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I was wondering if anyone had any pointers for a newbie to baitcasting? From spooling it, to bringing in a fish. The reel is a Daiwa Procaster 100H or something like that. I know on the spinning reel you can turn the drag on or off, and when I pull on the line with the baitcasting reel the line continues to come out, if I was fight a fish the line would just keep draging out. I must of spooled it wrong
Any help would be great even a wedsite with some info
Thanks
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Hey there Dyson, and welcome to the bigfishtackle.com fishing forums!
Bait casters take alot of practice, but once you have them figured out, you should be good to go. I rarely ever use a spinning reel, unless the situation warrants it. First things first.............
Spooling: When you put line on a baitcaster, you need to make sure the line is comming off the spool the same direction it's going on the reel. In other words, the spool needs held up right with a pencil or something through it. The line needs to be peeling off the spool from the top so when it wraps on the reel, it's not twisting. Also, make sure you don't use a pound test line above what the reel calls for. It's best to use the lightest pound test line you're comforatable with. The lighter the line, in many cases, the better it performs. Make sure you keep tension on the spool when you wind on line. Loosly installed line can cause a backlash and drastically hinder reel performance. LOL, after all that in the back of your mind, don't fill the reel's spool any further than an 1/8" from the edge. Over filling the reel with line is a recipe for disaster.
Setting up the reel: Now that you have the reel spooled with line, it's time to get it ready to go fishing. The first thing I do is check the drag. I remember you mentioned the line kept running out when you hooked a fish. One of two things happened: It was a really big fish or you had the drag set WAY too loose. I'm sure you know how to tighten the drag, and you need to tighten it to the point that you have to give it a firm pull to get the line to strip off the reel. Make sure that it's not so tight that a quick run from a fast fish breaks you off. The firmness of the drag really depends on the pound test line, target fish species, and general fishing style. You'll have to play with that one a bit. But, if you hook a small fish and he keeps stripping off line, don't be affraid to tighten the drag down a big to get the edge. As for casting, there is an easy way. On the side of the reel is a small knob. This is the break. It creates tension on the spool. Some reels only have one, like an Abu Garcia 5500, and some reels have two, like a Penn 990. What you want to do is tie on what ever rig or lure you are going to use. Click the free spool button and if your lure falls to the ground rapidly, it's set too loose. Give the break a turn, reel it back up and try again. Keep playing with the break until you get it just loose enough that your lure will fall to the ground with a gentle shake from the rod. If you set the break too loose, it will back lash. It you set it too tight, it won't cast. Once you get it set correctly, you'll be able to cast with out ever touching the spool and with out worry of ever getting a backlash. Once you've mastered that technique, you can gradually loosen the break and use your thumb as the "break." When you're able to cast with a very loose break, you'll attain greater distance casts and a better feel. But until then, it's better to crawl before you walk.
Now you're ready to go fishing! Keep in mind that a baitcaster won't cast ultra light lures and rigs. For this application, you'll need to break out the old Ultra lite spinning tackle. Good luck and I hope this helps! [cool]
Make sure and let us know how it works out. Don't be affraid to post a fishing report!
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Thanks for the help, I'll try it out and let you know
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[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3][cool]Good advise there Tarpon4me. Sound like you must have written the instructional manuals for the reel manufacturers. LOL. I have some really old bait casters [no longer in service] that the main drag was the thumb. Saw a young guy a while back running a shake down on his new bait caster. Guess he must have thought that with all the adjustment on the new reels the use of the thumb was no longer required. Wow I never saw such a mess. Neither did the nesting birds in the area. A bait caster certainly requires a bit more attention to what one is doing than a spinning system particularly to a newbie.[/size][/green][/font]
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[url "http://www.fishingmessageboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5038"]http://www.fishingmessageboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5038[/url]
on the link above is a short conversation on bait casting reels you may want to read... It is on one of our sister sites...
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There is a long standing rule #1 that has been since the beginning of time.
"Don't be dumb, use the thumb"!
Your conventional reels that are for deeper saltwater fishing always require a good thumb to be applied.
The Baitcasters on the other hand, have more dials and magnets to be adjusted but still take alot out of the cast. I just adjust everything down to zero resistance and use the good ole thumb for the cast control and anti over-run. It saves a lot of time from adjusting from one weight size to the next and affords longer casts.[cool]
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