Spinning or casting rod?

[KingClown]

Sure you can cast a BC side armed. But it does limit your casting distance when you are sitting in a kayak, ass level with the water. My main point was, if the OP wants to get into BC gear, he's not going to want to learn while in his kayak. You just don't pick up a bait caster and start fishing with it right off the bat. There is a bit of a learning curve to it.

Agreed there is a major learning curve for bait casters. But I have both reels and they are very very easy to cast with. Set the DC to 4 and its almost impossible to backlash. You dont even need to thumb it unless your really winging it with everything you got. But your not wrong and I was trying to be clear about that. I am guessing I wasnt.
If you havent used one of these reels if one of us is ever in the other areas your welcome to check mine out. I cant speak highly enough. They are probably one of the most popular reels. The pros and beginners use them alot

 

[duckslayer]

I throw lures almost exclusively with a spinning set up. Though I can do both , that being said all of my vertical or bottom fishing is done with a bait caster.
If I had to vertical jig with a spinning set up I would wonder why I was punishing myself

 

[Joseph]

I throw lures almost exclusively with a spinning set up. Though I can do both , that being said all of my vertical or bottom fishing is done with a bait caster.
If I had to vertical jig with a spinning set up I would wonder why I was punishing myself

Could you explain this a little more. I guess I just don’t know enough to understand why this would be punishing.

 

[John from MD]

OP if you don't already know it, Maryland has a kayak fishing forum. www.snaggedline.com

Lots of good people with great experience.

 

[gtodave]

Could you explain this a little more. I guess I just don’t know enough to understand why this would be punishing.

"Punishing" is probably an extreme term for the situation. Either will work fine. a baitcaster will just be a little easier in that situation. If you're bouncing bait off the bottom, you can usually set a baitcaster to 'click' when line goes out...it's a nice bite indicating feature. I don't know of a spinning reel that does that.

 

[outrider58]

A properly spooled spinning reel doesn’t introduce line twist any more than a bait casting reel. Line should be initially spooled on the reel differently in each case.

.

That depends on what baits you are throwing.
Jigs, jig rigged worms, and gitzits tend to add twist, but my biggest gripe with spinning rigs is casting crankbaits. They tend to tumble end over end, often times hanging the tail hook in the line. With baitcasters, crankbaits tend to fly straight without tumble. There are things you can do to mitigate tumbling, but it still happens.
I've met Joseph a couple times and I know he is a capable guy, but since he's been away from the game for a while, I recommended he start out with spinning gear and move on into BC as he goes.
I totally agree that you can't scrimp when it comes to picking BC reels. You get what you pay for and bargain reels will only cause the user problems and waste his money.

 

[Joseph]

That depends on what baits you are throwing.
Jigs, jig rigged worms, and gitzits tend to add twist, but my biggest gripe with spinning rigs is casting crankbaits. They tend to tumble end over end, often times hanging the tail hook in the line. With baitcasters, crankbaits tend to fly straight without tumble. There are things you can do to mitigate tumbling, but it still happens.
I've met Joseph a couple times and I know he is a capable guy, but since he's been away from the game for a while, I recommended he start out with spinning gear and move on into BC as he goes.
I totally agree that you can't scrimp when it comes to picking BC reels. You get what you pay for and bargain reels will only cause the user problems and waste his money.

I appreciate the vote of confidence B.
I am gonna take this advice and keep the new gadgets to a minimum while I familiarize myself with this new pass time.

 

[WhoMe]

One other thing to consider is that baitcasters can be very frustrating trying to throw baits into a decent wind. I fished with both types out of a kayak for many years. I second the get a good quality reel. I also only used short, one piece rods with a pistol grip.

 

[outrider58]

Agreed there is a major learning curve for bait casters. But I have both reels and they are very very easy to cast with. Set the DC to 4 and its almost impossible to backlash. You dont even need to thumb it unless your really winging it with everything you got. But your not wrong and I was trying to be clear about that. I am guessing I wasnt.
If you havent used one of these reels if one of us is ever in the other areas your welcome to check mine out. I cant speak highly enough. They are probably one of the most popular reels. The pros and beginners use them alot

Thanks King. I have 12-15 baitcasting rods. Each one is set up to throw one type of bait. I have a couple set up for crankbaits, a couple for spinner baits and chatter baits, a frog rod, a heavy jig and pig rod, a couple worm rods, a couple buzz bait rods. I started out using Shimano Curado reels but moved over to the Quantum line eventually. They seemed to have better cast control capabilities, were lighter(with more bearings) etc.

Then I have my spinning rods(6 or 7) which are set up for Sinkos, gitzits, light worms, and fluke type baits. On those rods, I ran strictly 'clear' braided line from 10-15 lbs say, all with 10-12 lb fluorocarbon leaders attached with double uni-knots. The fluke rod got a swivel do to their propensity to twist line really fast.

It's been 6 or 7 years since I sold my bass boat and haven't really done much of that kind of fishing lately. I still have all my rods and tackle though. Who knows, maybe once I retire, the wife might just get that house on a lake somewhere and maybe a new(to me) boat. I guy can dream, can't he...

 

[outrider58]

One other thing to consider is that baitcasters can be very frustrating trying to throw baits into a decent wind. I fished with both types out of a kayak for many years. I second the get a good quality reel. I also only used short, one piece rods with a pistol grip.

That's when pitching and skipping pay off. You do have to shorten you casts though.

 

[KingClown]

Thanks King. I have 12-15 baitcasting rods. Each one is set up to throw one type of bait. I have a couple set up for crankbaits, a couple for spinner baits and chatter baits, a frog rod, a heavy jig and pig rod, a couple worm rods, a couple buzz bait rods. I started out using Shimano Curado reels but moved over to the Quantum line eventually. They seemed to have better cast control capabilities, were lighter(with more bearings) etc.

Then I have my spinning rods(6 or 7) which are set up for Sinkos, gitzits, light worms, and fluke type baits. On those rods, I ran strictly 'clear' braided line from 10-15 lbs say, all with 10-12 lb fluorocarbon leaders attached with double uni-knots. The fluke rod got a swivel do to their propensity to twist line really fast.

It's been 6 or 7 years since I sold my bass boat and haven't really done much of that kind of fishing lately. I still have all my rods and tackle though. Who knows, maybe once I retire, the wife might just get that house on a lake somewhere and maybe a new(to me) boat. I guy can dream, can't he...

Well now I am jealous. I have 8 currently. The DC line is awesome. I run Flourocarbon on 2 of them and green braid on the others. I have never seen clear braid now I am gonna have to find that. Up until recently I was a Diawa fanboy well until I discovered the DC line though I only have the Curado DC and the SLX DC. I am slowly getting more though. They have quickly become my favorite reels.
Its been about 20 years since I had a boat. I just a few weeks ago bought a 16 ft flat bottom aluminum for the rivers around here where I am now. I am originally from Baltimore.
Good luck maybe we will run into eachother out there one day.

 

[outrider58]

Well now I am jealous. I have 8 currently. The DC line is awesome. I run Flourocarbon on 2 of them and green braid on the others. I have never seen clear braid now I am gonna have to find that. Up until recently I was a Diawa fanboy well until I discovered the DC line though I only have the Curado DC and the SLX DC. I am slowly getting more though. They have quickly become my favorite reels.
Its been about 20 years since I had a boat. I just a few weeks ago bought a 16 ft flat bottom aluminum for the rivers around here where I am now. I am originally from Baltimore.
Good luck maybe we will run into eachother out there one day.

This was my favorite braided line. It is actually white in color. In the summer months, I fished a lot of weightless plastics like Sinkos and such along grass edges where the fish would hide under the canopy. The Spider Wire Ultracast tends to float while the bait sinks slowly. You will be able to see the slightest of 'ticks' in the line as the fish inhales the bait. Being non stretching line gives you immediate and reliable hook sets. Give it a try!

Spiderwire Ultracast 164 yds Braided Fishing Line | Academy

Make sure to use the Spiderwire Ultracast 164 yds Braided Fishing Line on your next fishing trip. The 8 fiber braids are tightly woven to extend the length of your ...

www.academy.com

 

[judgejohnmd]

Thanks for all the input guys. Since I haven’t even put the kayak in the water yet I think I will just start off with getting used to operating the kayak and fishing with the spinning rods I have some limited familiarity with already. I will get a casting rod and try that but maybe a little later in the season after I have become more proficient with the new to me practice of fishing from a kayak. I am looking forward to this!
Thanks again and I welcome any additional tips or suggestions you may have.

5 & 1/2 foot med/med light spinning rod with medium quality reel is ideal for kayak/canoe work: handles lures from very light to what you need for stripers.
John

 

[duckslayer]

Could you explain this a little more. I guess I just don’t know enough to understand why this would be punishing.

Sorry I was so long in seeing this. What I meant by this is that I have a lot more line control. I can just push the release with my thumb and let mine out without opening the bail or stripping it by hand

 

[DeadInside]

OP if you don't already know it, Maryland has a kayak fishing forum. www.snaggedline.com

Lots of good people with great experience.

John thanks for posting this link. I was not aware of this site it looks like a good resource and a lot of info on kayak fishing. Thanks for making us aware of it.

 

[John from MD]

Just came back from the South River on my yak. Only caught one perch but he was a big un! 11 inches and fat. I turned it loose in case it was a late spawner.