re: Lots of people dont know how to cast a baitcaster

I have seen many people from Texas and to a far lesser extent come to the Caribbean and South Florida and fish with bait casting reels....they get rid of them pretty quick after they get smoked by fish that are capable of doing so. Trout and redfish aren't capable of doing it....Tarpon, permit, snook, and bonefish are all more than capable of smoking a baitcasting reel....they will move to spinning or revolving spool reels which are bait casting reels without the level wind mechanism for the most part....especially low profile casting reels do not have the surface area for sufficient drag and they get hot and brittle and eventually break down. I have a couple of Shimano Curados and I have replaced the drag disks in them a couple of times each...I have some Penn Slammers that are 40 years old and have been nearly spooled many times by sails, tarpon, permit and dolphin...and those reels drags still operate like new....and the slammer is a bargain level spinning reel today...

More and more I am gravitating to spinning tackle. I just don't bass fish as much as I used to, and I like working jigs with my dominate hand, even trout sized.

SPINNING REEL











SPINCAST REEL

Been using a baitcaster for so long that grabbing a kid's zebco spincaster recently nearly intimidated me. But I do see the value in using spinning reels.

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and I like working jigs with my dominate hand

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They do make baitcasters in LH and RH retrieve you know!

I use a spinning reel for a popping cork setup, everything else on baitcasters.

I can
Use a baitcaster right or left handed a professional fishermen taught me after going on a guided trip.
-skipping jig
- flip where I reduce impact of splash from a lure.
- side cast very accurately from a distance still being able to keep the lure from splashing.

Spinning reel
Usually open water windy situations.
- yes I can operate and lay that lure down very accurately.

Fly rod-
When I worked part time building fishing rods I kept the store open at night for fishing club meetings. Learned a lot from the bass, inshore, offshore, and fly club members.

Have to understand the rod actions and how to throw the fly line.
- Got a billy pate reel with my name on it when I retired from my city government job. Heavy as heck but for rooster fish the drag is smooth.
- fish slow action fly rod bamboo & fiberglass for trout where you do it want to break a light tippet. I do make my own leaders and shock leaders for inshore fishing.
- fish fast action graphite rods for rooster fish in the Surf while being fairly accurate in the wind.

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Do you know any grown ups that still don't know how to use a bait casting reel?

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Well, my wife and my mom are both "grown ups" and neither know how to successfully use a baitcasting reel. So, I guess I do know at least 2.

Personally, I know how to use one (correctly) and I own several. If I was forced to pick one style of reel to use the rest of my life, I'd pick a spinning reel.

I use both. To make accurate casts I prefer a baitcaster. I also only use a baitcaster to jig. I prefer a spinning reel if pitching a cork, working jerk baits or if I’m using an ultra light rod for sacalait

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I have a pair of fin nor lethal 100 reels with 65# drag rating that will lay the smack down on snapper. Paired them with penn blue water carnage jogging rods. Great combo and easy for anyone on the boat to use. Makes it easy and fun to work butterfly jigs. Loaded them with 80# braid.

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Absolutely...only way to jig 'em up! Much less exhausting having the weight of the reel under the reel seat instead of on top of the reel seat....plus the rod is in the correct hand when fighting a fish....

My dad taught me how to cast a baitcaster when I was probably 7. He had one spinning reel and hated it as did I. So I grew up throwing a baitcaster and I look like a monkey trying to hump a football with a spinning reel . They're just so damn awkward for me and I always get a few chuckles from fishing buddies over my inability to fish with a spinning reel.