North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Thought i might start an age old debate... spin or baitcast reels for saltwater fishing and why? I personally can use both but prefer spinning reels.

Both.

Small spin for longer casting at Tuna and the like and bigger spin for bigger, bottom bouncing fish in deep water. Happy to troll with either but prefer over head in <10 metre water and over head for trolling.

Spin just takes the finesse out of it all I reckon but gets to the bottom and back quicker in deeper water.

Nowadays I perfect all spins reels for all my Bluewater fishing which was total opposite to what I used 5-6 years ago. I guess there more toys available for high end spin gear vs overheads.

For Barra I still use baitcaster because I can’t use a spin sticks to cast accurately.

Usually you can pick a southerner a mile away when he uses a spin stick to chase barra.

Baitcast for casting at barra - I find it more accurate for me
Spin for casting at tuna - can easily get more distance
baitcast for reef - ease of use I guess.

I do prefer spinning reels for casting distance but for barra a baitcaster is easier to use amd cast accurately

I use both and I'm just as useless at casting both but enjoy the fight of the fish on either

I have understood the argument that spin skicks are more accurate for casting, give me a baitcaster any day. Also, I can flick some pretty small unweighted plastics with the baitcaster too. With the spin stick, I am a mess.

I use spin of different size for blue water. Being a lefty, it’s pretty much impossible to get the overhead gear. I do have one smaller overhead for jigging.
Trolling does t really matter to me. Will use bait caster if I’m happy to use the lure that’s on it.
Bait casters are slightly more accurate in casting direction, but the main advantage is the control you have of the distance, you can slow in down to drop it on the edge of a bank or stop it mid cast whenyou are heading for the grass haha.

Overhead for drifting over reefs etc...easier to lift and drop back so as to stay in touch with the bottom and not get snagged. Spin sticks for casting to pelagics and also for flicking around light soft plastics in the harbour....bait caster for lobbing lures for barra, jacks etc.

Spin for light lures, soft plastics etc. Baitcaster for hard bodies and trolling.

spin gear all the way..

Definitely Bait Caster for lure flicking but spin or hand line for picnic fishing with livies in the creeks and mangroves.

I'm. With dannet

I like baitcasters for casting larger lures and trolling, spin for everything else. I grew up casting #1 Celtas in tiny creeks for trout on 1000 size spin reels filled with 4lb mono so i'm pretty accurate with spin gear. way more accurate than I am with a bait caster. And i'm partial to small lures which the spin gear chucks better. I also do a lot of jigging for reefies and pelagics these days and prefer the true free fall you get from spin gear to get lures down fast and with better "flutter"

Up to about 10 – 12 years ago I used baitcasters on barras, because I fished a bit I started to get some elbow pains, it was either tennis or golfer’s elbow, can’t remember which one. Would hurt like shiit so I learnt to cast with the other hand and carried on. Outcome of that was two elbows giving it to me. On advice I went to spin and the problem went over night. According to a sports physio type person the grip you use on a spin outfit is what he referred to as your power grip (fingers wrapped underneath and thumb pointed forward) compared to the twist it the wrist to hold a baitcaster.
For me the change was a good one, accuracy took a bit to adjust too but not too much. There will always be pros and cons but it’s what suits the user I guess. I do get the feeling that with spin gear I can violate a fish much more easily than with a baitcaster but that may be just because my arm muscles are more used to that method now, need to do more curls if I changed back.