feeder fishing without baitrunner

[fraggle]

hello all , i'm after a bit of advice regarding set-up when feeder fishing for all species . is a baitrunner reel essential ? if not what is the alternative ? open bail arm and trap a loop of line with elastic band (attached to rod butt) or set the clutch quite loose ?

if anyone could give me a few pointers on their method i'd appreciate it . thank you

[wunwetfoot]

hello all , i'm after a bit of advice regarding set-up when feeder fishing for all species . is a baitrunner reel essential ? if not what is the alternative ? open bail arm and trap a loop of line with elastic band (attached to rod butt) or set the clutch quite loose ?

if anyone could give me a few pointers on their method i'd appreciate it . thank you

Hi Fraggle,

I got by and managed very well for all those years before baitrunners were invented. Try a multi position front rest (big T type with 8 or so positions built in), support the top of the rod in this and hold the rod while watching for bites. I guarantee that you won't fall asleep for very long!

 

P.S. or are you thinking about bolt rigging or a method feeder?

Edited June 24, 2012 by wunwetfoot

[ayjay]

I don't possess a bait runner reel and often feeder fish, the alternative to a bait-runner is to be fishing, not gazing at the world around you, at the very least have your hand on the rod.

 

I do often use a centre pin for close in fishing (90% of my fishing is up close), a far simpler version of a bait-runner imo.

[Phone]

Frag,

 

I don't want to sound condensending but "baitrunner" reels are not popular in the US. As I understand it, essentially:

 

A baitrunner is a free spool carp reel which features a secondary drag system that is/can be switched on or off. With the freespool in the ‘off’ position the reel acts as a normal rear drag reel, but in the ‘on’ position, a secondary drag is engaged which allows the spool to run freely when a fish takes the bait. On lifting the rod and striking, the secondary drag disengages and you then play the fish on the normal rear drag system. They were invented by reel manufacturers.

 

I've owned a couple "baitrunners" and hardly ever used this feature. The carp is "hooked or not hooked" by itself 99.9% of the time anyway. The angler plays a very small roll in hooking carp. Of course, you should set the hook. To some degree, it is argumentitive between Euro anglers and US anglers if even a "bolt" rig is a benefit. I happen to think not. I freeline for carp and pretty much only carp fish these days. But remember, we fish only short sessions (4 - 6 hrs) in the US.

 

If you "learn" for yourself (a technique) you will gain confidence. Confidence is well over half the battle. Don't be intimidated by the masses. Most "carp only" anglers don't know anymore than you do or did when you started. Carp fishing is kind of a "monkey see; monkey do" sport.

 

Tell us a bit more. Are you carp fishing? Three rods? Long sessions? What is your end tackle? Other thoughts?

 

Phone

[Andrew]

I use Shimano reels for feeder fishing, they have a class drag, easy to set and very reliable.

[fraggle]

thanks for the replies , i'm just fishing one rod . on the straight lead , cage & swimfeeders ( maybe method feeder occasionally ) . not targeting carp especially but there are carp in the venues i fish . i always keep my hand close to rod anyway , even when float fishing , mainly because my reactions are'nt what they used to be . i was thinking that the fish would quickly feel the resistance and drop the bait, unless i loosened the clutch or trapped line on butt section with elastic band so it could take bait freely . appreciate the tips , thanks again

[fraggle]

Frag,

 

I don't want to sound condensending but "baitrunner" reels are not popular in the US. As I understand it, essentially:

 

A baitrunner is a free spool carp reel which features a secondary drag system that is/can be switched on or off. With the freespool in the ‘off’ position the reel acts as a normal rear drag reel, but in the ‘on’ position, a secondary drag is engaged which allows the spool to run freely when a fish takes the bait. On lifting the rod and striking, the secondary drag disengages and you then play the fish on the normal rear drag system. They were invented by reel manufacturers.

 

I've owned a couple "baitrunners" and hardly ever used this feature. The carp is "hooked or not hooked" by itself 99.9% of the time anyway. The angler plays a very small roll in hooking carp. Of course, you should set the hook. To some degree, it is argumentitive between Euro anglers and US anglers if even a "bolt" rig is a benefit. I happen to think not. I freeline for carp and pretty much only carp fish these days. But remember, we fish only short sessions (4 - 6 hrs) in the US.

 

If you "learn" for yourself (a technique) you will gain confidence. Confidence is well over half the battle. Don't be intimidated by the masses. Most "carp only" anglers don't know anymore than you do or did when you started. Carp fishing is kind of a "monkey see; monkey do" sport.

 

Tell us a bit more. Are you carp fishing? Three rods? Long sessions? What is your end tackle? Other thoughts?

 

Phone

[Sportsman]

hello all , i'm after a bit of advice regarding set-up when feeder fishing for all species . is a baitrunner reel essential ? if not what is the alternative ? open bail arm and trap a loop of line with elastic band (attached to rod butt) or set the clutch quite loose ?

if anyone could give me a few pointers on their method i'd appreciate it . thank you

 

It depends whether you are going fishing or going sleeping.

If you are going fishing then you will be watching for bites and will have a hand on the rod ready to hit bites.

If you are going for a snooze then a baitrunner would be useful to buy you the time to be woken up by your bite alarm, climb out of your sleeping bag, change your bivvy slippers for your Crocs and go and reel in the fish that has hooked itself on your bolt rig

[fraggle]

It depends whether you are going fishing or going sleeping.

If you are going fishing then you will be watching for bites and will have a hand on the rod ready to hit bites.

If you are going for a snooze then a baitrunner would be useful to buy you the time to be woken up by your bite alarm, climb out of your sleeping bag, change your bivvy slippers for your Crocs and go and reel in the fish that has hooked itself on your bolt rig

 

thanks for the replies , totally agree with whats been said .. i want to set the hook and catch the fish , not my tackle .. thats what ive been doing when float fishing for the last 5 years . one rod , no alarms (except the one that gets me out of bed to go fishing ) & ive bought cars that are cheaper than a bivvy my thinking was that when feeder fishing and a fish picks up the bait it can feel the resistance and quickly drop it , before the bite registerers on the tip ? so your set up should allow no/minimum resistance to indicate the bites , hence i said about loose clutch/open bail arm . thanks again for the info

[Andy_1984]

nowt wrong with bait runners, just another tool im glad ive had. ive had unbelievable runs in the past when ive been sat beside my rod at less than arms length away when ive turned my head to talk to someone. and i reckon the only thing saving those runs was having the bait runner switched on.

 

personally i wouldn't set the drag loose so that the fish can take line as your going to have to tighten the drag up again while the fish is fighting & giving it loads of time to get its head down in the weeds or snags.

 

if you really dont want a bait runner you can always use the anti reverse switch. better be quick though if it spins fast and the fish suddenly stops your gonna have a bit of overrun.

 

Phone, im not sure about the type of bait runner reels your on about. can you explain what you mean by "On lifting the rod and striking, the secondary drag disengages".

 

i always just assumed all bait runners would disengage when the handle is turned or the switch flicked by the user, not striking ?