Baitcaster vs Spinning Reel

Baitcaster vs Spinning Reel with Pros and Cons [Buying guide]

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Today I Am Going To Talk About Baitcaster Vs Spinning Reel, Pros And Cons. When To Buy Bait-casting Reel And When To Buy Spinning Reel. I Am Going To Cover It All.

I Assure You After Reading This Article Your Spinning And Baitcasting Reel Confusion Will Be Removed For Forever.

One Of The Question I Hear The Most Is,

Should I Get A Bait-caster Reel Or Should I Get A Spinning Reel?

Now In My Mind, The Answer To That Question Is Pretty Straight Forward.

Bait-casting Reels Are More Expensive And They Are More Complicated To Use. But There are A Few Things That Bait-casting Reels Do Very Well.

Spinning Reels Are Easy To Use And They Are Generally Cheaper. So I Generally Use Spinning Reels Unless I Need One Of The Features Of A Bait-caster.

One Of The Number One Things That A Bait-caster Reel Does Well Is That They Are Lighter.

Bait-caster lighter than spinning reel

Having A Super Light Reel And A Super Light Rod Can Be A Real Advantage If You Are Going To Be On The Water All Day Long, Casting, Casting And Casting.

A Bait-caster Will Be So Much Lighter Than A Spinning Reel, Probably Anywhere From 30-50% Away. It’s A Big Difference.

Baitcaster has greater line capacity

Another Thing That Bait-casters Do Really Well Is They Have Greater Line Capacity.

So When We Put Our Bait In A Kayak And Leave Our Rods On The Shore And We Kayak, You Know That Time 200-300 Yards Out Into The Ocean And Drop Our Baits Off. So You Need Lots And Lots Of Line Because You’re Fishing At These Extreme Long Distances. No Spinning Reels Can Carry This Much Line.

So If You Are Doing Blue Water Fishing, You Are Doing Fishing Where You Need A Lot Of Line Capacity. That Time Obviously You Need Bait-casters. They Do It Really Well.

Baitcaster drag system

Another Thing About Bait-caster Is That You Can Get A Lot Of Drags And A Lot Of Strength In A Very Small Package.

Bait caster great distance power

Another Thing You Get With Bait-caster Is Distance Control.

So What I Mean By That?

all parts of baitcaster reels
All Parts Of A Baitcaster Reel

When You Cast The Bait-casters You Press The Lever, Now Puts It Into Free-spool Or The Lines Can Display Out You Cast And Then You Rest Your Thumb On The Spool And That’s The Break. This Gives You A Lot Of Control And You Can Do It Gradually. You Can Slow The Lure Down And Then Plunk It Right Where You Need.

Once Again That’s An Ideal Feature For Serious Bass Fisherman.

So If You Are In A Boat, You Are Doing Bass Fishing, You Sit In The Middle Of The Lake And You Cast Towards The Shore, And If You Cast For Far Your Lure Goes Into The Bushes And Then To The Trees And You’ve Got A 5-20 Dollar Lure Stuck On The Trees That You Gotta Go Retrieving. It’s A Big Pain In The Butt.

So Being Able To Stop Your Lure Before It Goes Too Far Is Really Important. Because You Are Trying To Get As Close To The Shore As You Can Without Putting Your Line In The Bushes.

So The Question Becomes Is The Extra Money For A Bait-caster Worth It.

Are You Going To Be Casting So Much That Arm Fatigue Is A Big Issue? Are You Going To Be Casting In Situations Where Distance Control Is Really Important As Yourself? Do You Need To Pay For That Extra Drag? Do You Need To Pay For That Extra Line Capacity?

That’s Something Worth Spending More Money On.

Another Issue With Bait Casters Is There A Little Bit Quirky. They Are Little Hard To Use, It Can Be Inconvenient Sometimes.

All parts Of spinning Reel
All parts Of spinning Reel

Spinning Reels Are Lot Simpler. Take For Instance Whether You Want The Left Handed Or Right-handed Reel.

With Spinning Reel There Is A Little Knob On The Side, You Unscrew It, You Take The Handle Off, Put It On The Other Side And Suddenly Your Right Handed Reel Has Become Left Handed. Super-easy.

Spinning Reel Right-Handed To Left-Handed Proper Way Video

Video courtesy- Case Southerland

Doesn’t Require Any Tools, Take Seconds And You Can Switch From Left Handed To Right Handed On Spinning Reel.

Bait-casters Don’t Do That. You Have To Buy Either Right-Handed Or Left Handed Reels. Lots Of Models Don’t Sell Left Handed Reels And This Is Obnoxious As A Lefty, Find This Credibly Annoying.

The Other Thing That You Might Find Interesting Is Left-Handed And Right Handed Mean Different Things Depending On Whether You Have A Bait-caster Or Not.

So Take A Right Handed Spinning Reel And Take A Take A Right Handed Bait-caster Reel And Notice That The Handles Are On Different Sides.

spinning vs baitcaster handle position

On Spinning Reels Right Handed Means That You Hold The Rod In Your Right Hand. With Bait-casters Right Handed Means You Reel With The Right Hand, Okay, Weird.

Another Quirk With Bait Casters Is That They Have Brake Systems. When You Cast A Bait-caster Sometimes Spool Turns Faster Then The Lure Flies Through The Air And So The Lure Isn’t Pulling Line Fast Enough And The Line Gets Backed Up At A Traffic Jam On Your Reel And That Gets Snarled Up And Turns Into A Big Birds Nest Called Back Lashing.

So In Order To Prevent Back Lashing We Have These Sophisticated Braking Systems That Ever So Slightly Slow The Spool Down So That It Does Not Give Off More Line That Is Necessary.

Turning Off Birds Nest On Baitcaster Video

Video courtesy-  Joshua Taylor

You Can Spend Hundreds Of Dollars On Very Fancy Reels And Very Fancy Brake System Or You Can Just Practice, Practice And Practice And Get Used To Using Your Thumb As The Brake And Then You Don’t Need Any Brake System At All.

That’s What I Prefer To Do. I Turn Off My Brake Systems And I Don’t Have Used And I Just Use My Thumb When I Am Casting.

Now One Trick To Avoiding Backlashes Is When You’re Casting Don’t Pull The Roof Of The Reel Up And Down, Turn The Reel Sideways Like This And So When You Cast, You Casting With The Reel Oriented Side Ways And It Reduces Backlashing A Lot.

Then What You Do Is As The Line Goes Out Your Thumb Is Just Barely Grazing The Spool As The Spool Spins Over The Reel.

The Other Thing Is, You Want To Put The Brakes On Before Your Lure Hits The Water. So As Your Lure Is Just About To Get To Where It Wants To Go And It Petering Out It’s Going Down Stop The Brake. If You Just Let Your Lure Go And Hit The Water Without Braking Then Go Get Backlash.

But You Can See This Is A Problem If You Take Newbies Out Fishing, Don’t Let Them Use Your Bait-caster. It Will Be So Snarled Up It’ll Be A Disaster.

baitcasting rod
Baitcaster Rod Setup
spinning rod
Spinning Rod Setup

Okay, Also I Am Going To Tell You How You Hold A Bait-caster Versus A Spinning Reel. You Hold The Bait-caster With The Reel Up And The Eyelets Up, With A Spinning Reel, The Eyelets And The Reel Are Down, Okay. So Bait-caster Reel Up And Spinning Reel Down, Cool Na.

Proper way Of Casting A Spinning Reel Video

video courtesy- Joshua Taylor

Casting Is Also Weird So With A Spinning Rod You Go And You Hold The Rods, A Right Handed Person Holds Around Your Right Hand, You Go To Your Cast And Then You Reel By Your Left Hand, Okay. Pretty Straight Forward.

Proper Way Of Casting A Baitcaster Video

video courtesy- The Fishin’ Pastor

Another Awesome Casting Guideline Video For Baitcaster

video courtesy-  HatCamBass

But With A Bait-caster On A Right Handed Person You Hold The Rod In Your Right Hand, You Cast And Then You Switch Hands And You Reel Right Handed, Okay. So Everything Being Done With Your Right Hand. I Like To Buy Left Handed Bait-casters Because Then I’ll Just Cast With Right Hand And Then Reel Them With Left Handed, Like The Spinning. Its Just What I Am Used To And Just Feel More Natural.

But Many Popular Bait-caster Model Does Not Make Left Handed Model So I Have Got Both, I Have Got Right Handed Reel And I Have Got Left Handed Reel. I Can Switch Both Ways.

So Let Me Tell You To Show You The Difference Between A Bait-casting Rod And A Spinning Rod.

baitcasting rod setup

Generally, Bait-casting Rods Have A Trigger, Not Always But If You See The Trigger Then It’s Definitely A Bait-casting Rod. You Won’t See A Trigger On A Spinning Rod.

spinning rod setup

Additionally, The Eyelet On A Bait-casting Rod Are Smaller, Especially The Very First Ring On The Rod. Spinning Rod Has A Huge Like 30-40 Millimeter Buttering.

Baitcaster Bait Clicker Set Video

video courtesy- OutdoorHubFishing

Another feature Of Bait-casters That Some Fisherman Really Love Is The Line Clicker. There’s Switch On The Side Of Some Bait-casters That Are Design For Bait Fishing. When A Fish Grabs Your Line It Makes A Sweet Noise And Lets Your Line Play Out. This Is Perfect For Bait Fishing. You Got Your Rod Stilling On A-Rod Holder, Maybe It’s Night Time And You’re Sitting There And You Listening That Noise And Now You Are Off To The Races Fish On. All You Have To Do Is Flip That Switch And Then The Line Clickers Off And You Are Fighting The Fish.

So Its Like A Bite Alarm, It Allows The Fish To Take Line Instead Of Pulling Your Rod Into The Water, So It’s A Great Little Feature.

Spinning Reel Bait Clicker Set Video

video courtesy- KastKing

You Can Get That Same Feature With Spinning Reels. This Is Called A Bite And Run Reel. Its Got A Drag System On The Top, A Drag System On The Bottom And A Clutch That Switches Between The Two, Okay. When The Drag Is Up, You Are Engaging The Fighting The Drag. When It’s Down You’re Engaging The Resting Drag And You Notice It Makes A Similar Noise That Little Clicking Sound.

So You Put Your Rod In The Rod Holder You Flip The Switch Down, The Fish Start Stripping Line You Hear That Clicking Sound, You Run Over And Either Turn The Handle Or Flip The Switch And It Engages The Fighting Ground, You’re Off In Races.

Whether You Use Line Clicker Or Bite Alarm Reels Both Spinning Reels And Bait-casters Have Something For You.

Let Me Kind Of Sum This All Up For You, If You Are Just Getting Into Fishing, I Would Generally Recommend A Spinning Reel. It’s Easier To Use, There’s Less To Learn And You Get More Saving For Your Buck.

If You Are In A Situation Where You Need An Ultra-light Reel, You Need To Control Your Distance, You Need Lots Of Line Capacity, Then By All Means Go And Spend The Extra Money, Get A Bait-caster. You Can Get A Really Compact High-Quality Reel That’s Super Light And Very Fun To Use, Once You Learn How To Use It.

If You’re In A Situation Where New Fisherman Are Going To Be Using Your Reel And Take People Out Fishing, You Have Lots Of Kids, You Want A Reel That That Can Switch From Left Handed To Right Handed, That’s Going To Be Easy To Use A Bait-caster.

What You Look When Buy A Spinning Reel?

  • Saltwater Of Freshwater Approved Or Both
  • If Want Bait Feeder Feature Then Check It
  • Preferable Gear Ratio
  • Enough Drag System
  • Solid & Strong Material
  • Instant Any Reverse Option
  • Enough Strength For Fighting Your Preferable Fish
  • Budget
  • Line Capacity
  • Enough Ball Bearings

What You Look When Buy A Baitcasting Reel?

  • Right Or Left Hand Need
  • Budget
  • Comfort
  • Preferable Gear Ratio
  • Enough Drag System
  • Solid Material
  • Line Capacity & Spool Diameter
  • Enough Strength For Preferable Fish& Environment
  • Enough Ball Bearings
  • Bait clicker Feature

Hopefully, You Understand When To Buy A Bait-caster And When To Buy A Spinning Reel And Pros And Cons Of Them. And Hopeful You Get A Chance To Use Both, Both Reels Are Fabulous. I Enjoy My Bait-caster And I Enjoy My Spinning Reel, They Both Do Wonderful Things For Me. So Get Out There And Try Them And Enjoy The Sport And Share Your Knowledge With Other People And Thanks For Reading.

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