"duty-honor-country" wrote in message SNIP
You bring up valid points- but to repeat what a previous poster gleaned
from my posts- why use 20 pound test and a heavy lure, to catch an 8
pound fish ? And the added headaches of a baitcaster added to it. It
seems that same lure could be presented with a stout open faced reel
and rod, and horsed in just as easily.

***Why use 20 pound and a heavy lure to catch an 8 pound fish? Because that
is many times the right tools for the job. If you were taught how to
properly set up and use a baitcast rig, there would be no added headache. A
baitcast reel can handle heavier line much better than a spinning reel, and
typically, a spinning rod does not have the necessary backbone to adequately
horse a fish from heavy cover. Sure, it can be done, but I can do the same
with a baitcaster with a rig that is much lighter and easier to fish with
all day. Saying you can do the same with a spinning rod is like saying that
you can pound a nail with a screwdriver. Yep, you probably can, but it's
not the right tool for the job. Matching line weight to fish is fine for
open water fishing, but there are many other factors that must be considered
when choosing tackle. Fishing many of the areas I do with eight pound line
will only result in borken line, lost lures and lost fish.

They use open faced reels for deep sea fishing too- so obviously the
new ones have the gusto to horse a big fish in as well. Correct ?

***Yes, they do use spinning rods for deep-sea fishing, but look at the
weight of a spinning rod/reel combination rated for 20 pound line, then
compare a baitcast combo rated for the same. I'd rather hold and cast the
baitcaster all day than the spinning rod/reel.

Keep in mind professional bass fishermen get a lot of sponsor money.

***And those professional bass fishermen get paid to WIN tournaments. If
spinning tackle were the "End-All to End All", those selfsame professional
bass fishermen would be using spinning tackle. But, they don't, so
obviously there is a reason why baitcasting tackle is used. You could use a
Yugo to race the 24 Hours at LeMans, but you wouldn't be competitive.

I've yet to try to make a cast that I could not make with a spinning
reel. Where's the accuracy problem ? I've fished streams where the
target area is 2 feet square- and anywhere else is a snag and lost
hook/bait. If that's not an accuracy challenge, what is ?

***Then you obviously haven't fished with me. Two feet square? C'mon,
that's easy. Now, pitch a lure underneath overhanging tree branches into a
10 inch hole in the weeds, two feet underneath the overhang. THAT'S an
accuracy challenge.

I agree that for pulling a lure through lilly pads and stumps, a
baitcaster has the leverage advantage. But what average guy would fish
that area, every time ? Sooner or later, one tires of the obstacles
and snags. You may not break the line, but you may have to go up and
unsnag it often.

***THAT'S exactly why baitcasting tackle is used, leverage and mechanical
advantage. I consider myself an average guy and I fish obstacles and snags
quite often. I prefer to actually CATCH fish and that means I have to go
where they live. If you're fishing bass, pike, and muskie, they are a very
object oriented fish. That means heavier tackle, heavier lures. I don't
tire of fishing in heavy cover and I don't have to "go up and unsnag if
often" as I use the proper tools for the job, baitcasting equipment.

If there was a place where all of the fish caught were over 10 pounds,
sure I'd use a bait caster. But the baitcaster aura is reminding me of
a street car with a 6-71 supercharger sticking through the hood, that
can't get out of it's own way.

***Obviously you don't understand the concept of using the correct equipment
for the task at hand and refuse to do so.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com