3 years ago I only had spinning gear. I lost some pigs in the pads using a 7' MH rod with 20# braid. Not enough power to get em out. I bought a cheap baitcasting combo from Cabelas to learn on. I actually bought 2 and killed both reels. You definitely get what you pay for and am now using reels in the $100 range. Mostly BPS Pro Qualifiers. I love my baicasters and this year I can count the number of times that I even took my spinning rods with me. Go with a baitcaster and you won't be disappointed but if you're anything like me you'll want one for each application. I have the jig rod, the crankbait rod, the topwater, the flipping stick...you know what I mean?
should've grabbed my old abu garcia revo stx!! 20 lbs. of lockdown drag lol. you can slam big fish in the thickest stuff...slop, pads, your braid hanging over a tree branch, and no line peels out with these things. all kidding aside, i'll be selling some stuff real soon.
3 years ago I only had spinning gear. I lost some pigs in the pads using a 7' MH rod with 20# braid. Not enough power to get em out. I bought a cheap baitcasting combo from Cabelas to learn on. I actually bought 2 and killed both reels. You definitely get what you pay for and am now using reels in the $100 range. Mostly BPS Pro Qualifiers. I love my baicasters and this year I can count the number of times that I even took my spinning rods with me. Go with a baitcaster and you won't be disappointed but if you're anything like me you'll want one for each application. I have the jig rod, the crankbait rod, the topwater, the flipping stick...you know what I mean?
Shawn, do you use a Pro qualifier on your flipping stick?? I just got one on my set up and a little concerned with the low drag settings they have. I broke a 6'6 medium light spinning rod, about 3-4 inches off accidently. Put a new tip on it and threw on 14 lbs braid and use it for skipping jigs and shakey heads mostly. only spin rod i own now