New to Baitcasters

[Brightsbane]

Is there a baitcaster that you can throw a long way and not create a birds nest when is hits the water or is every cast about thumb finesse and spool tension? I seem to be learning that lure weight vs wind strength and direction dictate where I can cast and how far.

[TheRealPoMo]

...and line diameter/type/amount, and braking system, and oil grade, and rod type....(and sometimes how many people are watching)
I use old school Abu's and still come to grief on occasion, but still love em.
I believe the new types are better with techo control systems, but none are going to stop the spool when your lure/bait hits the water.

[Mike Delisser]

Practice practice practice....... And try and push your thumb down hard as soon as your lure hits the water.

[Feral]

I always post a couple of links for baitcaster newbies - Start with this one

http://pages.infinit.net/fishing/bait101.htm

It will immediately fix that backlash problem if you follow the instructions, once you can get it going in the general direction you want

then work on to this one

http://pages.infinit.net/fishing/bait201.htm

Very simple reels to use, once you get the hang of it you can back off the settings so the thumb takes over a lot of the work, gives you the extra distance and finesse.

[scottar]

As above - practice, practice, practice then some more practice. Start out with lures or a casting weight that are reasonably heavy and progress to lighter stuff as you get better. Even after you have been using them for ages you will still throw the odd backlash - especially if trying to throw light lures into the breeze over any sort of distance. Don't expect to smash out long casts straight up and try to keep a smooth action - not a whip as you might with a spin set up.

[EdBerg]

Unfortunately you can only limit the birdnests when casting into the wind. When you lob a lure/bait, the spool with the entire capacity of line spins very fast and as the lure pulls the line off it things will work well as the line being pulled off the spool matches the line unraveling from the spool, however as the lure gets slowed down by the oncoming wind, the spools momentum will try to keep the spool spinning regardless of the speed of line being pulled off it. Hence the excess line bunches up in loops over the spool until a loop catches and that is when you get your birdnest. Some baitcasters will have adjustable magnetic brakes built in or else weights which will tend to slow down the spool somewhat and you can also can tighten up the spool via a cap on the side. By doing this you will loose a considerable amount of distance that you can cast. Which may be preferable to getting birdnests, and the harder you try to lob a bait/lure further into the wind the more likelihood that it will birdnest.

An alternative would be to have a spinning rod setup on hand in case you can't cast with the wind behind you. For small distance casting into the wind with a baitcaster, with a bit of practice it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but as I said before the stronger the oncoming wind and the further you try to cast into the oncoming wind the more chance you will have a birdnest. Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers

[Brightsbane]

Great info guys. I'll have a play with the settings to see what works best for me but as mentioned it's just going to come down to practice. It's good to know that its not the reel but the user thats the issue here.

[Feral]

Do yourself a favour and learn to cast with both hands while your at it.