Learning Baitcasting Reel - First Overhead Cast

Hold the rod horizontally in front of you. The handles should be on top of the reel, that is, pointing UP if you're right-handed (using a right-handed reel). This is similar to the way you would hold a tennis racket and gives the widest possible range of movement to your wrist.

With your thumb applying pressure directly on the spool, unlock it, using whatever mechanism is used (thumb bar, pushbutton, etc.). The pressure of your thumb against the spool is what's preventing it from moving at this point.

Bring the rod up over your shoulder to approximately the 2 o'clock position. Your upper arm should barely move for this; use your forearm and your wrist.

Now bring the rod forward as if you were trying to hammer a nail in a wall in front of you, but use a smooth motion; this is NOT the time for forceful movements! As the rod reaches the 12 o'clock position, take your thumb off the spool, thus releasing it to feed line out as the casting weight flies out... and falls far short of what you you are hoping for - Don't worry, this is to be expected... at least you didn't get a backlash!

While you are practicing (yes, you are going to need to practice with this reel), back off on the brake just a little at a time. Eventually you will get more comfortable with the new settings and you should be able to cast farther. Experiment with different settings with the brake and spool. The whole trick to using the baitcasting reel is the use of the thumb. Applying and releasing pressure to the spool with your thumb is the key to this system, and you must master it.

Throwing too hard will snag you up. Throw a moderate distance until you get used to it. As you get better at this, you will see your distance improve. Make sure it is your wrist that is doing the casting. To learn to do this take a small object similar to a pack of smokes, deck of cards, etc., and place it between your inner bicep and your side and practice casting without dropping the object. This will force you to use your wrist primarily and when you get better you can add different arm strokes to suit.

After you've practiced using the suggested adjustments and get a good feel of things, you will gradually be able to reduce the amount of tension and braking force, as you simultaneously "educate" your thumb.

Put your thumb on the line to hold it in place while you click the line release button. Cast the lure by releasing the thumb pressure, but keep the thumb barely touching the line (using your thumb for anything but very lightly feathering of the spool at any other point only cuts down on your distance and isn't the best way to maintain control over the cast; that's what brakes are for).

As the lure reaches its destination, apply more pressure with the thumb as a brake and to keep the line from spooling off into a bird's nest. It takes a lot of practice to get the right touch.

Finally, if you can master the basic cast, and achieve both control and comfort, then it truly becomes a matter of practice and more practice for distance, accuracy and versatility.

Buzzbait Fishing Lures

Buzzbait fishing lures is similar to spinnerbait except that it has propeller type device on the upper arm instead of a spinner blade which rotates very quickly when retrieved. Buzz Baits tend to create more attention then most spinners and spoons. Work best when anglers retrieved it fast enough for the propeller to actually break the surface of the water. They tend to create enough "Buzz" that simply makes the lure irresistible for many fish. Their main purpose is to create attention and then tease enough that fish cannot help, but to take the bait. These preferred top water lures allow the angler to cover water faster than most top water lures.

Advantage Buzzbait

Minnow Imitation Fishing Lures

Minnow imitation fishing lures are more than likely the type of fishing lure that the entire world is the most familiar with. These are the fishing lures that look like bait fish and come in all of the sizes and colors that actual baitfish are available in. These types of fishing lures are also available in various colors and artistic design (luminous, glow in the dark, striking or neutral colors and etc). There are minnow imitation fishing lures that dive a few feet deep to as many as thirty feet deep. Generally each design of minnow may not suit for any type of fish.

You can cover the entire water table with minnow imitations. The most popular of these types of fishing lures has to be Rapala’s. The effectiveness of minnow imitation fishing lures must be lifelike and realistic either in design itself or during diving and retrieve. Expensive fishing lures will not guarantee to be the best fishing lures.

Minnow imitation fishing lures also called floater diver plugs which float at rest but dives beneath the surface when retrieved. The main characteristic of this type of fishing lures are the feature lip either made by metal or plastic (although some don’t have lip). The lip looks like a scoop-shaped device located in front of the lure. Lip allows the lure to dive and impart action making it vibrate, wiggle or gyrate when retrieved.

Minnow imitation fishing lures descend to various depths depending on the model. The size of the lip determines how deep the lure will dive; the longer the lip, deeper it will go.

Shallow Diver Minnow

The lure that dives between 0.5m up to 2.7m but sometime some of the design can dive to more than 3 m and still called shallow diver. Float at rest, and dive depending on the retrieve speed.

Shallow Diver Minnow

Deep Diver Minnow

Dive relatively deep, more than 3 meters and float at rest although some didn’t float at all. Most lure of this type have large lip that allow them to dive deep although some don’t have lip but built with internal sinkers. Crankbait is one of them.

Deep Diver Minnow

Top Water Fishing Lures

Fishing lures that are fished or implies on the surface or top of the water. Usually floating, that may be moved about the surface of water creating attraction and cause fish to strike the lure. Non-floating versions may be retrieved at sufficient speed to cause them to travel at the water's surface. Such lures are often designed to resemble smaller creatures that would normally be considered as food for the target fish species.

The more effective lures have an action that closely resembles that of the actual living creature and also imitate wounded bait fish, frogs or even small mammals. There are also jointed bodies, moving eyes, holographic finishes and internal rattles to generate sound which are incorporated to encourage the target species to strike the lure. They could be plugs, poppers or creature imitations like the Jitterbug

For those who want to experience the excitement of hard and fast strikes, it doesn't get any more thrilling than “top water” fishing. Besides the exciting visual flash of fish, you get intense surface strikes that send your heart racing. Some might even admit that top water fishing is a little addictive even when they miss! While you never know exactly when they're going to strike, you know they will soon, and aggressively. That's what makes top water fishing such a rush.

A great tip for fishing top water lures is to do it when the water is as calm as possible, the more the surface of the water is like glass, the better top water fishing lures will work.

The Best Fishing Lures

Some anglers prefer the relaxing fishing with a sinker, hook, and worm. That is fantastic for certain types of fish, and when you are looking to sit back and let the fish come to you, then this type of fishing is a fabulous way to go. Nothing beats sitting back and waiting for a fish to bite, while you take in the natural environment around you peacefully.

What If you want to take a more aggressive approach and attack the fish? Fishing lures are the way to achieve this. A fishing lures purpose is to create attention of the fish, mimic live bait, either annoy it or make it take the bait. Using Fishing Lures can present some extreme fishing and perhaps more activity while fishing.

Is there the best fishing lures? - Best fishing lure is different for every angler. There is no fishing lure which actually the best. It would be impossible to say that one type of fishing lure is truly better than another. Some work better or dive deeper than others. Invariably it comes down to what a specific fish we want from a specific location - Each Fishing lure will have its own proper way to use. Having the correct retrieve speed, jerking and twitching (if it is part of the lures movement) is important to our fishing success when using fishing lures.

There are a few types of fishing lures in the worldwide market today (top water, shallow or deep diver and etc). Choose the right fishing lures to catch nearly every kind of freshwater and saltwater fish. Whether you're a skilled angler or a beginner, finding the best fishing lure to use depends on many different situations. At the end of the day, the best fishing lure is the lure that's your favorite. It would be impossible to say that one type of fishing lure is truly better than another.

We need to know the proper seed and motion of our fishing lure and must be aware of what type of fish the lure is best for. Not all fishing lures will work with all fish and pay attention to what type of fish the fishing lure is made for. Taking time to appropriately learn our fishing lure will help in the future fishing trips.

Categories - The main fishing lures probably divided into several main types or categories. Each of these fishing lures required different type of presentation and handling.

i) Top Water Fishing Lures - Fishing lures that are fished or implies on the surface, or top of the water. Usually floating, that may be moved about the surface of water creating attraction and cause fish to strike the lure.

ii) Minnow Imitation Fishing Lures - These are the fishing lures that look like bait fish and come in all of the sizes and colors that actual baitfish are available in. The type of fishing lure that the entire world is most familiar with. Feature a lip in front of the lure allowing the lure to dive to various depths and impart various actions.

iii) Spinners & Spoon Lures - Can also be categorized under top water lures but for personal reason I rather put it under different category for better understanding of the functions it may offer. I'm grouping this type of lures together because I believe they are in the same family. They both imitate baitfish (for the most part) and quite effective as other fishing lures.





iv) Spinnerbait & Buzzbait Lures - Spinnerbait is a wire with a loop in its middle and the arms bent into V-shaped providing top and lower arms. Top-arm with spinner blade while lower-arm equipped with single hook( with lead head for weight) and adorned with a skirt to attract fish. Buzzbait is similar to spinnerbait except that it has propeller type device on the upper arm instead of a spinner blade which rotates very quickly when retrieved. Buzz Baits tend to create more attention then most spinners and spoons.

v) Soft Plastics Lures & Grubs – Soft (plastic) material with scented (some not) and imitates most of natural fish baits we can imagine ranging from small fish, insects, crustacean, worms and many others. Some design with its curled tail emulates as the worm moves through water but might not be considered 'fishing lures' to some anglers.