This week we are going to look at baitcasting reels, the reel that is loved by some, hated by most.

Baitcasting reels are probably the least versatile reel, other than fly reels there is. The reel is designed for heavier lures, but is not limited to heavy baits. It is primarily used from freshwater bass fishing, all the way up to heavy offshore deep sea fishing.

There are some advantages to the difficult to use baitcasters. The power in the reels is superb for winching in big baits all day, and big fish as well. The reels come in a wide range of specific gear ratios to be better suited for faster retrieves, or more powerful slower retrieves.

The revolving spool eliminates the loose line knots that come with spincasting or spinning reels. It also allows for much more control and accuracy for two reasons.

The first is feathering the spool with direct thumb contact to the spool. It’s much easier to get a feel of the reel with your thumb on the spool. It’s easy to slow a cast without a sudden stop, unless it’s needed.

The second reason is the almost endless adjustments with the magnetic spool control, and the pressure spool control. These two controls can actually make the feared “birds nest” an impossibility. Yes, that’s right, impossible. The 2 controls can be put on so tight that overrun can’t be done. The controls are designed to change tension on the spool to allow for different weight baits to be fished, or for use in windy conditions. The adjustments can be done on a very small scale to correctly fish a lure.