Whenever I get a big bass on I always flip the switch on spinning reel and back reel when the fish makes a run or 2 or 3. Have had much better catch rate since I started doing this 20 something years ago.
Just curious if others use this technique or use something different?
This should be interesting...
Thanks, Dave
i don't ever back reel. i use the rod because that is what its for, sometimes even the drag.
Never have back reeled. Just rely on the drag and rod. I think it has only cost me a fish or two by not have the drag set properly.
If it was up to me, I would eliminate that switch.
I back reel. Even do it on bait casters sometimes when using braid and baits with treble hooks. Never loose any fish.
I haven't ever use the switch on my spinning setups. I will mostly just use the rod and adjust the drag with bigger fish. Sometimes with my bait casters I will let the spool run free and keep pressure on the spool with my thumb to let a fish run
Never back reel.
Thanks Genie!!! Thought I was going to get hung up to dry. I think the most important thing is to have confidence in what you do. Whether its using light or heavy line, using a $300 reel or a $50 reel.
Confidence breeds Confidence
Never tried it I have seen some youtube vids where the guy was using it however. I have always wondered why someone would use it though.
I never back reel a baitcaster. The line runs straight off the spool, so no line twist problems. I do make sure to lube & set the drag accurately.
I always back reel spinning gear. The line makes a 90 degree turn around the bail before wrapping on the spool. Drag being pulled off the spool will twist the line like crazy. Also, I'm using light line with spinning gear, so I'm worried about drag start up.
I set my drag at 1/3 of the lb. test, as in 6 lb. test is set for 2 lb. drag pull. However, the start up of the drag slipping can be 1-2 lb. higher than the constant pull weight. Cuts too close to line weight for me.
I only use the anti-reverse switch on a spinning reel to store the rod. Otherwise, it's set to back reel whenever I fish it. I use the drag as an indicator of when to back reel; when the drag slips, I need to give some line.
There's been too many times I've had a big smallie take that boat side suicide run. You've only got a few feet of line out, so no shock absorption by the line. Back reeling allows me to be in control during that panic situation.
On a related note, how many of you feather the line with your index finger against the spool at the end of a cast? Doing that seemed to really cut down on twist too.
I do.
Run light braid with a floro leader on all my spinning rods in Michigan In Missouri I use several straight floro set ups so I don't have to keep tying on new leaders when you get stuck in the rocks.
I love the braid set up. Almost 0 issues with line twist and you can't beat the sensitivity. That said, I never back reel... on the off chance that the switch got moved by accident it will always take me a second to realize it as the bail is spinning backwards after jerking the handle out of my hand. Always creates a mess. I feel that a properly set drag and a good rod will suffice in landing nearly every fish I get a hook into. I have been known to strip line out of the reel for that boatside rush... If it's good enough for Mike Ioconelli.... I've seen him do it many, many times. Works for me.
All my spinning reels have the drag cranked down tight. With back reeling you get less line twist. Takes a little while to get used to flipping the switch. Like everything else figure out what works best for ya and practice it.
the mere existence of the switch has cost me dozens of fish. not back reeling has literally never cost me a fish. i use 50 dollar daiwa regal spinning reels and caught plenty of big fish on them. my rod tip is roughly 10' from the water when fighting a fish if i hold it at 10 o'clock, i can give that fish 10-15' of line to run instantly by just letting it pull the rod to the water.
there is nothing worse than going to set the hook and the reel starts spinning backwards because you turned the anti-reverse off bumping it on something or getting jostled on a boat ride. no hookset = no fish. i might go home and epoxy my switches to the off position as soon as i get home now that i think about it.
I don't back reel either. I have lost fish due to the switch getting bumped. I can only think of one occasion where I have let line out of a baitcaster when fighting a fish. I was on Mona and hooked a monster smallie on an xr50. That fish was brutal. I lethim have line, and he took verything he wanted. I got him to the boat, he wasnt done. Afternoon er a few good jumps out of the water, I lost him anyways. Would have definitely been my best.
I am a fish m believer in letting the rod and the drag do their jobs.
Before getting into bass fishing i was a river rat fishing light leaders for big salmon and steelhead. You would never back reel or risk your knuckles being pounded when they go on a run. So backreeling never found its way into bass fishing for me.
Maybe I'll have you epoxy mine too Justin! LOL!!
Lightningboys explanation couldnt have been said any better than reading out of a dictionary.
I venture to say that 60% or more of line breakage from a big bass comes by the boat. The other 40% comes from structure.. log, weeds, nick in line or bad knot
Justin, did not mean to hit a nerve. Just making good conversation. LOL!!!
I never back reel. But I do keep my drag set pretty light on my spinning gear and will let them take line off that way.
I think it's just what you are more comfortable with doing. Also how proficient. I never backreel. Could be because I'm uncoordinated. I don't feel that I can smoothly reverse reel when a fish makes a run. Just seems so unnatural to me. I have been known to pull line out form a baitcaster but it's mostly when I fish for steelhead and salmon. Doesn't happen much with bass.
I usually keep a pretty tight drag. I want to make sure my line doesn't slip on the hookset. More times than not on a big fish I'll loosen the drag the first chance I get during the fight. I very rarely lose a fish at the boat because of the line breaking. More times the bait just pulls loose, but on those occasionsthat is sometimes caused by me trying to horse the fish too much.
Looks like I am in the minority with this one..... I back reel all the time and will often look at the spinning reels I am purchasing to evaluate the accessability of the back reel switch!!!
I ran into problems a few years back with the drag not slipping consistently when a fish made a run resulting in my line breaking. I have also ran into problems with my line rubbing against dock posts, rocks, logs, etc... and with my drag at one setting, it would break before the drag would slip. It wasn't the fault of the drag, just frayed line.....
I saw someone do it on TV once and thought that it might help. It took a little while, but I got it down pretty good. Now all of my spinning reels have the drag tightened down and moments after every hook set I will switch to the back reel feature.
I don't believe I have lost a fish because of the back reel in the past few years since I have gotten used to it (knock on wood).....
hhhhhmmmmmmm Indiana .... can't back reel ... do I see a connection with a couple of members .....
Quote from: Genie on January 03, 2013, 03:15:09 PM
hhhhhmmmmmmm Indiana .... can't back reel ... do I see a connection with a couple of members .....
Well, you didn't disappoint. I knew I left myself open for one of your comments..... you big turd !!!! LOL
Well heck when you make it that easy ....
I honestly can't remember the last time I had a fish break me off... at the boat or otherwise. A good spinning reel will have a good drag. Matched with the right rod and some skill you can land any fish, no back reeling necessary.
Back reel both, especially spinning
Hey Hey... Us back reelers are catching you draggers.
30 years ago back reeling used to be a very popular technique. But equipment and most fisherman have changed with the times.
How about you Mr. Kimmel?
How do you go about back reeling a bait caster? None of mine have the ability, mostly Curados.
For bait casters you don't really reel backwards ... just click the thumb bar so you are free spooling and thumb the spool just like you would cast. End result is the same - fish is pulling line controlled by you and not the drag.
That is what I meant in my post when I was describing how to do it with a baitcaster. Genie has a much better description of what I was trying to say. Thanks Genie!!
Quote from: PineLk 49 on January 03, 2013, 02:07:16 PM
Lightningboys explanation couldnt have been said any better than reading out of a dictionary.
I venture to say that 60% or more of line breakage from a big bass comes by the boat. The other 40% comes from structure.. log, weeds, nick in line or bad knot
Justin, did not mean to hit a nerve. Just making good conversation. LOL!!!
ha. i'm just trying to get everyone all riled up. but seriously, back reeling is dumb.....
;D ;D ;D
I never back reel spinning reels on purpose.
I use Shimano Symmetre spinning reels, and Curado bait casters. I have a lot of confidence in them.
On spinning gear I keep the drag set high enough to set the hook well, (depending on technique). If I run into trouble during a fight I reach up and back off on the drag.
My rear drag symmetre reels have a lever just for this mounted on the drag tension knob. On the front drags I just unscrew the drag setting.
My drop shot rod is a medium light rod. I tend to back off on the drag often with bigger fish on this rod. I'm also using 6-8 # fluoro leaders with 15# braid most of the time.
As for bait casters I can back off on the star drag or thumb the reel as described above. I seldom need to. Usually on a bait casting reel the line size is so heavy that I don't have to worry about it. I just set the drag so that it's less than the line weight.
Most of my fish are not in the 4-5# range so I don't worry about fish breaking me off. I check often for line fray to make my line's not weakened from the environment.
I tie a pretty good knot, and when I can I use superglue to hold it even better.
Break offs don't seem to be an issue for me.
Justin, I do not think you and Waterfoul are buying in to this. Did you guys go to the same school together? Aye
Ok that smiley face will not work on my computer. Must have back reeled to far. Just poking fun.
Quote from: PineLk 49 on January 04, 2013, 04:03:29 PM
Justin, I do not think you and Waterfoul are buying in to this. Did you guys go to the same school together? Aye
Ok that smiley face will not work on my computer. Must have back reeled to far. Just poking fun.
Not the same school, and not in the same decade. But we both went to Big Ten schools so yes, I agree with my young friend, back reeling is dumb!
;D ;D
I've never heard of doing this. I've never had any problem with drag.
Quote from: dartag on January 03, 2013, 12:56:30 PM
All my spinning reels have the drag cranked down tight. With back reeling you get less line twist. Takes a little while to get used to flipping the switch. Like everything else figure out what works best for ya and practice it.
That's my take on it also.
I prefer to back reel so I am in total control of how much pressure is on the line.
I guess if you've been doing it all your life you would be used to it. Not something i'll try in a tournament.
Lew's makes a David Fritts addition reel with a switch you can turn off the anti-reverse. He claims that is the only way to fish a crank bait. I have heard he is pretty good with them.
This is turning into an interesting discussion.
From my perspective, I don't know how anyone can use a spinning reel with the anti-reverse on. I almost always have my hand on the crank; when I don't, I use my index finger to trap it.
In fact, I almost always have my index finger against the line. Only time it's off the line is when I crank the handle. I want the sensitivity of my finger against it, and I want to always control the amount of belly in the line.
I've set the hook easily with just my index finger against the line roller.
On fish making hard runs, I'll let go of the handle & use my index finger to "feather" the spool/bail. And yes, growing up in salmon country I've done it with big fish making hard runs.
I learned about this many years ago from Spence Petros of Fishing Facts magazine. I fished walleyes as a teen, and was a follower of Bill Binkelmen's nightcrawler secrets: 4-8 lb. line, lindy walking sinkers, etc. Drags weren't great back then. Was easy to learn, and worked great.
Do understand, I am picky about having my drags set right; I just use the drag as an indicator that I need to back reel to the fish.
Been doing it pretty much my whole life. I just always feel I'm in control. :)
I dont think this has been mentioned and is equally important as to why I back reel.
Big fish are lost close to the boat and the hook pulls out. I believe this has happened to all of us.
As there is less line out it looses its stretch or elasticity (excluding braid ) and puts more pull on the rod,line and drag if it is not set perfectly.
Back reeling helps control that pressure if a bass makes that wild run. This has helped me catch many more fish that have been skin hooked that I other wise maybe have not gotten in the net witch equals $$$$$ if you fish tourneys
Offer all the reasons you want, I will never backreel on a fish. And I still think it's dumb.
;)
Maybe those who think back reeling is dumb have no hands.
Been told otherwise by several sources... ;)
Just sayin', ya know... ::)
Quote from: Lightningboy on January 05, 2013, 05:05:48 PM
Maybe those who think back reeling is dumb have no hands.
Been told otherwise by several sources... ;)
Just sayin', ya know... ::)
Nope, just checked. I have 2 hands, and I'm typing with them right now! ;D
Quote from: Waterfoul on January 05, 2013, 02:52:57 PM
Offer all the reasons you want, I will never backreel on a fish. And I still think it's dumb.
;) Im not trying to give you a reason to back reel. Just trying to give you an insite on what works for me and maybe a few others.
This was never meant to turn into a PI--ING contest, but to learn MAYBE something new and use it or not use it. I take what ever someone posts and examine it and see if it will make me a better fisherman or not.
Lets try to make this fun and respect each others opinions on a subject weather it is right or wrong.
With that being said I Dedumb thee!!! Pleez
Better check both of them are working, waterfoul. You seemed to have missed a "P".
8)
My bad. Sorry Warerfoul. Took your quote and my quote then added them together. Still trying to learn this computer stuff. Now that was really dumb. Ha!!
Not sure what you are talking about... there's a p right where it's supposed to be. ;D
Cabin fever, already? This is going to be a bad winter. Can I be de-dumbed, please?
Maybe cabin fever...but all in good fun. ;D
This has been interesting. We're all so programed that fishing is about spots or lures, when really it's mostly about technique.
I'm really looking forward to the Bassmasters comming to St.Clair. There will be some sucessful pros who find and catch bass in ways we wouldn't think to.
There really is no right or wrong. A buddy once back seated David Dudley. Bad caster, backlashes, etc. He described him as the worst fisherman he had ever shared a boat with.
Next year he won FLW AOY. Go figure.
Being de-dumbed can be nearly impossible for some... but with a name like Mike I'm sure it's possible. That and I know you don't back reel!! :o :o
;D ;D
That's because I don't catch fish. Well, except for that last 6 pounder I got last Monday. I know you remember that one.
Yup, big fish! ;) And no back reeling required! :D
I have experimented with back reeling, but like Justin and others have said, I don't believe that I have ever lost a spinning reel bass, due to not back reeling. In fact I rarely have broken off fish. Most of the fish I have broken off have been on the hookset. If you use good equipment and change line regularly, break offs should be rare.
A good rod, paired with the proper size line should absorb the shock of a surging bass. Not to mention drag settings. We buy expensive reels in order to have a smooth drag.
BTW have I mentioned lately that Wavepin reels are awesome and have an incredibly smooth drag?
You just did. Are they paying you? Just kidding. I have one. It's definitely a nice reel for the money.
Quote from: Lightningboy on January 06, 2013, 11:43:00 AM
Maybe cabin fever...but all in good fun. ;D
This has been interesting. We're all so programed that fishing is about spots or lures, when really it's mostly about technique.
I'm really looking forward to the Bassmasters comming to St.Clair. There will be some sucessful pros who find and catch bass in ways we wouldn't think to.
There really is no right or wrong. A buddy once back seated David Dudley. Bad caster, backlashes, etc. He described him as the worst fisherman he had ever shared a boat with.
Next year he won FLW AOY. Go figure.
Ken,
As usual you make a great point: a few years back when FLW was fishing Erie, I spent the week pre-fishing with some good-ol-boys from GA. It was fun to see them plying thier normal tactics to water that we are accustomed to fishing our own way. You sure won't find a wind sock on the boat of a southern angler...LOL