Baitcasting Jargon

[mrbrklyn]

The marketing jargon is getting over whelming.  What is a bait casting reel?

[oc1]

Baitcasting reel..... A conventional reel (revolving spool) designed for casting light weights.  I think the name has been used for over a hundred years (probably 130 years) but doubt there is a clear definition.  It is a misnomer to some extent because baitcasting reels excel at and are most often used for casting artificial lures, not bait.  A baitcasting reel is not a spinning (fixed spool) reel, not a spincast reel, not a trolling reel, not a deep jigging reel, not a lever drag reel.  I don't know if or where there is a dividing line between baitcasting reels and conventional surf casting reels.   Baitcasting reels probably started with the direct drive Kentucky reels. Most baitcasting reels have had multiplying gears and a levelwind mechanism since about the 1920's.  All modern baitcasting reels have disengaging spools, star drags and spool brakes.  Modern baitcasting reels are divided into the traditional round reels and oblong low profile reels.
-steve

[sdlehr]

Thanks!!  Although this sentence underlines the problem with the jaargon

The problem isn't with the jargon. We need words to distinguish the differences between these reels; other words would pose the same "problem". The problem is that you do not yet know the jargon. It'll come if you are persistent.

Why are spinners called fixed spindle and how are the baitcasters disengaged?

I have heard "fixed spool", not "fixed spindle", and because the spools do not rotate, they are "fixed", as in "not moving". There are various mechanisms for disengaging the spool in baitcasters, all involve a clutch mechanism that engages/disengages some parts of the drive train or the spool from the pinion gear.



Sid

[Aiala]

The problem isn't with the jargon. We need words to distinguish the differences between these reels...

A-yuh, and as if that weren't enough, how would one go about jargonizing the sui generis Alvey sidecast reel, which casts like a fixed-spool spinner:



and after being swiveled to the side, retrieves like a fly reel!



Say what??!    

~A~

[sdlehr]

and after being swiveled to the side, retrieves like a fly reel!

And when fighting a big fish breaks off the rod at the pivot point.... !!!! No thank you.

Sid

[MarkT]

A baitcaster is a small level wind reel. Lexa, Curado, Calcutta, Ambassadeur. You know it when you see it.

[Cor]

A baitcaster is a small level wind reel. Lexa, Curado, Calcutta, Ambassadeur. You know it when you see it.

The word "small" was what I thought was missing in
oc1's detailed description.

[oc1]

Aiala, I think side cast reels are side cast reels.  Not a spinning reel and not a fly reel.  The Malloch may have been the first side cast reel because they had a patent for them in 1880.  Alvey was founded about 1920.  Spinning reels did not came along until the 1940's.  The origin of the first fly reels may be lost to history.  Some think fly reels, or a gizmo that served the same purpose, could date back to China about 400 A.D.

The first Kentucky reel was made by George Snyder about 1810.  It had multiplying gears, wide spool and was about the same size as what we call a baitcasting reel, but it was used like a fly reel.  There may have been little distinction between fly reels and baitcasting reels during this time.  The fly reels had gears (Sun and Planet reels) and wide spools but were cast like a fly rod with the line providing the weight and momentum.  The same reel might then be used with heavy bait and cast like a baitcaster with the bait and/or weight providing the bulk of the momentum.

The Kentucky reels the Meek brothers started making in the 1830's seem to have been purpose-built for casting heavier weight so maybe these should be considered the first baitcasters.  About this same time the New York reel was being developed using many of the same features although the reels were larger.  Perhaps these were the first trolling reels.

I'm sure there are good books out there that can lay it all out in more detail and with more credibility. 
-steve

[Alto Mare]

A little more info available on line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_reel

[mo65]

A little more info available on line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_reel

That's interesting they refer to conventionals only as trolling reels. Must have been a golfer who wrote this up... At my HQ we call anything with a rotating spool a "casting" reel...whether they're fly casting, lure casting, bait casting, or even dropping it off the side of the boat. Keeps things simple, and with my limited education, simple is good!  

[Yogi_fish808]

Haha and then you have a regional definition of "baitcasting" here in hawaii that really helps make things clear as mud. Reels from jigmaster 500 to 114hlw can me used to "baitcast" a weighted rig and bait 100+ yards from shore. Although typically a baitcasting reel is in the range of jigmaster size here vs a "slide bait" reel which usually will be larger and range from 113h to possibly 115h for really big anglers with huge hands launching 9-14oz lead weights and 60-100lb mono on a heavy 13' ultra stiff rod.

[oc1]

We should try to keep this up until we are all as confused as MrBrklyn.  MarkT probably says it best.... You know it when you see it.
-steve