Used my new Baitcaster!!!

[John Smith]

Hello all

OK, so as you may or may not remember, I was bugging the group about a
bass/muskie rod awhile back. I ended up buying a 7 1/2 foot Daiwa
flipping stick and a Shimano Curado 201BSF.

Well, I finally got to go out and use it for real! I'll summarize my
observations, etc, and then get onto the fishing story ;-)

- Still having some problems with overhand casting, tends to go
straight into the water. But, when I took it easy, tried to just rotate
the rod around the reel, it was OK. Side hand, however, I can cast no
problem, but accuracy suffers sometimes. If you saw me duff an overhand
cast, you'd understand.

- I was switching between throwing big muskie lures, and smaller bass
lures. Big lures were anywhere from 1 - 2.5 oz, small were 1/4 - 1/2
oz, mostly 3/8 or heavier. I started with 3 brakes on, which was fine.
I went down to 2 brakes, which increased distance with the muskie
lures, but I found I would overrun more with the smaller lures, so I put
it back to 3 and left it.

- You have to babysit the line alot! I was constantly watching the
spool, as, depending on the lure, would not spool up tightly. I was
frequently throwing on the heavier lure and letting it run behind the
boat so I could reel the line in tight again. I found this usually only
with the lighter bass lures. I tend to use alot (well, almost always)
topwater. The popper (my favourite), tended to be the worst for this.

- It's tiring throwing big plugs all day!!! We went out on the shore
at night, and I took my spinning rod (berkeley lightning rod, ML, 6.5',
Daiwa Regal 2500-x). It felt so light and east to cast!

So, onto the fishing. We had hard rain the first morning, but went out
late morning nonetheless. We went out in full rain gear, the rain
stopped once we were out on the water!

Well, I went out for muskie, and found none! No worries, large and
smallmouth were still biting, caught a 4lb each (large and small), plus
many more good sized fish. The 4lb smallmouth put up an amazing fight,
reeled him in with the new rig - he still bent that heavy rod right over!

We were fishing this one small bay, I had switched to a crayfish
crankbait (i.e. - no leader). Was reeling it in, it was fairly close to
the boat, I thought I felt a nibble, and I just gave it a twitch, and no
more lure! Stared dumbfounded at my broken line, then, my crayfish
popped up on the surface, complete with about 4" of line. I'll never know!

Thanks for the advice all, I'm sure I'll get used to it before long!

Brian

[Huck Palmatier]

Using a 201?....try twisting your wrist so when you cast overhand, the crank
handle points down if casting with the right hand, pointing up if with the
left. This provides the same action as you're experiencing when tossing
sidearm. offered Huck

"John Smith" > wrote in message >
> - Still having some problems with overhand casting, tends to go
> straight into the water. But, when I took it easy, tried to just rotate
> the rod around the reel, it was OK. Side hand, however, I can cast no
> problem, but accuracy suffers sometimes. If you saw me duff an overhand
cast, you'd understand.
>

[Shawn]

I'm thinking the problem "Coppertop" is having comes from the approach to
each cast, not the direction of the rod or angle of the reel. A side arm
cast, for me, is most natural and used when I'm looking to hit a specific
target, usually well within reach. This approach is much smoother and under
control. The over hand cast (again, for me) is used when I want to heave
something way out "there", or I'm desperate and out of acceptable range.
This cast starts with greater force and may be hurried. If that's the case,
it's just a matter of keeping the mechanics of the cast in synch.

--
Early to Bed, Early to Rise,
Fish all Day, Make up Lies.

Shawn


"Huck Palmatier" > wrote in message
news:GXJeb.37069$0Z5.14948@lakeread03...
> Using a 201?....try twisting your wrist so when you cast overhand, the
crank
> handle points down if casting with the right hand, pointing up if with the
> left. This provides the same action as you're experiencing when tossing
> sidearm. offered Huck
>
> "John Smith" > wrote in message >
> > - Still having some problems with overhand casting, tends to go
> > straight into the water. But, when I took it easy, tried to just rotate
> > the rod around the reel, it was OK. Side hand, however, I can cast no
> > problem, but accuracy suffers sometimes. If you saw me duff an overhand
> cast, you'd understand.
> >
>
>

[Charles B. Summers]

>
> - Still having some problems with overhand casting, tends to go
> straight into the water. But, when I took it easy, tried to just rotate
> the rod around the reel, it was OK. Side hand, however, I can cast no
> problem, but accuracy suffers sometimes. If you saw me duff an overhand
> cast, you'd understand.

*** Trust me, I know what you are talking about. Forget the overhand cast
for now. Use the sidearm or roll cast until you get use to the new reel. You
will get more accurate as time passes.
>
> - I was switching between throwing big muskie lures, and smaller bass
> lures. Big lures were anywhere from 1 - 2.5 oz, small were 1/4 - 1/2
> oz, mostly 3/8 or heavier. I started with 3 brakes on, which was fine.
> I went down to 2 brakes, which increased distance with the muskie
> lures, but I found I would overrun more with the smaller lures, so I put
> it back to 3 and left it.

*** Switching back and forth between heavy baits and light baits will teach
you nothing, except where your breaking point is. Try to stay within a
certain range (3/8~1/2oz) for awhile as you are learning. Until you get
really good with a baitcaster, you'll need to do alot more adjusting
betweeen throwing a smaller bait and a larger one.
>
> - You have to babysit the line alot! I was constantly watching the
> spool, as, depending on the lure, would not spool up tightly. I was
> frequently throwing on the heavier lure and letting it run behind the
> boat so I could reel the line in tight again. I found this usually only
> with the lighter bass lures. I tend to use alot (well, almost always)
> topwater. The popper (my favourite), tended to be the worst for this.

***You learn how to handle the line pretty quickly. When I'm throwing
something that will put slack in the line as I reel, I'll lay my thumb on
the spool. It may not make the line spool on tight, but it will eliminate
the looping.
>
> - It's tiring throwing big plugs all day!!! We went out on the shore
> at night, and I took my spinning rod (berkeley lightning rod, ML, 6.5',
> Daiwa Regal 2500-x). It felt so light and east to cast!
>
> So, onto the fishing. We had hard rain the first morning, but went out
> late morning nonetheless. We went out in full rain gear, the rain
> stopped once we were out on the water!
>
> Well, I went out for muskie, and found none! No worries, large and
> smallmouth were still biting, caught a 4lb each (large and small), plus
> many more good sized fish. The 4lb smallmouth put up an amazing fight,
> reeled him in with the new rig - he still bent that heavy rod right over!
>
> We were fishing this one small bay, I had switched to a crayfish
> crankbait (i.e. - no leader). Was reeling it in, it was fairly close to
> the boat, I thought I felt a nibble, and I just gave it a twitch, and no
> more lure! Stared dumbfounded at my broken line, then, my crayfish
> popped up on the surface, complete with about 4" of line. I'll never
know!
>
> Thanks for the advice all, I'm sure I'll get used to it before long!
>
> Brian
>

[John Smith]

> *** Switching back and forth between heavy baits and light baits will teach
> you nothing, except where your breaking point is. Try to stay within a
> certain range (3/8~1/2oz) for awhile as you are learning. Until you get
> really good with a baitcaster, you'll need to do alot more adjusting
> betweeen throwing a smaller bait and a larger one.

Well, I was generally going for muskie while the other person in the
boat was going for bass. I had a 10" jerkbait, 2.5oz. I'd cast that
thing out (and I never had a problem with this thing, other than making
me tired), the line would spool out, then - KA-SPLAT!!! I had a hard
time believing that I wasn't spooking the fish with this thing. Am I
supposed to cast that thing?

Anyways, after awhile, I'd usually switch tot he bass lures for awhile,
generally the bigger ones, but bass were biting plentiful, it was hard
to resist!

Thanks

Brian