conventional vs. spin - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Mark · 08-02-2002, 04:09 PM

Care to bite? When will one outperform the other? I need more gear....

Saltheart · 08-02-2002, 05:03 PM

For tossing light stuff like up to 1 or 1.5 OZ , spinner. Above that , conventional.

JohnR · 08-02-2002, 06:05 PM

capesams · 08-02-2002, 06:23 PM

disagree:

dragnfly14 · 08-02-2002, 06:56 PM

Trolling there is a big difference. Spincast reels are pron to line twist. As far a throwing weighted items it depends on which type of reels you are used to using. My father would not touch a spincast rig and could cast a conventional rod/reel setup a country mile. Me on the other hand would make a cast on the same setup would make one cast and spend the next hour un-knoting the backlash.

capesams · 08-02-2002, 07:06 PM

I think they have there own places under the sky. I fish both........
spin 5%
conv.95%

STRIPER77 · 08-02-2002, 07:40 PM

capesams--Please elaborate. What's the 95 % for conventional? What's the ONLY 5 % for spin?

Please respond, really interested. Thanks

DaveTV · 08-02-2002, 07:52 PM

can any of u conventional nuts tell me how to change the spool on my Squidder 140? (See other post on forum)
THX!

thewaterfordstriper · 08-02-2002, 08:25 PM

i started fishing conventional tackle last season and touched my spin reel 1 time since. if it is extremely windy you may want to fish with the spin. bout the only reason i can think of to use it. you can cast further with the conventional. i have found that the drag systems are better and more control over the fish.

capesams · 08-03-2002, 06:42 AM

THe above post took the word's right out of my mouth.

spin=light plugs
bombers
blue fish skippers/fast poppers
WIND.......20mph...in your face

conv.=eels/bait/live lineing
lrg. plugs/slow swimers
jigs
bottom fishin
I would have ta say it's the free spooling that got me going on these reels. I like to fish eels alot an having not fumble around looking for the ***bail to open. lost to many lrg. because they felt me/line on the other end. now I get a hit an the spool is in free mode in 1/2 second...no lost fish[well almost].Beach/boat/rocks you just can't beat a conv.

Mark · 08-04-2002, 10:41 AM

Thanks guys - I'm definitely putting a level wind on a canal jig stick at some point in the future. I was under the impression that casting eels w/ convents was a bit tricky. I'll have to pick up more gear to be absolutely sure

dragnfly14 · 08-04-2002, 05:52 PM

Here I gave my opinion on conventional vs Spincast reels and should have taken my own advice. Yesterday while fishing I heard Bluefish were driving bait up off Kittery Pt., ME. I always keep 2 setup in the boat for live bait fishing and thay have baitrunner reels (spincast). I grabbed thoses setups and rigged steel leaders with orange Rangers on them (always had good luck fast trolling Rangers when the Bluefish are surfacing). We trolled for about 15 mins and had to reel in because of seaweed on the rangers. Guess what - when we went to put them back out we opened the bails and found bad line twist. That ended trolling for Blues and looks like I will be putting new line on of at least cutting off the twisted line.

Mr. Sandman · 08-04-2002, 07:51 PM

This thread has got flame all over it. IMO it is personal choice. Reels have advanced to a point now where both work fine for casting.
For other types of fishing (trolling, chumiming, etc) or the use of special lines conventional is the way to go. I was brought up on fishing the surf using a convential, but use spin most of the time now. When I am in a boat....I like to use conventional gear...go figure.

I suggest you try both and use what fits your style of fishing.

JohnR · 08-05-2002, 09:22 AM

I think each has it's place. Eeling or plugging (bigger & heavier) I'll definitely use a conventional - and do 80% of the time. Of course that 80% is down from 95 %. After doing more light stuff and jerk baits, I'm using spinning for that - I hardly used my 8' Loomis conventional this year since building the St Croix / Strradic combo. All of my 9 & 10 foot rods are conventional.

Mark · 08-05-2002, 06:26 PM

What do you use for eeling (reel-wise) ? Should I be concerned with sand getting in the level wind ( I fish snakes down the cape)
or is it pretty easy to deal with? Anyways - personal best this year - 36" about a month ago - south side on Yozuri Mag-D.
Like white on rice for a bout an hour or so. then the moon came up.

JohnR · 08-05-2002, 07:39 PM

I was mentioning the sand in the levelwind to Capesams and he said hogwash provided you don't throw your rod in the sand... Funny thing is, 3 years ago I casted my XRA1205 and Calcutta 400 into the wash up in Truro. One of those sleepless, Zombie weekends. I was able to get it but I was soaked...

I like the Calcutta400 for eeling and I have a tuned up Abu 6500

capesams · 08-05-2002, 09:05 PM

NO one told me ya have ta hang onto the r&r when ya through out, I thought you threw the whole thing

you gotta have a bad night every once an awhile. ......But I haven't broken a rod yet

.........Like bubble butt has.....bm's new nick name.

D Blizard Jr · 08-06-2002, 07:05 AM

I am fairly new to Surf fishing and was recently given a Penn Jigger from my Father in law.

Not being familiar with the saltwater Penn line,
I was wondering if this is more of a boat reel than a conventional surf casting reel?

How much better does the squidder cast compared to the Jigger, and does the level wind feature make that much of a difference for casting?

Since the line is so unevenly dispersed on the spool I can't help but to think that there must be some sacrifices made with regard to casting performance...

Any advice on the casting performance of the squidder would be greatly appreciated!... because I am considering purchasing one of these very soon!

For the many years I have spent fresh water fishing, I have always preferred bait casting reels over spinning reels.

I have had nothing but grief with spinning reels! (line twist, knotting underneath the spool,wire bail issues, reel handle issues...etc

I believe that the bait casting reels far exceed their quality & performance.

When thinking about the applications that were mentioned where spinning reels would be preferred for lighter plugs...

I would still prefer to use a lighter salt/freshwater bait casting reel over a spinning reel for casting lighter plugs.

I think that they are better reels overall.

Not only for the line, but also for the performance...

D Blizard Jr · 08-06-2002, 09:05 AM

For surf, a high gear ratio is key when going conventional!!!

Are there any conventional reels out there that anyone could recommend, which are comparable in quality to the Squidder but with a higher gear ratio?...

I have always wondered if there are manufactured performance gears that would increase the ratio for conventional Penn Reels?

I recently tried out a conventional Shimano Reel, and I found that these reels are total junk!!!

As much as I can't stand spinning reels, I would still use one of those before I would ever touch another Shimano!

In fact, if anyone out there has the address for this company, I would love to send the new reel I got back to them with a letter of dissapointment with their product line for the Corsair Series...

JohnR · 08-06-2002, 09:58 AM

The original silver Corsair sucked so bad they had to redesign them (although to be honest there are some people that really liked them). The newer Corsair is mixed a silver & gold colored reel. They do not compare at all to the Calcutta which is a fine reel.

Their website is http://fish.shimano.com

My personal feeling is that the Abu 6500 size reels are better in the sub to low $100 range than the Shimano Corsair 300-400 range but the Calcutta 400 is better at 200 smackers. Still a fair amount of coin for a reel...

D Blizard Jr · 08-06-2002, 01:19 PM

Thanks for the info on Shimano!

How does the ABU 65oo Hold up to the Calcutta? or the Penn Squidder?...

JohnR · 08-06-2002, 01:53 PM

Way different reels than the Squidders. The Abu 6500 and Calcutta 400 reels are more "light tackle" than the squidder. I'm sure a lot of people prefer the squidder though...

D Blizard Jr · 08-06-2002, 02:23 PM

John,
Do you know anything about the Penn Jigger?...

I have been trying to use a Penn Jigger for surf fishing ...

Whiletrying to cast recently with a 3-4oz popper, not only did I forget to tighten the braking mechanism for the heavier weight of the lure, I got my thumb caught into the backlash, & nearly broke the tip of my thumb as it got pulled into the spool. It ended up snapping the line at the lure as a result of stopping dead in mid - cast... I had also cut my knuckle pretty good on the mono line...

My father in law tried to tell me that he had used this as a surf reel, but I am reasonably sure that this is designed to be more of a boat reel than a surf reel... I was just wondering however, if the Squidder is any better for casting than the Jigger appears to be...

JohnR · 08-06-2002, 02:34 PM

I haven't used either of them for casting so I have nothing to say on them other than a lot of people like them. I'm told that the ABU and Calcutta are easier to use which is just fine be me

. Because of being smaller with the level wind, perhaps less work and worry?

Anyway, one thing I'd recommend, if you cut your thumb pretty good with mono you could have done some serious damage if you were using braid. Braid is much more prone to removing your digits than mono is...