Baitcaster Tips?

[Fish Fry Guy]

I bought a new baitcast bass set up this spring and have been practicing in the back yard for hours over the past few weeks. I have become pretty good at "side arm" pitching & flipping casts while focusing primarily on accuracy at shorter distances (30 - 40 feet) but my question is on longer casts. Whenever I go for the typical monster long overhead casts, I get the biggest backlash this side of the Mississippi! Is this just the way baitcasters are? I do seem to have smaller backlashes with heavier baits but if I'm tying on a 3/8 oz jig, its a mess if I go for the long cast. Should I just stick with a spinning rod for long casts & my baitcaster for shorter accuracy casts? Or is this just simply something I need to practice more with? Oh, my setup is a Pfluger Trion w/a 6'6" MH Fenwick HMG.

[Ralph Wiggum]

It just takes more practice. When I was first starting out, I ran into the same problems. Use a heavy thumb and start with short overhead casts, and then just work on improving your distance. It's just one of those things that takes some work.

[musky hunter]

You may have the spool drag too loose. When changing lure weights, or doing just what you say, really whipping it, there is a knob that you can turn to tighten the drag. This isn't the fish fighting drag, it's the casting drag. If it's too loose, you will get that same ugly result every time. Some reels are magnetic, others are friction. But you have to adjust it for optimum distance without backlash.

[Deitz Dittrich]

as MH states.. if you are going to do short casts at a target its nice to have a lot of the anti-backlash stuff(magnets ect)stuff turned off.. But if you are going to be going for the big stuff you have to turn those up a bit.. What happens is the rod loads and then whips the spool takes off but there is a spot mid cast where the lure tugs and gets the spool to over run as the rod snaps back. A little extra thumb pressure mid cast usually will prevent this.

[OnTheWater]

Also keep in mind that the wind can really mess you up at times. If you are gonna make a long toss directly into the wind, make sure that you have your brakes adjusted and your thumb tight on the spool as an extra measure of precaution. This is because your spool and lure begin moving together at one speed, then as the wind hits the lure, the lure slows down and the spool keeps on moving at a faster speed than the lure. The type of bait will also be effected differently by the wind. For instance, a large buzzbait is going to catch more wind and friction in the air than a senko or jerbait would.

The setup that you have sounds awesome, so just give it some more practice and you should have it dialed down in no time.

[delmuts]

the trion also has plastic sleeves/weights inside the cover that you can adjust to possibily help you out too.

[ddsbyday]

1st thing is adjust your free spool(magnets). Hold your rod parallel to the ground and punch the trigger. If your lure doesn't move slowly lighten the magnet control. The lure will slowly fall to the ground. You will have the magnets adjusted right when the spool stops spinning when the lure hits the ground. That will be a good start, Next I would use 20lb. tip up line for the spool with a 10-15 foot mono leader. This is much easier to undo when you get the ultimate backlash. My opinion is spinning for light lures,baitcaster for plugs and vert.jigging,trolling ect.

[Fish Fry Guy]

I really enjoy using the baitcaster, I was on the St. Croix pitching towards structure, lots of fun & lots of casts that I just cant make with a spinning rod. I do like the settup I have, I have 30 lb power pro line and I guess its ok. It does seem to catch or dig into the spool sometimes. I'll take all of your advice and practice more on the long casts. I have been able to get good pitching/flipping casts with the brake set at zero. But I have not set the brake or even adjusted it on while going for long casts. Sounds like that is the ticket? Do you guys find that a specific line works better? Like I said, I'm new but have been "fishing" my backyard a ton and really want to become more proficient at all types of casts/presentations that I can perfect. One thing I noticed last week on the St. Croix was that the baitcast settup really allows more power to direct a fish where to go on the retrieve. Lots of fun! I'm really looking forward to the bass opener so I can take out the float tube, the baitcast & myself out for bucketmouths!

[Ihateriversnags]

Another thing you can do is pretty simple. At least it will diminish the amount of nest you have to untangle after a good backlash. Take and run out some line in your back yard. Make sure it's about 15-20 yards out past your "best cast" distance. Take a small piece of tape and place it on your spool. Reel in what you have out there and now that tape will prevent more backlash than just the casting amount of line. I did this until I got better with the long cast on my garcia.

[hawk]

i have a baitcaster... i looked on HSOforum for tips on how to cast... i must say i'm getting good except for a very nasty backlash...i was told to use braided line

[Daze Off]

I was told when I first started that if you rotate your wrist counter-clockwise (so thumb and reel handle are down for righthander) as you cast then the magnets are able to do a better job - never really checked this out officially but it does seem to help. Kind of a natural motion anyway - at least for me. Anyone else ever heard this?

Daze Off

[Ralph Wiggum]

Never heard this, and not all reels have magnets. I can't imagine that this would make much of a difference.