Don
Well-known member
It's been 6 years since I began fishing again after many years of abstaining. Amazing. Amazing what I've learned in that period. Its not fair to most of you for you never learned that quickly, thanks for guiding me. I Like all forms of rod and reel combo's and styles except centerpin. Doubt I'll ever try that due to not being able to stand for long, especially in water. I am so impressed with how effective Baitcasting can be. I got sick or the snarls and put my bait casters away fall of 22. Recently I got one out to be used for snakehead fishing.
The one model I have (2 of them) is the famous budget reel by Last King Called the Royal Legend II. They're very nice and come in 7.1:1 ratio. I had been using 30lb braid on one and 12 lb big game on the other. The one with braid became unusable very quickly and I realized I couldn't afford to keep putting new spools of braid onto it so I stored that one first. Then I kept using the one with the 12 pound on it until the end of 2022. During that time I came to realize a few things about bait testing for the beginner. One it seemed for me that I could skip with a bait caster better than I could cast it out right. Two I could cast with it at night for stripers on the knock. It seems if I don't look at it. I don't screw it up as fast.
Recently, I got one out and put it on a nice stiff rod. I spooled up with 20 pound sufix elite line and started practicing with a 1/3 ounce weight. I don't understand it, as long as I cast sideways or side arm, it seems like all goes well, but the minute I use an overhead cast it's snarls up badly. There must be something about timing with my thumb that I need to work on. But anyway, as long as I cast sideways, I'm fine. Since I like to skip under bushes, the side casting does suit my needs nicely.
I did notice that when I cast, because the line is so large, and the spool is so small, that with each cast close to half the line goes off the spool. This is kind of handy because it lets me get the spool all flattened out again and make up for any boo-boos I made with previous casts.
I have a swimming pool that is 29 x 14 and it's just about perfect for practicing underhand casting and side casting. Today I put a number 6/0 hook onto a 10 inch fat worm. It was quite a bit heavier than 1/3 of an ounce and I had to readjust the tension knob. It went swimmingly. It peeled out nicely and landed basically where I was aiming for. I had no idea that heavier lures would make such a difference in my ability to control this bait caster and to avoid birds nests. I'm pretty jazzed to go try this on my vacation in Maine next week. The lakes I'll be fishing are full of smallmouth and large picklerel, with a few landlocked salmon thrown in for variety. I'll be taking a variety of rods and reels. I'll use Spincast for trolling and medium casting. I'll be using a nice restored spinning reel for lightweight casting of small beetle spins and in-line spinners. And I'll use the baitcaster for large presentations that weigh allot such as these big worms and also large texas rigged Kieteck minnows.
The one model I have (2 of them) is the famous budget reel by Last King Called the Royal Legend II. They're very nice and come in 7.1:1 ratio. I had been using 30lb braid on one and 12 lb big game on the other. The one with braid became unusable very quickly and I realized I couldn't afford to keep putting new spools of braid onto it so I stored that one first. Then I kept using the one with the 12 pound on it until the end of 2022. During that time I came to realize a few things about bait testing for the beginner. One it seemed for me that I could skip with a bait caster better than I could cast it out right. Two I could cast with it at night for stripers on the knock. It seems if I don't look at it. I don't screw it up as fast.
Recently, I got one out and put it on a nice stiff rod. I spooled up with 20 pound sufix elite line and started practicing with a 1/3 ounce weight. I don't understand it, as long as I cast sideways or side arm, it seems like all goes well, but the minute I use an overhead cast it's snarls up badly. There must be something about timing with my thumb that I need to work on. But anyway, as long as I cast sideways, I'm fine. Since I like to skip under bushes, the side casting does suit my needs nicely.
I did notice that when I cast, because the line is so large, and the spool is so small, that with each cast close to half the line goes off the spool. This is kind of handy because it lets me get the spool all flattened out again and make up for any boo-boos I made with previous casts.
I have a swimming pool that is 29 x 14 and it's just about perfect for practicing underhand casting and side casting. Today I put a number 6/0 hook onto a 10 inch fat worm. It was quite a bit heavier than 1/3 of an ounce and I had to readjust the tension knob. It went swimmingly. It peeled out nicely and landed basically where I was aiming for. I had no idea that heavier lures would make such a difference in my ability to control this bait caster and to avoid birds nests. I'm pretty jazzed to go try this on my vacation in Maine next week. The lakes I'll be fishing are full of smallmouth and large picklerel, with a few landlocked salmon thrown in for variety. I'll be taking a variety of rods and reels. I'll use Spincast for trolling and medium casting. I'll be using a nice restored spinning reel for lightweight casting of small beetle spins and in-line spinners. And I'll use the baitcaster for large presentations that weigh allot such as these big worms and also large texas rigged Kieteck minnows.
