What's a good baitcasting reel for float fishing? I would like one that is durable and casts light amounts of weight easily. The main thing is being able to cast light amounts of weight. What about some of the old bantams? Everyone talks good about calcutta's but they're a little bit too much. I don't want to spend over $100, but if there is a good reel for $125 I guess I would go for it. If it matters I'm putting this on a 10'6 8-12lb rod. Thanks!

~ Dr Pepper

I'd go with a curado or calcutta.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

You said your looking at casting light weight. If so, I would go with a spinning reel. Ever tried to cast a light bobber into the wind with a level wind? Good luck! IMHO, bait casts are great for bouncing the bottom, pulling plugs, and casting bobbers that have some weight. Spinning reels fit the rest of the situations. Despite using a bait cast for the last 25 yrs, I now find myself reaching for the spinning reel more and more. Okuma, Okuma, Okuma....

RM

I have a Curado on my 10'6" float rod, it works very nice. I like where the thumb bar is, so I can free spool line. I'm running Power Pro for quick hook, it's easy to mend, keep tight with the float and out of the water.

The Curado is a great overall reel and I think is under $125.

Kev

Although I have to agree with Riverman,I have seen some really talented people with baitcasters!!I tried to master light tackle on a bait caster and couldn't but that doesn't mean you can't!really you would be able to fish a bobber with more control with a baitcaster,i.e free spooling.As I don,t use baitcasters any more,exept in the boat and on my plunking rod, I can't recomend any.Good luck.

I love my Calcutta.... I just bought a Garcia EON.. I wasn't tooo crazy about the all graphite and plastic body.. but it does free spool really well.. we'll see how long it takes to explode.. I've talked to some people who really like them..

Baitcasters are the way to go with float fishing. Spend $150 and get the Curado BSF for casting lighter weights. It's a great reel.

I have a spinning reel on my 10.5 foot Lamiglas Cert Pro and feel I can outfish anyone with a baitcaster if the rivers are low/clear and small floats and lures are required. I think Vedder and the other float fishing authors have given spinning gear a bad rap for float fishing by saying you have to close the bail before the hookset. If you have the right line and practice, you can backreel a spinning reel and get a faster hookset than with a baitcaster. You have to put a slight amount of upstream tension on the float to do this-this also helps position the point of the hook downstream. If you want a baitcaster though, I'm not sure which to recommend.

I run a Chronarch on a 10-ft caster for summer and winter brats. The reel has no problems casting the light stuff. I have an excellent spinning set-up, but have opted for the caster because the line lays tighter on the spool while reeling slack during an upstream presentation. On the downstream presentation I don't have to flip the bail to set the hook. All it takes is a clamp down from my thumb. Also, because the caster is so smooth it doesn't drag the float while letting line out in freespool. The downside is that a Chronarch is big bucks, so with your budget I'd go with a Curado.

My .02:
I've not been float fishing that long, but I have to say that the casting reels work really well for this technique. I have a Curado (regular, not super-free), and have not run into any problems with casting light weights and floats. The fact that you can freespool and control the speed of the float with your thumb is a great advantage. No line twist problems either. The gear ratio allows really quick retrieval of the terminal gear too. Go with the Curado, IMHO.

While its true that on the Vedder R most float fishermen use baitcaster reels,on many of the Vancouver Island rivers you will see a preponderence of spinning reels. Either type can be a good float reel.
I find a little better accuracy with a baitcaster but If I depended on a spin reel I think it would be equally accurate.
Certainly if you want to fish light weight perhaps 1/4oz then the spiunning reel will do it. Baitcasters seem to reqire about 1/2oz to give accurate casts of 100 feet;however most steelhead water requires at least 1/2 to get good drifts and keep the lure on the rocks.
To get good drifts with a spin reel you must leave the bail open and use your thumb and finger on the lip of the drum to feed line softly and smoothly. therefore you have to hold the line tightly against the drum flange in order to strike quickly. The strike with a float must be "right now" so you dont have time to close the bail. After the initial strike with an open bail you need to reel in any slack and stretch the line and then sock the hook home again to make sure its well set.
If you deside on a spinning reel I suggest you consider a rear drag adgustment. Your drag ajustment is the only way you can fight large fish so it must be readily accesible and not interfere with the line running out.
In contrast with a baitcaster you can set your drag light and use your thumb to vary the amount of drag.
In the final analysis its really a matter of personal preference however I must admit I prefer a baitcaster for most floatfishing situations. The calcutta 250 is my choice for light line light weight situations.
coot

At least when jig fishing, light weights aren't an issue. Even in clear water, I use 2" of pencil lead and about a 3 foot leader. I don't get why people are worried about light weight when float fishing (assuming jigs are the lure being used).

JF

You just need some more time float fishing. If you go plunkin' down a weight like that in some places and you're just not going to get much action. Sometimes the fish are turned on to the jigs and you can get away with throwing lead and only hanging 5 feet off your float, but that's not going to work every time.

I most often use a Thill float and an 1/8 oz jig, so I'm using a spinning reel most of the time too. Last year in the cold, low water we destroyed fish when guys not making a stealthy delivery weren't finding much action.

Thanks for all the information everyone. I've decided to go with the Curado. Checked on my rod today and the handle and reel seat are on so it's a done deal as a baitcaster. Jacob I actually want to use eggs under a float for most situations. Or I might use a pink worm or something, but I haven't gotten into the whole jig thing......yet. I tie flies so I was thinking about tying some flies with lead eyes to use for jigs. The only places I think I'm going to need to use a stealthy approach is on some really small rivers and my 1082 spinning rod will do just fine for float fishing. I'll use the 14lb fireline for line because it floats and will mend easily. My fly fishing days are coming back to me now.......

~ Dr Pepper