Baitcast vs trolling

F

Five O'Clock

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
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251
When shopping around for reels, how does one tell the difference between a baitcast reel and a trolling reel?

What are technical differences that benefit each reel for either casting or trolling? Mainly for stripers or bluefish.
 
JB

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
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Mar 25, 2001
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45,907
Re: Baitcast vs trolling

Baitcasting reels are more complex that trolling reels. They have spool braking systems and usually level wind systems.

Trolling reels can be as simple as a winch or as elegant as a Rolex. They often have very sophisticated drags and can be very robust for heavy duty applications.

For stripers and blues I would choose my Garcia Morrum 5600 baitcaster. Second choice would be the bigger, stronger Garcia Ambassaduer 7000 baitcaster for either casting or trolling.

Trolling reels don't offer the option of easy lure casting so I would leave them home. I would get out the Penn Internationals only for offshore trolling for bigger species.
 
dingbat

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
16,359
Re: Baitcast vs trolling

To me a baitcaster is a palming reel. After that you get into "conventional" reels and pretty much the only the only difference between a conventional and a trolling reel is a cast control and even that is getting a bit blurred with the advent of multipurpose reels.

You now have companies like Avet that the building “casting reels” with the strength and drags to rival even the best of the “dedicated” trolling reels. Who would have thought 20 years ago that you could buy a reel that weighed less than 20 oz, had magnetic cast controls, and put out almost 20# of drag.

For blues and Striper up your way you want a pretty good sized reel. Something in the #20 class (i.e. Abu 7000, Penn 975) would be good for casting and you want a #25-30 class reel (i.e Penn 320GTI. Penn 113H) for trolling.

If you’re an experienced angler you can drop down to an Abu 6500 or a Shimano 400 series but be prepared. A #15 bluefish or a #25 striper will give either these reel a very good workout.
 
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