Archive for the ‘Fishing Reels’ Category
Bait Casting Reels
Uninformed individuals may use the terms rod and reel interchangeable, but they are in fact two distinct pieces of equipment. The rod is the long shaft that the ling hangs from, while the reel is the device that lets out and winds up the line. There are several varieties of each of these apparatuses.
Baitcast reels are some of the most common and use a bearing supported spool to keep the line organized. This type of reel is mounted on the top of the rod and works well with many types of fishing line. Due to its position on the rod, the bait casting reel is sometimes referred to as the overhead reel.
Ball Bearings vs. Bushings
Beef up your bass fishing with the right fishing supplies like ball bearing reels. Ball bearings wear less than brass or graphite bushings. That means that they don’t develop the characteristic looseness or ‘wobble’ that bushings do after a year or so of heavy use. Of course, many anglers don’t put that much ‘mileage’ on their reels, so the difference isn’t that noticeable. Ball bearings are not necessarily smoother than bushings. When they are brand new, well made bushings can actually be *smoother* than ball bearings. Also, bushings require less ‘break-in’ time. That’s why a brand-new Shimano Citica can actually feel smoother than a Curado, even though the Curado has many more ball bearings.
For normal baitcaster reels, like Shimano reels, that have a 1-piece spool and axle, you have a bearing/bushing at 3 places on the spool shaft and 2 places on the crank shaft. With the ABU-Garcia “Ultra-Cast” design (spool separate from the axle), you have 2 bearings/bushings on the spool, and 2 more on the crank shaft. Any more than that are superfluous, IMHO.
The roller bearing found in some reels is a special kind of roller bearing that only turns one way. It is what gives the reel the continuous anti-reverse feature. They put it on the crank shaft, under the handle and drag-star. As such, it takes the place of one of those locations I mentioned above.
Some reels also have a ball bearing right above the roller bearing on the same shaft. This helps to reduce the load on the roller bearing to assure that your anti-reverse doesn’t crap out at the wrong time. You’ll probably see less of this as the quality of the one-way roller bearings improves. Ball bearings improve the life of a reel, but they are not the *most* important feature, IMHO. The features you should look for in a reel, in the order that they usually appear as the price goes up are:
~All metal, aluminum spool.
~All metal frame
~One-piece, cast aluminum frame
~Ball bearings
The Simple Pleasures of Fishing
Fishing can be a complex and serious endeavor. Some anglers spend years figuring out which baits work best in which locations – and which fish actually bite. Others like to have top-of-the-line equipment, and they’ll spare no expense just to be able to brag to their fishing buddies about it. For my part, I just like getting away from civilization for a few hours and enjoying the peace and tranquility of a placid lake.
Now that my son is getting old enough to join me on my early morning angling endeavors, I’ve started shopping around on the Internet for some gear that’s suitable for kids. In my experience, bait-casting reels are overly complicated; they’re probably more trouble than they’re worth if a kid spends most of his time untangling the line instead of actually fishing. That’s why I prefer spin-casting fishing reels – they are so easy to use that a kid just needs to press a button when casting.