Casting Abu 5600

[Silver/MI]

Just got Abu 5600CB, it's my first baitcaster. Yesterdays attempts at casting were horrific. So much for that $8 of line I put on. Today went much better thanks to a post last week about casting like an outfielder, not a pitcher. After about 45 minutes I was throwing with confidence, at least 3 or 4 times as far as I was at first. My lure was a Little Cleo spoon, any advice for lighter lure, such as Rat L Traps?

[Tyler Campbell]

One tip to prevent those deep "professional over-runs". Make a long cast, strip off another 20 feet of line, and put a small piece of tape on the spool. If you make a mistake, which happens alot when you first start throwing more difficult baits, your baclash will not be down to the end of the spool. Also, reel your lure to the rod tip, hold parallel to the water, and release the spool to check your spool friction. Adjust the spool friction (small knob by handle) to get your lure to drop at a slow to moderate pace. This will prevent backlashes toward the end of the cast, and help control over-all spool speed. If you have a reel with a brake system, centrifugal or magnetic, adjust them appropriately if you are having problems at the beginning of your cast. Just make sure that you don't over-throw the lure, let the rod do the work and stay square to the target.

Have fun and good fishin'