Can someone tell me how to use a bait cast reel? All my life I have been useing spiners. As I said before I tried a BC once and got a birds nest.

IF I get one I plain on learning with cheap line so I can just cut it off.

They take some getting used to, but once you learn them you will love them. Get you a Garcia 4600 c3. I think they are 50-60 bucks. Put you some 12 pound line on it. Get about a 3/4 ounce weight. Tighten the knob on the side by the handle. You want it tight enough that the line will come off when you hit the button. You want it were the spool will stop when the weight hits the ground. Then just get in the back yard and practice. Everyone gets bird nests with baitcast. You just get better at picking them out.

Warren,

Get a BPS Extreme light combo for $100. The new "light" reels have an inertia magnetic control that is very easy to adjust. The object of casting a baitcast all day is to never use your thumb to control backlash during a cast (unless in the wind, I'll talk about that later). You want to use your thumb to control your lure direction and water entry only.

First, tie on a 1/2 oz spinnerbait with a trailer. That will give you enough "chunk" to cast easily and is a great lure this time of year anyway. There are two ways to control the cast. The first is the magnetic control. Since it works harder when the spool is spinning faster (remember this one works off inertia, most magnetics do not), it will keep the spool from over-revving mainly at the start of the cast. Put it on a setting of about "9". That's a lot, and will limit your casting distance, but will keep you from birds nesting at the start of the cast, which is the worst time to have it happen.

Then adjust your spool tension knob (the second cast control feature found on the right side beside but under the star drag). Adjust it loose so that the spool just barely wiggles side to side. Then, for your beginning purposes, tighten it about a 1/3 of a turn. This will eliminate backlashes at the tail end of the cast and certainly reduce your distance as well.

As you get better and smoother at casting (you might be very good in your arm motion already, I don't know), first loosen the spool tension knob so that the spool barely wiggles side to side again. As you feel more comfortable, start reducing the magnetic control click by click. You will know when you've reached your threshhold. The spool will start to want to "bounce" against the lure in the air when you've reached the critical point. Mine for a spinnerbait and 6'6" med rod is a setting of "7 3/4".

Personally, I set mine up to be just barely tighter than the threshhold point when casting in a zero wind condition (I have mine on "8"). Casting with the wind gives me a bonus in distance. Against it, I have to feather my thumb on the spool mainly AT THE START of the cast and sometimes even slightly throughout. I hope this helps.

P.S. I forgot to add what line you should probably get. I'd try Trilene Sensation as a good all around in 14 lb test.

Try this for Baitcasting 101, lots of good pics to help out. http://pages.infinit.net/fishing/bait101.htm

The above is a good article, but I've rarely agreed with anyone on the spool tension knob. The article is closer to what I believe, but still not quite it. Most people believe your lure should just gradually fall from your rod tip when you press the release button. I don't believe that at all. The weight of the lure with no regard to anything else only matters during the launch of the cast. After that, aerodynamics (which will include the weight of the lure) is what controls the lure's arc through the air. The spool tension knob, in my opinion, is only a bandaid and should be used as such. Cast control systems have come a long way in the last 20 years, and the need for tension is just not there anymore. Use it in the beginning to learn, but eliminate it from there on out.

Like the article points out, there are two different types of cast control. The one I recommended for you is a hybrid of both. It mimics the centrifugal control (which is far better and casts much further) but uses magnetics to do it. Don't confuse this reel with other magnetic setups. It is not the same.

As far as bang for the buck, you cannot beat the Extreme light combo for $200 (not including other BPS combos) let alone $100. The rods, especially the new ones ('05), are perfectly balanced and are excellent by themselves. The reels, which I own two of, are as smooth (or even smoother I'm embarrassed to say) than my $230 Chronarch 100SF.

Let me add this, when I hit my button with a lure on the end, especially a heavier one, it falls to the ground like a lead brick. If I don't use my thumb to stop the spool before touch down, I'll be there for 30 minutes picking that out. Yet, when I cast, I don't use my thumb during the cast, only to stop the lure before entry. I have far less friction during the cast because of the way I set mine up, but total control nonetheless.

Warren,

If you want to learn-really want to learn, don't use the ones with the magnetic controls etc. I learned on an antique reel with not brakes or drag, just spool and crank. You learn to feel the line under your thumb. Otherwise do what David says with one addition. spool off about what you will cast and put a piece of tape on the spool. That will limit the backlash no further than that spot. You want to feel the line with your thumb and you will learn by feel when the spool is over spinning and use your thumb as a break by feathering the spool. The rest is just getting out there and practicing.

One other thing: The better the reel the more forgiving it is. Shimano and ambassador are good reels to buy.