• Fishing with a baitcasting reel can help you more accurately place your lures.fisher image by Irina Kodentseva from Fotolia.com
  
  Baitcasting rods are popular choices among experienced fishermen. While the rods provide the benefit of increased control over casting for a fisherman who is comfortable with their use, they are not as easy for a beginning fisherman to get used to. Once you take time to practice using a baitcaster, however, you can be more effective on the water and increase your average haul.
  
  

Matchmaking

• When setting up a line, it is important that the materials used all work together. It is a common mistake to get caught up in the notion that baitcasters work best with lighter lure setups and in turn to mismatch your gear. Ensuring that the reel, rod, lure setup and line are all designed for similar tensions will allow your rod to operate at its smoothest.
  
  

Training Your Thumb

• Unlike mechanical rods, baitcasters rely on the user to stop the feeding of line when the lure is at the appropriate distance. In order to become accurate at this process, it is important to train your thumb to the feeling of slowing and stopping the line. A great way to accomplish this is to sit with the line while sitting around relaxing or watching television: repeatedly allow the lure to drop, slow it and stop it close to the ground with your thumb on the spool, then reel it back up to drop again.
  
  

Gripping the Rod

• When fishing with a mechanical rod, many fishermen like to hold their rod upright when casting. However, this is not ideal for a baitcasting reel. To properly cast, the thumb is pressed down on the thumb bar to loosen the spool, as well as the spool to keep it from spinning when you don't want it to; then the wrist is turned over so that the side of the reel is facing up. This orientation is maintained throughout casting.
  
  

Throw Timing

• Properly timing the release on the spool while casting is every bit as important as the timing of stopping the lure at the right distance. The thumb is kept with full pressure throughout the entire backswing as well as the first half of the swing forward. At the midpoint of the forward throwing motion, pressure is eased off until the spool is fully free to spin as the forward throw concludes.
  
  

Practice Makes Perfect

• Trying out a baitcasting reel for the first time on the water is a recipe for frustration. Practicing while not out fishing is the key to learning to use your reel so you are ready when the fish are. Start practicing while aiming at a target that is near you. Do not attempt to jump right into long tosses. Slowly increase your casting distance as you become more successful at shorter ranges.