Hey what's up, you're here today with Nick, the Informative Fisherman and today we are going to be discussing the basics of a Bait Casting Reel. Now let us start off a few things that are different on a Bait Casting Reel versus a Spinning Reel is this is your line release here. This is a spool release or line release, whatever you want call it, conventionally on a spinning reel, you know, you would flip the bail open to release the spool. In this case, you actually pop it down to release the spool AKA the line release, the spool release.
Your drag on a Bait Casting Reel is right here and this is this far drag system, by rotating it backwards, you lessen the drag to a smaller --the fish can pull off more line quite easily on you by moving it forward you increase the drag resistance which makes it much more difficult for a bigger fish to pull off the line. In this situation, if you would want stronger line, if you are going to tighten down on your drag.
Now, lots of these Bait Casting Reels, we'll say 6 to 1, 7 to 1, 5 to 1 and all that means is one rotation of the handle, how many times your spool rotates around. So, if you are using a 7 to 1 action, I mean you can really reel the fish in fast and play him up on his side to the way to the boat. By using 5 to 1 or 6 to 1, it is a little bit slower and those type of baits you would want to use is like crank baits so you really wouldn't rip the hooks out of the fish's mouth, you would want to play the fish out a little bit better.
On these rods --rod and reel combos for Bait Casting rod and reels, the difference in the rod is the First Eye. Now, when you are looking at these rods on a spinning reel, the first eye is really large because the line comes off in this fashion right here, but on our Bait Casting Reel the line comes off straight out the top. So, if you are looking for just rods by themselves to match up with the Bait Casting Reel that you got, you want to make sure that you are actually looking at a Bait Casting Rod and one of the simple ways to notice that is the very first eye is really small versus your spinning rod, the first eye is much bigger.
Here we have the Spool Tension Knob. This is a very important part on a Bait Casting Reel. Once you adjust your brakes just right, you are going to have to fine tune it with the Spool Tension Knob which is this guy right here. By rotating it forward you increase the pressure on your spool to where --once you click down your line release, your lure will just sit there. Now, by backing off the tension on that, moving it backwards, you get it just enough to start to slowly fall just like that and once you get it to where, when you release your spool release, right here, and your lure just slowly falls down just like that. You know you had it perfect in order to go.
Okay, now it's example time. First thing I am going to do, is my Spool Tension Knob, I am going to tighten it all the way up. So, when I click down my line release, my lure takes off my knob, just hanging right there. So, I will gradually back off and I will keep going where it slowly falls, just like this, as soon as it touch, I didn't get backlash. I will bring it back up and show you that same drop, release my line release. Our lure will gradually fall, just like so. That is how I know I got it perfect.
Now, I am going to show you example of that, bringing your tension knob backwards and I am going to show you my line on my spool is nice and smug right now and I am going to back off and I am going to drop it. This is example of what you don't want to do. There is your Bird's Nest right there and that's what it means --
Now, let's discuss Bait Casting braking system. So, what you do on some of these reels, you pop open a side tap here and you unscrew it off and the whole side is going to pop off right there. Now, let me give you a close up.
Okay, now as can see here, looks kind of funky, you got these 6 pins and 6 little tabs on your pins here. Now, I shut all my brakes off on here. So, right now I am looking and when I cast I am going to get a lot of backlash or I would have to cast something extremely light because right now my spool would rotate extremely fast.
So, if I am casting like my standard size crank bait or something, I am not going to get too elaborate with u. you want to pop those out, just like that. That is one, I am going to go to the opposite side here, pop that out, that is two. So, right there I am still allowing my spool to travel around quite fast. If I am a beginner, I would want to go with more like 3 or 4 brakes, right there. Now, you don't get quite the distance on your cast, but you have a lot more control and you will prevent a lot of backlash this way and if you are having trouble with backlash and Bird's Nest, please refer to my video, avoiding backlash and how to fix it.
Okay, now on your cheaper Bait Casting rod and reel combos that you can pick up at Walmart or any, you know, affordable super store. You can get a Bait Casting rod and reel combo for about 50 to 60 dollars. I mean you get them really cheap and these reels definitely won't perform as good as your high quality reels but when you are getting started, it's okay to use these.
One of the bigger difference is your Braking System on these. The side doesn't pop open, you don't have the fine tuning adjustments but right here, you have this knob and by rotating it to the far left, you tighten your brakes up all the way, by backing it off you will loosen it up all the way and that is about as fine tuning you know as you can do on these cheaper Bait Casting reel combos and the same principle applies. Once you click down your spool release, you want your lure to fall very slowly.
Here we have another example of a different Bait Casting reel. This is a Shimano Barnum and I use this guy for flipping on a 7-foot heavy action rod and reel combo. Let us not get into all that right now, I don't want to confuse you if you are just getting started but you can see the little numbers, right up here and by the higher the number, well that would be to lower the number this direction, you lessen the tension on your spool to where your lure is going to fall quite slow, but if it is a very light lure, you are going to want to lower the number right here, so where you can get that adjustment just right. A heavier lure, you are going to really want to up your brakes, so you go with a higher number.
You could see right here on this little rotation knob, the arrow's pointing down, it says more. So, it is pretty plane and simple to understand these guys. The ones with the pins, those braking systems are a little bit more complicated and it'll take a little bit of time to getting used to, but once again if you are having trouble, please refer back to my videos or write me if you have any more questions.
So, it is important to remember, no matter how different the Bait Casting reel, they all have the Spool Tension Knob. So, don't ever forget to fine tune, they'll all have it. So, it is really important to remember when you are starting to use a Bait Casting reel, I mean, it generally doesn't come easily for too many people and lots of people will shy away from these guys and go back to their conventional spinning tackle. These are economically designed, so you can make more casts throughout the day without your wrist hurting plus once you get used a Bait Casting rod and reel combo, you could be much more precise on your cast. You can do pitching techniques, you can flip. There is a lot of different techniques you can use for these guys to really up your fishing game. I don't suggest shying away from these guys if you are having a hard time, just stick to it, figure it out, follow these tips I gave you and you will be casting your Bait Casting reel in no time like a pro.
I am your host Nick, the Informative Fisherman, and we will see you next time.
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