Baitcast casting setup

The brakes are the other main component to setting up your spinning reel the right way. There are two types of brakes for baitcasters: centrifugal brakes and magnetic brakes. Each braking system is a little different by brand and model, however.

Centrifugal brakes are usually found on higher end reels, although both braking styles can be found on high quality and lesser quality reels.

These are the individual brakes. Push the tabs out to turn the brakes on or in to turn them off. Your reel must be balanced, so if you turn one brake on, you should turn on the brake directly opposite to that one. Some anglers do a set of 3 brakes turned on in a triangle for balance. Depending on how much braking strength you want, adjust for your comfort.

Magnetic brakes are more simple to set up. Now reel the lure to the point until inch of the line gets out. Once done, slowly tighten the tension knob until you feel a bit of pressure.

When you can feel it, just press the thumb bar and release the lure. It will drop quite slowly, or it may not even drop. At this point, you should slowly withstand the pressure using the tension knob until the lure starts falling freely. Repeat this process unless the lure falls within 3 seconds, max. If you can set it up correctly, you can see the line will not overrun the moment the lure hits the surface. This is because not all the baits are of the same size and weight.

If you can work it out fine a few times, it will take seconds to run the process. Now comes the tricky part. Adjusting the brake system is one of the most crucial steps of setting up the baitcasting reel. So you need to check a number of brands and types to figure out which one suits your baitcasting reel well.

It should wrap once and bring the tag end back to you. Now tie your favorite and most trustworthy knot before trimming the tag end down to around half an inch. Once you know your knot is secure and that your line is fastened to the reel, it is time to load the line onto the reel from the spool. You will want to maintain tension on your fishing line the entire time you are loading the line onto the reel. An easy way to do this is to hold the spool between your feet squeezing your feet together gently onto the spool to slow down its rotation and to keep the line taut.

There is some debate among fishermen about whether they should have a full reel, a slightly full reel, or only put on a little more line than what will be needed. Why fill a reel full of a bunch of line that you will never use? To save money, it is suggested you fill the reel with some backing line then top off the reel with your more expensive line. People who argue that you only need to fill your reel with the amount of line that you will use, will not use backing line, and instead will just fill their reel halfway with the more expensive line they choose.

We would rather be safe than sorry. If you hook a monster and they go for a run, you do not want to be close to the end of the line while battling a large fish. There are three types of fishing line that work well on baitcast reels.

They are monofilament, fluorocarbon, and braid. Fluorocarbon is much stiffer than monofilament, we recommend that only individuals that are experienced with baitcast reels use these types of fishing line. For the angler who is just starting to use a baitcast reel, we recommend that you use monofilament. But baitcast gear gives you a mechanical advantage over other types of reels and the utmost control in making precision presentations.

You just have to give it a chance. With a proper setup and a little practice, modern baitcast technology delivers fewer backlashes than the reels we had four or five years ago. Equip properly: Expensive reels cast easier because of their quality components. Match your reel to a or medium heavy rod. In my fishing, a medium heavy gets more use than any other rod I own. Line matters, too.