Bait Caster Advice

[klbowe]

I recently purchased a bait casting reel and rod from Cabelas. The stickers are still in place so I am not stuck with them yet.

I am in need of a Med to Heavy setup for trolling shad raps for Walleye and Northern and I also thought about using it for casting with it too.

Here is the Setup The reel is a Diawa Procaster 100 six ball bearings and the rod I chose based on customer loyalty is a Berkley lightning rod 7'6" long med/heavy.

I set out on sunday for the first few casts. I set the mag brake to 10 as advised for rookies and tied on a 1/4 oz jointed shad (number 7?). I then loosened up the tension until the lure fell to the floor and the reel did not bird nest. Throwing with the wind it only went about 30 feet tops. Loosend the tension and got my 1st bird nest, Played around and the best I could do is about 30 feet even after adjusting the brake and tension dial many times.

Being new to bait casters I am not sure if I have a equipment problem or operator failure.

Is the rod too stiff or am I expecting too much distance for the weight of the lure and line ? ( Trilene XL 12lb ).
I have not used a bait caster much other than my ABU c600 for Muskie ( throwing heavy baits) so I am not sure how well a lighter setup will throw a lighter bait, not as far as my spinning reel at this point. Any ideas ?

[Ufatz]

I'd keep playing with it a bit more. The reel is a good one-don't know anything about the rod but it sounds a little long to me. It might be too stiff. From the way you describe it, it sounds like the brake is still set too hard (heavy) for the 1/4 oz. lure. Try a half or 5/8 lure of some kind and see what happens. Closely examine your casting stroke. It COULD be something wrong with the reeel, but my guess is it IS operator error, but I'll bet you can correct it.

[Surface Tension]

I think your throwing to light of a lure with that setup. If your intension's are to troll 1/4 oz lures then just let line out.

[buzzsaw]

I would also try a slightly heavier lure.
With new equipment you always have to spend some time with it to before your comfortable, especially with baitcasters in my opinion. I just picked up a 6 ft 6 inch St. Croix Avid med/heavy action rod and put a Shimano Curado SF (super fast) reel on there. so far so good, but I'm still getting used to it.

[klbowe]

I am sure I could use some lessons on casting, a bait caster is nothing like a spinnning reel. I will check around on the web and see what I can learn about casting and flipping a baitcaster.

It would be interesting to have someone who uses baitcasters try the setup before I am stuck with it.

Will a bait casting reel throw a lighter lure as far as a spinning reel ?

[Surface Tension]

You match the weight of the lure to the rod. During your cast the weight of the lure loads up the rods energy. To light lure on a heavy action rod can't load that energy. To heavy a lure on a light action rod will overwhelm the rod. Look on the rods blank and you'll see lure weight. Optimal lure weight for a rod will be somewhere in the indicated middle range.

I personally would choose a spinning reel with lure weights under 1/2 oz if I was casting. Trolling lures, then it wouldn't matter.
12 lb test mono is getting up there for casting light lures. If you need that strength but want to cast light stuff then maybe a super braid with a thinner dia would be an option.

[Bushwacker]

I had a few problems over the years with light bait and baitcasters. This spring I bought a Shimano Curado SF (Super-Free) What that means is that the spool spins with absolutely no resistance. I can now cast a 1/8 ounce plastic worm about 60 feet in no wind. There are many reel companies that make super-free models and if you are fishing light lures quite a bit, you may want to look at one before taking off those stickers.

[Crossin' Eyes]

Shad Raps are generally pretty small, pretty light lures. As previously stated, your med/heavy rod choice isn't light enough for a Shad Rap. A Med. or med/light rod would be a better choice. Also, give 10lb. line a try in lieu of the 12lb. I think you'll like that better as well.

------------------
Good Fishin!
Crossin

[Trailblazin]

Lure is too light! Match up the line rating and lure rating to the rod and your set!

[stmichael]

rattlin' rapala would be good choice to start with, just because they are a little heavier. very versatile.(in my experiences) I have a guide series med. heavy 7 foot, with the curado bait caster. very happy with it. anyone else try the G.S. bait caster, I have one, and absolutely love it. cannot beat it for only 30 bucks. I am trying to find another one, shelves are always empty.

[buzzsaw]

More info on the Shimano curado SF:
The SF system is basically a bearing supported pinion gear. When the reel is cast the pinion gear is disengaged and stays in alignment so there is almost no friction with the spool shaft. This combined with a lightweight spool allows the Angler to cast farther simply because the spool is spinning faster.

[chief]

klbowe,

1/4 lures, of any kind, are far too light for casting with the rig you describe. (You can, of course, troll 1/4 lures with this rig, but on 12# line your depth with smaller shad raps will be minimal--probably no more than 7 feet, or so). Smaller crankbaits are notoriously hard to throw on "standard" casting outfits as they possess a lot of surface area/wind resistance in relation to their weight, and more and more users throw these on spinning tackle. The rig you just bought is, however a dandy all 'round bass/pike outfit perfectly suited to lures between 1/2 and 1 ounce. P.S., as your casting skills advance, consider spooling your outfit with any superline in the 30# range. You'll get a lot more distance, depth and versatility using these.

[chief]

klbowe,

To add to Surface Tension's comments: I too would choose spinning tackle for 90% of your crankbait trolling. I recommend a 15# superline on a larger reel (shimano symetre 4000, or anything about that size)paired with a 7 ft medium/medium light rod. You'll easily troll all shadrap (sizes 5 through 9)at depths down to 14 ft. A rig such as this also casts like a dream, and it's perfect for throwing husky jerks and/or small spinnerbaits. When paired with a spool of 8# mono, it's a great boober rig.