spinning vs. casting

[chuckwagon]

I have both types of reel ... what i dont understand is when and what to use each one for? spinning for lighter baits? thats about all i have really figured. thanks for any help guys

[mww24]

generally baitcasters have a stronger drag. That becomes very useful when you need to keep fish out of really nasty stuff or get them away from dock really fast. I have set the hook on bass by a dock and pulled them straight out of the water. I doubt I could have done that with a spinning reel. Also baitcasting rods can be found in a lot more powerful actions. I never use spinning gear for bass personally. I fish my weightless worms and shaky heads and what not on baitcasting as well. I would say use your spinning stuff for light cover and open water applications and your casting stuff for heavy cover slop conditions. I would try and follow the lure ratings on the rods to help keep them feeling good. I wouldn't throw a 1 ounce sinker on a 6 and a half foot medium spinning rod. bottom line is fish how you want to fish. There is no wrong way to catch fish and a lot of it comes down to what works and feels good to you.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

You're on the right track. Generally speaking spinning gear is used for lighter baits, line, or finesse presentations such as jig worm and drop shotting. Baitcasters see the most work load from bass fisherman since many times we need to fish heavy cover and use line well over 10 lb test and throw rigs or lures 1/4 oz+.

Also lots of bass fishing requires pinpoint casting accuracy and the baitcaster gives you the most control and accuracy throughout your cast. Also, the baitcaster reel has more torque for pulling fish out of cover.

[Toba]

I use my baitcaster mainly for bottom bouncers and trolling for pike. Fun stuff.

[KickNBass]

Personally, for bass (since you asked the question in a bass forum) nearly all of my rods are baitcasters. The rods I use spinning gear for are dock slipping/fluke, jigworm/shakey head, and drop shot.

You could replace all of these rods with baitcasters if you like but techniques like skipping become pretty tough with baitcasters, not that it can't be done cause it can. And they do handle light line well but try to put 20# mono or 14#+ flouro on a spinning rod. Not much fun.

I also find it nice to have a spinning rod or two in the situation where you have high winds and want to cast into the wind. It can be advantageous to use a spinning reel in this situation or at least less frustrating.

I think you can get better accuracy with baitcasters and handle larger line. And from a design standpoint, baitcasters can handle more load like what you would get from a deep diving crank or a spinnerbait. Spinning reels have trouble holding up that much torquwe.