Regardless of when spin apparently became mainstream in freshwater tournament stream is inconsequential. The point is that it has been used and has been capable for a very long time of catching barra, wether it be baiting in estuaries, casting at snags or making long casts at points. On many occasions anglers have chosen them over b/cast and there must be a reason why.
Totally agree. Limit the field limit the learning. For some reason this thread has gone down the road of distance. Is this the only benifit of spin tackle? What if we look at the perspective of spin as a delivery tool for snag bashing? What are the cost/benifits of using a short stiff spin outfit over a bcast in this situation. I know there was talk a while ago about bottom jigging barra, what are the benifits here? I think what we can probably conclude so far from all of this is not that spin is "better", but that it has become a viable alternative.