light baits and baitcasting

[blarg]

hey guys, i was wondering how light could i go with lures and a baitcasting setup, id like to get away from spining as much as possible. I started with a baitcaster for the first time this year and im tired of the line twists with my spinning gear, now i know that spinning gear has its uses, often with lighter baits. But i have a fairly large spinning reel, its a quantum pt series from a few years back, and with 10lb flouro carbon all i get is twists and line jumping off the reel, ive done all i can think of to reduce this, but to no avail.

 

My baitcaster is great, with heavy lures, its a curado 201, the rod i think is the biggest issue as i bought a mh shimano compre, while i like the rod its just too stiif, i cant really load the rod well unless im using a heavy lure. So, im thinking of grabbing a medium weight rod, but before i did that i wanted to ask, if i want to cast light baits, even down to unweighted plastics, say 5" senkos with a baitcaster, what rod or rod reel combinations would i need, and would i need more than one class of rod and weight of reel for plastics to say 1/4-1/2 ounce baits. or should i just try to figure out my spinning reel issues.

[BillM]

I can launch wacky rigged Senkos with 30lb Suffex and a Calais 200. Not really a flipping setup.. Mess with the VBS brakes on your Curado, you should be able to get it somewhat dialed in....

[drwxr]

use braided line with spining reel, and attach 12-16" fluorocarbon leader with a swivel to your braid.

will solve your problems

[fishinggeek]

I just don't cast light baits with baitcasting. For me, it's not worth the effort. Mind you, I'm only so-so with the baitcasting.

[GBW]

use braided line with spining reel, and attach 12-16" fluorocarbon leader with a swivel to your braid.

will solve your problems

I agree but a double uni knot is better then a swivel IMHO.

[bassjnkie]

I throw a 4" unweighted senko with the Daiwa Viento, paired with a MH fast 7' with no problem at all. I have my magnetic brake at 2. Never backlashes, but been using bait casters with 1/8oz head and 3 inch twister for 12 years now.

[Victor]

don't have a lot of experiences using light baits on baitcasters ... however ...

do you use spinners/spinnerbaits alot on your spinning outfit? With the better quality line, the line twist shouldn't be as bad as you've described, try using a swivel especially when you're using those type of lures. It should reduce the line twist. Hope that helps.

[cpguy29]

Like Bill said...take all the VBS brake off the Curado (push the little red platic things inwards) ..maybe leave one in use, then that unweighted senko will be flying.

[Bondar]

i use a 6'6 medium spinnning with a quantum PT tour 20 & Stradic 3000's with 6lb floroclear never get line twist make sure your not over spooled for the line jumping , these set ups cast a mile but depends what your after these are mainly my pickeral & samllie set-ups for lite tackle

[salmon]

Most of my bass fishing is using weightless plastics (wacky style). Here are my baitcasting setups, for throwing wacky style worms

(4-5” yum dingers)

 

Daiwa Steez, Shimano Calais100, Sufix 30lb braid

The key is (IMO) getting the correct action rod. The rods I use are St. Croix they both have an extra fast (or fast) tapers such as 70MF or the 68MXF and handle 1/4 - 5/8 oz weights. Do not forget worms are not really weightless some are up to 1/2 oz in weight.

Also you should put on 2-3 ft of fluorocarbon leader if you are using braid.

 

Most of the time I am fishing from shore.

 

Jose

[danbo]

My opinion: Spinning gear is "purposely designed" for light -lines & lures.

Your line-twist problem is rare. Unless throwing Mepps or spoons without a swivel?

Use a good Sampo Snap-Swivel & switch to a quality line, such as Super Silver Thread mono or even Power Pro braid.

Buy a good reel like the Daiwa Theory or Shimano Metal series.

[PatrickGG]

Hope this helps i have the same set up for light lures and it works Beautifully:

Get a 6'6 rod medium action fast

If you can pick up a new reel go with the Curado 100 "Nice and small easy to use and palm"

40 pound Power pro or 30pound works great but since you

are relatively new to baitcasting i would go with the 40 pound and

always adjust your lure to you reel.

Edited August 29, 2008 by PatrickG

[PatrickGG]

I also forgot to mention keep 2 brakes on and make sure you pop out the brake on the opposite pin not side by side.

[blarg]

thanks for all the replies, i bought some more pp and am going to respool my spinning rod, this is my second go around with flourocarbon, maybe 10lb is to heavy for my reel idk, but i tried 10lb vanish with lots of twists and loops, went back to 10lb trilene xt with no probs, figured hey maybe i had a bad batch of floro, tried it again with the same result. So for now back to pp and im going to pickup a lighter action rod for my baitcaster and try tossing the light baits with it.

[danbo]

You need a limp line, fluoro is too stiff, other than for leaders.

[salmon]

You need a limp line, fluoro is too stiff, other than for leaders.

 

Dan

How is that HSTA working out?

Jose

[danbo]

I haven't even cast it yet! Dang, I'm about to burst if I don't get out soon..

[pokerdemon4]

I 2nd Danbos input. I use braid for everything and if your worried about stealth, use a fluoro leader. Seaguar premier leader material is the best. 20lb leader material with 15 lb diameter. Pricy though, but worth it. This stuff is super tuff despite its smaller diameter. Hasn't broken yet. Also, learn how to tie the uni knot. Your line is only as good as the knots you tie.

[NBR]

For some reason known only to the gremlins in my computor I can't make a normal response to a thread. Also for reasons only known to the gremlins I can post a fast response. On normal responses a Microsoft erroe message that I have done something illegal pops up the the OFC shuts down and I reboot. Can anybody help?

 

Sorry for the thread swipe. Back to the original message. I agree that the rod is proably more important than the reel but having said that about 3 years ago I bought a BPS Prolitefinesse combo for the same purpose the rod I chose was a 6'6" M and I easily cast an 1/8 ounce jig with a 2" twister tail grub.

 

I am firmly convinced that there are three major reasons for line twist with spinning tackle: 1. Not putting the line on properly. 2. a lure that spins and 3. Reeling against the drag. Tie you line off to something and reel against the drag and note the twist. Imagine if you hadn't noticed the drag slipping with a fish how much twist.

 

More than 20 years ago I quit using my spinning reel drags in favor of back reeling. I can't recall ever having to troll line around since to get twist out of the line. My spinning reels are all pretty old so there might be changes. Back reeling has its own sets of issues but it works for me.

[BabyHerc]

Magnetic brakes are better for casting lighter baits than centrifugal brakes. Magnetic bakes will allow for a longer cast and less backlash when using less casting weight. I am positive magnetic brakes can be found on Daiwa reels, and I'm fairly certain that they can be found on Quantum reels. Shimano uses centrifugal brakes. This is probably the most important thing to consider when buying a baitcasting reel for light baits.

Edited August 30, 2008 by BabyHerc

[Garry2Rs]

I think that the rod is the culprit here.

The MH is a 1/4 to 1 ounce rod...It won't cast baits under 1/4 ounce very well.

Drop down to a Medium or a ML and you will be fine.

Some adjusting of the reel might be necessary.

But start with the settings that you have now.

The centrifugal brakes are to stop the spool from turning faster that the line is going out at the beginning of the cast.

Don't do anything rash with them.

Change rods first...then make reel adjustments based on what happens on the first couple of casts, not on hear-say from other guys with other equipment and different casting styles.

Garry2R's

[Bassaholic]

You should have no problem casting a 5" senko on a good MH baitcast rod. A standard 5" senko should weigh around 3/8oz...at least all the ones I have do. So they should load fine on a MH fast to extra fast rod but would be too heavy for most ML rods. Also what kind of cover are you fishing? Because I wouldn't use one and I dont think many other people would suggest using a ML rod in heavy cover like weeds or timber and if you're like me and thats the kind of stuff you're tossing you're senkos into then I think you're going to be in trouble if you go with a ML.

[bassjnkie]

ML is not what you want, unless you don't fish in heavy cover. MH is the way to go like I said before, make sure it's extra fast and push all the brake pins in except 2, as someone mentioned earlier. The xtra fast action will allow you to load the rod with even a dinger (lighter than a 4" senko). Someone metioned this, that a magnetic brake is the best to cast small baits, with less over run. The Curado 201 is ok for heavier baits, but if you want to stick to shimano, the 101 super free is the way to go. My suggestion would be magnetic, I love all my Daiwa baitcasters, I can throw anything, wind changes, by just a few clicks on the external brake dial. Shimano, well you got to open the side plate and hope you don't loose the red pins. I am not bashing Shimano in any way they make some great products.

 

Hope this helps, I can go more in depth, but e-mails easier on the eyes.

 

Daniel

[OhioFisherman]

It can be tough if you don`t have a lot of experience with baitcasters. I used old shimano 251 black magnums with 10# test mono(Stren) newer model reels like a curado should work also.

 

Best reel far and away for it is this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/abu-507-boxed-mint_W...id=p3286.c0.m14

 

Old style Abu 507, 506, 506m, 505, Abu Preimer 704, 507 is the biggest and will easily handle 17 or 20 pound test mono, smaller ones good for 10 maybe 12 pound test. No line twist at all with these reels and hard to find a better night fishing reel. They are getting pricey. No problems flipping or pitching and unweighted worm or lizard, 1/16th 1/8 ounce lures.

[bassjnkie]

I agree with the closed face reel to, virtually no tagles. I Throw spinners with a spinning reel, 6# mono line, no swivel, and never get line twists. Line twists are from user error, reeling against drag, spooling reel improperly, lower priced reels etc... Just my 2c