# conventional vs spinning for throwing metal



## afout07 (Jan 29, 2014)

Which do you guys prefer and why? For throwing sting silvers and such


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## Wky01 (Jan 23, 2015)

afout07 said:


> Which do you guys prefer and why? For throwing sting silvers and such


Spinner. The higher gear ratio spinners allow you to retrieve at higher speed. With the lighter braid you typically use when throwing metal distance is about the same.


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## 1BadF350 (Jul 19, 2006)

Spinner


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## rabbitdog2 (Aug 20, 2011)

Wky01 said:


> Spinner. The higher gear ratio spinners allow you to retrieve at higher speed. With the lighter braid you typically use when throwing metal distance is about the same.


Boy here goes another real pis----- match


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

Spinner hi ratio 6.0 or better. You can use conventional but it is a pain making so many cast and a spinner gets more distance.


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## afout07 (Jan 29, 2014)

I'm surprised no one has said conventional yet. I'm talking about the level wind reels by the way. Non level wind would be a huge pain I think


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## dsurf (Aug 5, 2003)

afout07 said:


> I'm surprised no one has said conventional yet. I'm talking about the level wind reels by the way. Non level wind would be a huge pain I think


All the more reason to throw spinner with braid....a 4000/5000 Shimano with Line Performance management system is the ticket.


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## Furball (Sep 20, 2002)

Conventional. Setup is much lighter than a comparable spinner, meaning you can use a longer rod without getting tired out. You will get more distance that way.


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

I mainly throw metal with conventional. I use Abu 6500 CT or Daiwa Mag 7HT ST reels for the most distance. Some metals will be a nightmare on conventional especially into a head wind. They may start out alright and than as they catch the wind and plane to the side they will cause a backlash. For the most distance and ease of casting I usually throw Stingsilvers, AVA diamond jigs and F-17's. One of the most productive metals I have thrown is the Hopkins No Equal. I will throw these on conventional reels but I am more cautious and not putting too much into the cast when using these lures. On the smaller metals I will use Abu 5500 reels with levelwinds. 

John


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## dawgfsh (Mar 1, 2005)

Spinner, it's hard to get albies to hit a stingsilver with a conventional.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

dawgfsh said:


> Spinner, it's hard to get albies to hit a stingsilver with a conventional.


Used to catch alberts,kings,cobia,bluefish ect off the pier with conventional back in the day,but spinning would have been SO MUCH easier....


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## George Gravier (Oct 28, 1999)

dawgfsh said:


> Spinner, it's hard to get albies to hit a stingsilver with a conventional.


 haven't seen albies around here in a long time at least where I fish...


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## Chris_Worthington (Jul 13, 2012)

Spinning, but...

I did just pick up a Daiwa Tatula with the T-Wing, 8.1:1 and a retrieve rate of 33.9". I am going to put on some 20lb braid and pair it up on a 10' 1-4oz rod.

Then at some point this spring I am going to give it a whirl at slinging some metal for no other reason then to mix things up. I am however curious as to how it will perform, is it spring yet?


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

What some are missing here.......With spinning reels the arbor of the spools are generally bigger than with casting reels. Retrieve speeds are based on a full spool of line so when you throw in the smaller Bass size low profile reels this becomes even more of an issue. That being said a spinning reel after the cast will have a much higher retrieve ratio after the cast than a casting reel. I have played with all kinds of different gearing in 4xxx, 5xxx and 6xxx Abus to achieve the speed needed for some applications and never beat out the speeds of a spinning reel. 

Argue it till the cows come home but it is what it is. Casting reels are fine in 99% of these cases but when blistering speed is needed spinning is the way to go hands down..


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## dawgfsh (Mar 1, 2005)

Drumdum said:


> Used to catch alberts,kings,cobia,bluefish ect off the pier with conventional back in the day,but spinning would have been SO MUCH easier....


 You were probably throwing gotcha at the pier

Watched Custer throw the same metal as Jeff and me just last year: Jeff 8 Albie's, I caught 9 and Custer had 0. It's hard to make short snap cast to Albies with a conventional and hard to keep them moving fast enought. Althou a revo rocket might do it. 

Custer was fishing a hopped up abu with 6/1 gears. Jeff and I were fishing Shimano 4000 spinners


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

dawgfsh said:


> You were probably throwing gotcha at the pier
> 
> Watched Custer throw the same metal as Jeff and me just last year: Jeff 8 Albie's, I caught 9 and Custer had 0. It's hard to make short snap cast to Albies with a conventional and hard to keep them moving fast enought. Althou a revo rocket might do it.
> 
> Custer was fishing a hopped up abu with 6/1 gears. Jeff and I were fishing Shimano 4000 spinners


 Like was said,spinners would have been MUCH BETTER.. Although with had 6' "popping rods" and a 6500 abu back then we DID use Hopkins and stingsilvers as well.. We used to cast and just before the bait hit the water we'd hit the crank and put it in gear,that way you had a jumpstart on making that thing skip... I DO USE spinners nowadays though..


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## Manlystanley (Sep 22, 2010)

afout07 said:


> Which do you guys prefer and why? For throwing sting silvers and such




Spinner. But, I'm a failed conventional want-to-be. Tried for years and finally gave up.....


Best Regards,
Stan


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## Espresso (Mar 18, 2005)

Don't let anyone convince you what style reel is better for "you". There's a learning curve in using a conventional so use whatever is more comfortable to you. For tossing lures, spinning is pretty dummy proof. Any gain in distance using a conventional in the surf is negated by using a level-wind but I too would never toss lures without a level-wind. So back to my original statement, use whatever is most comfortable to you for the type of fish you're targeting.


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## Kellercl (Jan 28, 2010)

I prefer spinner, just easier to use, a lot less wind knots.


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## ShoreBird (Oct 29, 2002)

I use a spinner for light plugs and tins the conventional for larger wooden plugs


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Kellercl said:


> I prefer spinner, just easier to use, a lot less wind knots.


 You don't get "wind knots" with a conventional,ya get birdnest.. If you do not get one once and a while,you ain't throwing hard enough....


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

Drumdum said:


> You don't get "wind knots" with a conventional,ya get birdnest.. If you do not get one once and a while,you ain't throwing hard enough....


then I throw hard enough a lot!
js


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

js1172 said:


> then I throw hard enough a lot!
> js


 Get too many and ya ain't throwin often enough....


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## ShoreBird (Oct 29, 2002)

I love conventional reels but I do use a spinner for metal and light plugs. I'll use my conventional on larger wood plugs


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## Kellercl (Jan 28, 2010)

Drumdum said:


> You don't get "wind knots" with a conventional,ya get birdnest.. If you do not get one once and a while,you ain't throwing hard enough....


Touche

The only thing I use conventional reels for is trolling and dropping off the side of a boat over reefs.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

AbuMike said:


> ...Casting reels are fine in 99% of these cases but when blistering speed is needed spinning is the way to go hands down..


I dunno about that - My Shimano Curado 300 EJ retrieves 32" of line per crank!

Sandcrab


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## Mastrbaitr (May 7, 2014)

Speed is all relative. I don't look at the gear ratios to much, I pay more attention to the line retrieval rate.


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## Bocefus (Apr 19, 2010)

Well, I throw the Abu Garcia in the 6.3-1 ratio bait caster with level wind.


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

Sandcrab said:


> I dunno about that -* My Shimano Curado 300 EJ retrieves 32" of line per crank!*
> 
> Sandcrab


True, but only on a FULL spool of line. Not right after the cast.


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## bronzbck1 (Jun 13, 2007)

If your throwing a conventional on Cape Point for Spanish don't throw it beside me. Don't worry I will let you know who I am


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## 9 rock (Nov 30, 2008)

No worries there he will be spending most of the time untangling birds nests ,, 

9


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Spinners are great for plugs because you can cast mindlessly. Chuck the hell out of it hard as you can, then on the next cast lob it a short bit if you need too. Generally faster retrieve makes a difference, and no worries if there's a sudden wind gust, you keep right on chucking. While baitcasters/conventionals get you a little more distance in specific situations (heavy dense lures, tailwind), spinners give you more time with lure in water. This makes a bigger difference than a few extra feet.

My heaviest use for surf style casting of lures has been fishing bucktails, spoons, and plugs in tailraces for stripers. While baitcasters and conventionals could outdistance my spinner casts in some situations, they weren't as friendly for quickly casting and retrieving and repeating. I did always get a kick out of seeing how far a big Hopkins spoon flew with a TASR and a tuned Millionaire 4H, so did the guys fishing around me. When the fish were biting though, it's all spinner.

Funny thing, I find bass fishing from boat/kayak to be just the opposite--I can work a lot more water more easily with a baitcaster than with a spinner.


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## Furball (Sep 20, 2002)

I have not thrown conventional for spanish at the point but I have done so for blues and backlashes have not be a problem. But then, I am usually throwing with monofilament. Braid raises the chance of an uncontrollable backlash considerably. I usually out cast most of the folks around me but I am a little obsessed with distance so I work on my casting a lot - where as most folks don't -- hence the extra distance. As for retrieval speed, I find it much easier to turn a small spindle -- as what you typically find on a conventional like an Abu 6500 -- than the much larger one on a spinning reel. As I wrote before, for me, it comes down to ergonomics; a conventional outfit feels much lighter than spinning. I can cast a 10 1/2 foot conventional rod longer than I can cast a 9 foot spinner, hence the extra distance.


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## BaitWaster (Jan 8, 2004)

Since the NPS buggered up CAHA, I do a lot more boat feeshin'. A lot. And troll quite a bit for Spanish. My normal trolling speed is ~ 6 mph for Spanish and 5ish for bluefish (catch for live baiting) which calculates to 8.8 ft per sec. So gives you an idea how many RPMs you need to put that retrieve speed in a cast lure. More or less. 

That said a tuned, conventional level wind like a 5500 Mag Elite with the higher speed gear ratio and a slower action rod like a Spanish Buster is just fun to cast. For lighter lures like Deadly Dicks, spinning is a lot simpler. 

(maybe now P&S won't fuss at me for not posting ;-) )


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## Furball (Sep 20, 2002)

I used a 5500 CS Rocket with a Allstar Spanish Buster. I still have Rocket and am in the process of building a Century 1265.


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## dlpetrey (Oct 30, 2013)

I've heard great things about that 1265. I've got a nice 5500 Rocket too. Perhaps I need to build something like that as well!


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

I prefer spinning personally, but I do know that a buddy EdK and his 5500 mag and I believe a 1265 could smoke check us for distance.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

dlpetrey said:


> I've heard great things about that 1265.


I've built 5 of them! Loaned out my conventional one and you know what happened to that - broke! Still keep the spinners ready to go with metal for any school fish that come down the DE/MD coast!

Sandcrab


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