A stupid question, but one I have

Ok all,
Please be gentle with your guffaws at my stupidity. I am still working
on expanding my knowledge of soft plastics, so try to be patient.

I have been playing with my baitcaster in the shop which is a cruxis
shimano reel on a scimitar shimano rod. It has 15lb braided on the
reel. I can zip the blades, and spin baits right out with no problem,
and have no problem with plastics that are rigged with a little
weight. I am pretty acurate these days with aim and presentation with
these baits.

But I seem to have a problem with lightweight plastics.

Where I spend a lot of time fishing for bass, the water just isn't
very deep, and it can get nightmarishly weedy. So i want to rig a soft
plastic weedless style, without weighting it down when the bass are
watching the top of the water. Some of these bass are fat boys, and
with all the weeds, I don't really know that running light line would
really work. My reel is on freespool.... but I just can't get a
reasonable cast out there, if at all.
i would like to find a way to fish these waters with my bait caster
and just leave the spining reels at home. Is it possible or were the
casters just made for more weighted baits?

i find my self trying to zing the rod so hard that I tend to often
wreck the bait in just a few casts.

"Sprattoo" wrote in message
ps.com...

reasonable cast out there, if at all.
i would like to find a way to fish these waters with my bait caster
and just leave the spining reels at home. Is it possible or were the
casters just made for more weighted baits?

Not that long ago I would have agreed with you, but I can cast and pitch
baits as light as 4" senkos (senkos are actually heavy as plastics go) on
30lb braid with very feww problems. I am currently using inexpensive reels
for these applications. Quantum AC500CX (30lb PP w 4" senko), Browning
Medallion (40lb PP w 5" senko), Browning Citori (30lb Stren SB w Gambler
Flappin' Shad).


i find my self trying to zing the rod so hard that I tend to often
wreck the bait in just a few casts.

Its a tight rope walk, and some of the more expensive reels sometimes don't
do what you think they should. I like to start by adjustign the spool
tension so that when I let a bait drop free spool it hits the floor and
about 2-3 loose loops of line come up on the reel when I don't thump the
spool and just let it spin. Some guys go totally free spool with no
tension, but I think that's to hard for most guys. Anyway, then I adjust my
breaks to try and reduce backlashes. I may go with more or less tension if
I'm doing more casting vs pitching.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .

"Sprattoo" wrote in message
ps.com...

reasonable cast out there, if at all.
i would like to find a way to fish these waters with my bait caster
and just leave the spining reels at home. Is it possible or were the
casters just made for more weighted baits?

Not that long ago I would have agreed with you, but I can cast and pitch
baits as light as 4" senkos (senkos are actually heavy as plastics go) on
30lb braid with very feww problems. I am currently using inexpensive
reels
for these applications. Quantum AC500CX (30lb PP w 4" senko), Browning
Medallion (40lb PP w 5" senko), Browning Citori (30lb Stren SB w Gambler
Flappin' Shad).


i find my self trying to zing the rod so hard that I tend to often
wreck the bait in just a few casts.

Its a tight rope walk, and some of the more expensive reels sometimes
don't
do what you think they should. I like to start by adjustign the spool
tension so that when I let a bait drop free spool it hits the floor and
about 2-3 loose loops of line come up on the reel when I don't thump the
spool and just let it spin. Some guys go totally free spool with no
tension, but I think that's to hard for most guys. Anyway, then I adjust
my
breaks to try and reduce backlashes. I may go with more or less tension
if
I'm doing more casting vs pitching.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.

P.S.

Personally I have had better luck with mag brake reels for pitching and drum
brakes for casting, but over all I prefer mag brakes. (Yes I have a bunch
of Curados, and yes they have drum brakes, and yes they are good reels. LOL)
I just like the mag brakes because they are so much easier to adjust.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .
(Yes I have a bunch
of Curados, and yes they have drum brakes, and yes they are good reels.
LOL) I just like the mag brakes because they are so much easier to adjust.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.

But Bob... if you have a bunch of Curados, you don't have to adjust anything
at all after the initial adjustment. I mean, I can switch from spinnerbaits,
crankbaits, and buzzbaits, to fishing (weighted) soft plastics with the same
reel. The trick this little tension knob on the crank side; not the brakes.

As far as fishing weightless plastics, (Senkos excluded as I consider the
heavy salt content weight) you're pretty much going to do better with a
spinning rod and lighter line unless your just going to drop the bait into
an area. The heavier line that you'd normally use for a baitcaster isn't
exactly what the plastics manufacturer had in mind when they developed their
baits. Fall rates and actions are seriously affected by the use of heavier
line.

Just my two cents worth,
Charles

BTW: How've you been Bob?

"Charles Summers" wrote in message
. ..

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .
(Yes I have a bunch
of Curados, and yes they have drum brakes, and yes they are good reels.
LOL) I just like the mag brakes because they are so much easier to
adjust.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.

But Bob... if you have a bunch of Curados, you don't have to adjust
anything
at all after the initial adjustment. I mean, I can switch from
spinnerbaits,
crankbaits, and buzzbaits, to fishing (weighted) soft plastics with the
same
reel. The trick this little tension knob on the crank side; not the
brakes.
As far as fishing weightless plastics, (Senkos excluded as I consider the
heavy salt content weight) you're pretty much going to do better with a
spinning rod and lighter line unless your just going to drop the bait into
an area. The heavier line that you'd normally use for a baitcaster isn't
exactly what the plastics manufacturer had in mind when they developed
their
baits. Fall rates and actions are seriously affected by the use of heavier
line.

Just my two cents worth,
Charles

BTW: How've you been Bob?

Doing great. Both boats are good right now. Business is strong, and I'm
getting ready to take the rest of the day off and go fishing. Can't get
much better than that.




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Charles Summers" wrote in message
. ..

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .
(Yes I have a bunch
of Curados, and yes they have drum brakes, and yes they are good reels.
LOL) I just like the mag brakes because they are so much easier to
adjust.

Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Some day I hope to be good at this.

But Bob... if you have a bunch of Curados, you don't have to adjust
anything at all after the initial adjustment. I mean, I can switch from
spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and buzzbaits, to fishing (weighted) soft
plastics with the same reel. The trick this little tension knob on the
crank side; not the brakes.

I actually do not like the spool tension on the Curados. I have 200B and
200BSF reels. On ALL OF THEM its the most miniscule amount to adjust from
total free spool to way to tight for anything but launching heavy lead. I
can deal with it now, but I imagine for a beginner it would be pretty hard
to get that touch down right.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com