Baitcaster

For a few years I've only gone fishing with Bill to spend time with him, mainly because I couldn't cast for squat and became discouraged.  The only things I ever caught were trees, bushes, weeds, and water flotsam.  I once caught a catfish so small even my worm giggled.  Fishing ain't as easy as it seems!

This season I finally caught on to rigging, casting, retrieving, and I've been hauling up fish like crazy with my spinning outfit.  So far, I've caught nice sized panfish, catfish, white bass, large and smallmouth bass.  Ah bass.  It's that fish which has caught me.  After hooking a 3lb smallie at Lake Alum a few weeks ago, I've hit a fishing fever.  I want the big uns.  Bring on the largemouth, the musky, and the pike!

I researched how to entice these species to bite, and what equipment to use.  Turns out the classic dropshot method I use with drifting is a pro technique for bass tournaments, although they call it Powershotting (eyeroll).  It's the first rig that Bill showed me, and it's the one I like the most.  I've also used hardbaits and Powerbait, so that's nothing new to learn.  A side note, Bill swears by Powerbait, but I can't stand it.  I've caught jack, and we've used it quite a bit.  He talks about "the big one that got away" using Powerbait, but that's one damned fish out of the hundreds of casts!  One is a pretty bad track record.  Maybe we need to make it stinkier.

Some things I didn't have is a baitcaster set up.  I read that this is the most advanced of fishing equipment, and bad casts result in a backlash, or a big line snarl in the reel.  These rods and reels do not run cheap, and some of them are over $500 so as not to cause fatigue during all day fishing.  FATIGUE!  For $500 it better give me a mani / pedi and a glass of Belle Epoque Rose while I wait for my fish!

Speaking of, Bill gave me a baitcaster rod, reel, braid line, and a shad for my birthday present!  My beautiful reel is a black and red Abu Garcia Revo SX.

Isn't it a thing of beauty?  Gear ratio is 6.4:1, weighs 6.7 oz, is smooooooth with 1 roller and 9 stainless steel bearings, has MagTrax breaking system for precision casting, and can handle up to 12 lb test (mono).  He paired it with a 7 ft medium / heavy Ugly Stik.  He did a great job because it's everything and more that I wanted!  The outfit barely weighs anything, and the low profile teardrop shape Revo fits perfectly into my hand.

We're going fishing this weekend. Before we do, I want to get this rigged up with a weight so I can practice casting in the backyard.  It's touchy, and I need to get a feel for it so I don't spend my whole fishing day cutting snarls of expensive braid line off my reel.

If I catch anything good, I'll definitely report back!