Throwing light lures, what's more important, Rod orReel

[Bankbeater56]

Help me out here please. I'm confused about how to throw light lures with a Baitcaster. Which is more important, rod or reel? Also why is it that a shallow spooled reel is better, couldn't I just put a lot of backing on my reel to make the spool hold less line?
Help me out, I'm wanting to gain some knowledge.
Gregg


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[zippyduck]

OK not a reel guru, I'm sure one of them will chime in. You need a cobination of both to handle truly light stuff.

As far as a shallow spool goes, with less line it weighs less and will slow down faster to help with backlashes. With lighter lures you are using lighter line so why fill a spool with 300 yards of line that most of it won't be used.  You will get both benefits from a shallower spool.
Well balanced  rods will help tremendously, so you are not trying to whip the rod too hard.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Here's my experience with trying to fish too light a lure with a baitcaster. Bear in mind I don't have a finesse baitcaster, although my Caenan gets the job done to an extent.
A lighter spool is easier to cast a lighter lure with. Because it's lighter, it takes less force to get it spinning.
As Zippy mentioned, a lighter spool also slows down a bit quicker, or at least easier.

So here's what happens when using a non-finesse reel with light lures. You have to cast in such a way as to overcome the spool's mass. Most of the lure's energy is wasted in getting that spool spinning, so it won't fly far; yet, the spool keeps spinning under it's own inertia. Over run!

When using a finesse baitcaster (you should read LMG's articles on "Ultra Light" fishing and his other posts on finesse reels), it takes less energy to overcome the spool's mass, and actually more external energy in a way to keep it spinning. Which means the energy of the lure in flight keeps it spinning, but because the spool has less mass, it doesn't just eat up the lure's energy and it slows down as the lure slows down.

I may not be explaining it well, LMG is much better at it, but it boils down to an understanding of Newton's laws of conservation of energy.

This is why spinning reels cast light lures so well. There is no real comparable mass for the lure's energy to contend with other than the weight of the fishing line, and the only resistance comes from the line sliding off the spool's lip and through the guides. Which is minimal; hold a spinning rig by the handle and point the rod straight down, open the bail and the line will literally fall off the spool under it's own weight. And if the rod is matched to the reel pretty well, it'll feed straight through the guides and pool on the floor.

My Caenan has the lightest spool of my reels and it's not a true finesse baitcaster, but it can be used as one.
The way I do it is by engaging all six brakes and backing off the spool tension almost completely. It works, my casts are accurate and controlled, but they're kind of short.

Rod length does come into play. The longer the rod, the more force you can apply to the lure in a controlled manner, meaning you can sling a light lure easier without having to whip the hell out of it.
That will help overcome the mass of a non-finesse reel's spool... but the lure will likely still slow down faster than the spool, so you'd probably still get plenty of over run if you're not careful.

Experiment a little. If you have more than one rod with as little as 3" in length difference, try it with one rod then switch the reel and lure to the other, you'll notice the difference.

Rod tip action will also play a big role! But it's beyond my brain to attempt to explain how.

Now, to the question: which is more important, reel or rod? I'd say reel. Because even with the right rod, you'd still be fighting the reel either at the beginning of the cast or at the end.

My personal suggestion would be to just use a spinning outfit for finesse fishing. It removes the other variables. Then all you have to worry about are line twists and wind knots, both pretty easily managed with care and the judicious use of swivels.

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[LgMouthGambler]

OK not a reel guru, I'm sure one of them will chime in. You need a cobination of both to handle truly light stuff.

As far as a shallow spool goes, with less line it weighs less and will slow down faster to help with backlashes. With lighter lures you are using lighter line so why fill a spool with 300 yards of line that most of it won't be used.  You will get both benefits from a shallower spool.
Well balanced  rods will help tremendously, so you are not trying to whip the rod too hard.

This is a great response. 

[the_huber_show]

Personally I don't throw anything super light on my bait casters.  I use 8lb as a backing to my braid and I adjust every time I switch lures out.  If you use thumb control your backlashes shouldn't be to bad.

[coldfront]

I've successfully tossed an unweighted 4" finesse worm on an old ambassador 5500c with a medium action 6.5 foot quantum.  10 lb mono.  much prefer my shimano curado, though.

at times I think rod length can play a part in this too.

[zippyduck]

This is a great response. 

I learned from the best. 

[LgMouthGambler]

I learned from the best. 

You so silly.

<")))>{

[Burbarry]

I fish weightless worms all the time sometimes I have so light of a worm with a fancy tail on I question if I will even get a decent cast on it. I prefer to use my abu Garcia mgx as I can adjust it a lot better. It's on a medium light st croix triumph rod. If I use a heavier rod it seems I have to swing harder to cast. If I use lower model reel it doesn't go out as far or back lashes in the reel. This rod is my shortest rod as well at 6' long.


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[Burbarry]

I forgot to add I usually run 65lb braid on all my reels no need in loosing a fish. If you get a snag just put and straighten out the hook.


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[Pferox]

Years ago we used to use the old Round Red Garcia reels for everything.  I had a coach whip of a rod and this old Garcia CB reel on free spool an everything else was all in the thumb. 

WE used to throw a lot of weightless shrimp and drift em along.  Also threw a lot of weightless worms or flukes on the Harris Chain and Kississimmee. 

Man that is like ancient history now.

Now I just use spinning gear, it sux getting old. I guess.