A spinning rod might be able to "bow-and-arrow cast" a lure 20 feet - maximum. A casting rod would be capable of a shorter "bow-and-arrow cast" distance, and a fly rod "bow and arrow cast"
even less. Whatever "power" is built into a fish pole it isn't much. Still, there is no denying some rods will cast a noticeably farther than other rods of the same length. The physics of these facts are beyond me?

Have you tried bow fishing? I kid.

Imagine if you will all three rods are identical all the way down to the line. Also the casting rod is spiral wrapped. The only difference would be the reels. The blank does not know how it is built. It maintains the same properties. The resistance in the reels is where the difference will be. A spinning bale is static and line just falls off of it. The bait caster has to generate force to get the spool to spin on an axle. The fly reel....well it just doesn't work like that. Thank you for the mental brake I needed from work.

I have never seen a b&a cast that took line from the reel, any style! Those that I know use it always pull some line from the reel before making the cast.

I have only performed dock shooting for crappie and bass with a spinnin rod. I always flipped bale and pulled back then let it rip. Am I doing it wrong?

I did not mean to suggest a B&A cast would pull line off the reel - even if the clicker was off! The reel doesn't cast - it only winds on or unwinds line. There isn't enough energy stored and then released by a fishing rod to cast 15 feet. How, then, can a rod the same length as another rod and using the same and the same weight line out-cast the second rod by a lot more than 15 feet?

If you really want to develop your technique you you need a quick light tip rod spinning rod and a good quality trigger flip spinning reel . Personally I use a Shimano 2000 Solstace , on a 37in. solid glass ice fishing blank . It allows me to practice the moves in places an develop the feel and the moves without having to seek great wide open spaces and places . I can lock off the line at what ever length the space will allow with heavy rubber a rubber band around the spool .

As a kid when I bow and arrow cast in small overgrown creeks I would bow and arrow with a fly rod for rainbow trout. I hardly ever tried to peel off too much line because the casts were rarely more than 10 feet. I moved to the South and have not fly fished much since. Here I found I could bow and arrow cast Rooster tails, spin flys, and crappie jigs under lake docks to get to the fish on the inside of the dock owners Christmas tree. I use a 6'6" or 7' ultralight spinning rod and I do not strip line and let it pull off the bale instead. When I first tried to do it peeling line before the cast the line went through the guides tangled and made quite a mess. probably because it was a few months old 6# fluorocarbon. Since then I just let it pull off the bale and I can skip all the way under the docks and cast in air about 20 yards.

Paul and Aaron, you both rescued this thread..lol..good tips..i had been thinking of getting a quick fire type reel for B and A casting but i need another reel like i need another grey hair in my beard..lol. Paul you pushed me over the edge, thanks..now i have someone to blame..lol..

Ben,

One can never have too many reels, just not enough rods. I like to buy reels and then pitch to the wife that I need to build another personal rod to put the reel to use. I bought a Low gear ratio reel for throwing Huds and A-rigs last week. This week I received the swimbait blank and components because the reel cant just collect dust right? Would be a waste to have a reel with no purpose. Sometimes it works. Not really though.

Now you have my interest. What kind of rod works best with a quick-fire reel? Fast action, I imagine, but what kind of guides and guide wraps work best to bring out the quickness in the reel?

Phil Ewanicki Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now you have my interest. What kind of rod works
> best with a quick-fire reel? Fast action, I
> imagine, but what kind of guides and guide wraps
> work best to bring out the quickness in the reel?

Phil,

That is a great idea to use the quick fire. This way you aren't pinching the line at high angle to the stripping guide. I would try to pair action with lure weight. The greater effect would be the speed at which the rod returns to it's state of rest or it's frequency. It would need to have good power at the apex of the bend when in the potential state of the cast or when drawn all the way back.

If I was tasked right now to make a panfish dock shooter with a quick fire I would try a 3-4 weight fly rod with KR. Throwing no bigger than 4# fluorocarbon. If I was making a shooting stick for stream trout I would try a 3 weight. Now for bass I would build on an 8 weight fly blank or something similar to shoot 1/10 oz weedless Ned rigs under brush when the river is high using 6-8# fluorocarbon. I have never seen this done and I am really wanting to build this now just to attempt the technique. I would use KR concept on all because it does better line management on the lighter lines. I would size the guides depending on blank and reel properties.

Shimano used to have a casting style "quick fire" I think it was a scorpion model. I would only use the spinning style.

Guess I will have to buy a quick fire reel and explain that I need a rod for it.