not the best thing for kayak fishing as it is a little awkward on a kayak, but it is possible. I have a couple non-levelwind penn jigmasters with rare earth magnets installed from when I was more into surf fishing and they can outcast spinning reels after some practice.

[Capt C-Hawk]

Once upon a time there were no left hand cranks, so everyone had to switch after the cast. There were also no built in braking systems, so backlashes were the word of the day, especially if in my hands. I happily fished with my first generation spinning tackle wondering why my father put himself through all the aggravation of bait casting tackle. His only answer was that he could cast larger/heavier lures.

Many years later when left hand cranks first showed up on a few Shimano reels I decided to master bait casting My first was a low profile Shimano Bantam, and with a little experimenting I got the magnets and cast control set to avoid "most" overruns. Reels have come a long way since then in both features and price. If you get the least expensive reel you'll get discouraged and put it away. Get the best name brand you can afford, and if you decide it's not for you someone on Snaggedline will buy it from you.

Bait casting is worthwhile. Overall you'll have more power than equal weight spinning gear. My best setup is a Revo Premiere on a Berkley Lightning rod Shock (recommended for braid). The premiere is so good that I can cast full strength without having to thumb the spool. Backlashes are rare unless throwing into the wind. Very expensive reel on an inexpensive rod.

Good luck with whatever you get. Give it a fair tryout, and you should be happy with it.

[Skidsteer]

Casting test results:

Floating rattle trap - about 90 feet.

Switched to a 4" bass assassin paddle tail with 1/8 oz head and easily got 100'. (slightly heavier overall and less wind resistance)

[wfauby]

Baitcasters are great, once you learn how to use them. A more expensive reel is going to have more magnets and better "braking" systems than a less expensive reel...this could be important to you while learning. The trick to using a baitcaster is to have the magnets set at the proper resistance for the weight of the lure being thrown. An ez test is put on your lure and click the release...if the lure falls to the floor, your mags are too loose. The lure should fall very slowly, taking about a foot of line/second +/-. Another thing to note, the lure once cast, should be taking the line that is coming off the spool at about the same rate...if the lure is too light and not taking the line...that is what causes the backlash/birdnests. Lastly, just as the lure hits the water, put your thumb on the spool to stop the line...if not the line just keeps unspooling. Good luck.

[JohnE]

Right, I usually adjust my baitcasters (and conventionals set up for casting) by letting weighted line fall to ground. I like to let it hit the ground pretty much as fast as it can without the line blowing up on you after the weight hits.

[Cowpokey]

Bought a couple new bait casting reels, going to see if these new fangled winches cast as well as what I've been reading in this thread. Playing with them this evening gives a good impression. The reels they replaced are old (20 years)...they "look" like bait casting reels, and certainly came from the same bloodlines, but certainly not the refinement that the new generation have.

[Mark]

You'll enjoy the new reels.

[Cowpokey]

You'll enjoy the new reels.

I think so. I got one right and one left; one for me and one for Cowkid2...she's a lefty. I don't know if she'll be "casting" with it, but we'll see. I take 4 rods on the kayak when we fish, two for me and two for her. We each have a spinning rod and a bait casting rod along. We've been fishing one rod at a time each. Trolling we used the bait casting rods, and casting we use the spinning rods.

Maybe these new reels will serve well for both purposes...I'll report back.

[clm]

I have a couple baitcasters. One from a pawn shop, (old Shimano, no magnets) one from ebay (old Shimano too, bantam something something) and a newer gifted one. Abu Garcia. I love casting them. Makes me feel cool to hear them scream on a nice long cast. I have flouro on two and braid on the newest one. I found out after buying a few different brands how much of a difference the type of braid makes. After a lot of swearing, I found the Stealth Braid is better for me. It has a coating on it. The normal braid twists and kinks and makes me want to be smash things. I am not as accurate with the bait caster (yet) as I am with the spinning reels. I get fewer and fewer backlashes now than when I started. Learning the ins and outs of tweeking the magnets according to lure weight is a learning curve.

[JohnE]

I took out one of my shimanos a few times recently. Still not the biggest fan of baitcasters. I can cast way farther and more accurately on the kayak with my spinning setups...guess I need more practice cause I used to be able to cast my conventionals really far from the surf with 6 or 8 and bait. The only thing I really like my baitcaster setups for anymore is flounder fishing for some reason.

My baitcasters are all small to medium sized and I have 65lb powerpro on my medium sized that I've been using recently. I think I'm about to get me a larger sized baitcaster to see if I like it.