FS Digest

I've been fishing with my father for years but not seriously. I am now looking to really start fishing seriously and got a Abu Garcia baitcaster combo for my birthday.

I'm used to using spinning reels and seem to get backlashes every other cast. Any advice to help me get better and make fishing fun again?

Thanks in advance everyone.

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by fadedchaos724

FS Digest

What do you have your brakes set on? When I first switched over to baitcasters I would have it set up to where it wouldn’t be able to cast too far and I still really thumbed the spook to prevent backlashes. I would slowly back off the brakes, my thumb and the spool tension.

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by kymayo

FS Digest

I can help a little bit, not a master baitcaster though.

So first did you know you need to adjust your settings each time you changes lures? Not sure if you have the left or right handed retrieve so to avoid confusion... one side of the baitcaster has a dial that goes up to 9 or 10. The other side just had a knob.

Turn the dial up to 8-10. That's your braking system. The higher the number the faster it will slow down your spool while its spinning. It wont let you cast as far for now, but while you learn it should avoid most backlashes. As you get comfortable with it you can dial it back.

Now the knob. Once you have the lure on that you'll be using you need to adjust the knob. Its your tension control. Reel it up near your rod and release the spool. If it drops too fast stop it and adjust the knob again. You want the lure to fall just slow enough that when it hits the ground a backlash doesn't happen. If you adjust it right you'll have probably one or two extra spins worth of loose line in the baitcaster, which is just fine.

As it casts out, use your thumb to very lightly touch it to slow it down if you need to. Once your cast has lost its momentum and is going down to the water use your thumb and push to basically stop it. You don't want the spool to keep spinning while your lure is in the water, that will be a backlash. Not as serious of one that you get when you cast it and it backlashes in the air but it'll still be one.

Baitcasters have a hard time casting with lightweight stuff. You really need at least 1/2 oz to cast it easily. Just keeo at it. Practice is what's needed with that.

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by DarkRyok

FS Digest

Avoid braided line until you are more comfortable with the baitcaster. A birds nest of braided line can drive you insane.

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by got-to-find-out

FS Digest

Baitcasters take a bit of practice to use. Even after using them for years you’ll get an occasional blowup. I’d keep the brake a little tighter than you need it and keep your thumb right on top of the line so you can apply pressure right before the lure hits the water. Also try using a decent size lure like 3/8 to 1/2 oz. really light stuff is harder to cast.

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by bmiller65

soxtroy Loc: Plano Texas

turn that adjustment on the left side all the way to 10 or all the way up. the adjust the adjustment on the other side to where your lure just begins to fall. that is a very good starting point to help avoid backlashes.