Spinning Reels vs. Bait Casting Reels

[J. Rentch]

Thanks

[Brian]

I stand at the store and stare and stare at the baitcaster. I walk away and come back and stare some more. I then picture in my mind my buddy having endless birdsnests and me saying, Dude and giving him that look and then me creating distance between us, because if he can reach out and touch me he can reach out and punch me. So I continue to only stare at the baitcasters for now.

[Mark]

Buy a spinning reel for your buddy and then give bait casters a try.

[J. Rentch]

Oh, really? Who would that friend be?

[JohnE]

Baitcasting vs spinning reels is definitely somewhat just personal preference. However, there are specific advantages of baitcasters in certain situations. One of those advantages is weight--this is probably the primary advantages for me as you can get a low profile baitcaster which only weighs 5 or 6 oz but will handle the vast majority of fish you will catch around here. Another, as others have suggested, is ergonomics. Weight and ergonomics combined makes a huge difference when you are frequently fishing from your kayak 5-8 hours per trip and multiple days in a row. I tend to take a lot of 3 day weekends and head down to the beach where I will literally fish up to 30 hours from Fri-Sun. It is very fatiguing and the little advantages of baitcasters does seem to help so far...much like switching over a pedal drive has left me feeling much less fatigued when I return to work on those Mondays after my long fishing trips.

There is a learning curve to avoid those birdnests people often get with baitcasters. One easy way is to drop the weighted line to the ground while standing on the shore and adjust so that the line is not running over and blowing up on you when it hits the ground. This is an old technique I learned way back when I was primarily a shore fishing guy. You can go out to an open field to practice casting also. I would actually do this occasionally to practice distance casting back when I was very into surf fishing.

[surfdog]

The main thing I get out of this thread is spinners are making u tired after a day on the water. If set up properly u should be able to balance the rod and reel on your index finger right at the fore grip. A properly balanced rod combo will work for u all day with little fatigue and better yet no frickin bird nests.