What's wrong with spincast reels?

[Dewey Cox]

Not to derail another thread, I'll ask here.
What do people have against closed face spincast reels? It seems to me that people find them low class or something. Many times I've felt pressure to change to something else, but always come back to the spincast.
I'm all ears.
Convince me.

[winger7mm]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Not to derail another thread, I'll ask here.
What do people have against closed face spincast reels? It seems to me that people find them low class or something. Many times I've felt pressure to change to something else, but always come back to the spincast.
I'm all ears.
Convince me.

Well, they are for kids first off as they are easy to use, just release your thumb lol. In all seriousness, nothing is wrong with them, same as an open face of bait caster, or fly reel. They all have there use. I tried bait cast once, nothing but spools upon spools of rat nests. Open face works for me I can cast really accuratly and I can cast really far if need be. IME I have had more rats nests in spincast reels then anything else, I would rather fish then tie new line. I also Have a few extra spools for my open face, such as different line weights or multiple of the same weights in case some thing happens

[ghostguy6]

In my experiance they jam up alot more and wear out the line faster.If you need to take the spool off you also need a wrench. I have yet to find one that felt well built. Another draw back I found is you can not see the line so if your paying out alot of line you never know how much you have left until its too late. Also they dont seem to have the line capacity of other reels.

Really though its a matter of personal preferance, if your happy with the reel you have now why change?

[Okotokian]

maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I just found a lot of rats nests of line using them. Mind you, mine were cheap. I prefer spinning reels for that reason. Never thought of it in terms of "class".

[BeeGuy]

The fact you cannot see the line on the spool means that you cannot do any preventative maintenance.

Is there a loose loop of line on the spool? who knows

Because the line has to pass through the little hole in the top there is unnecessary wear on the line and twisting due to the extra angles the line must move through.

This also reduces the cranking power and drag effectiveness.

However, they're fun for small fish and if yours works well, then who cares.

[Gust]

I had an abu closed face for years until I ran over it, mind you I had other open face reels as well - one mitchell I still use as it just wont die and an old plueger -. But that abu would cast like no other and the drag was fine and realistic,, however many of the new ones are kid focused for dinker fish and the drag rarely works, but there are some nice ones, you just need to look around a bit more. But, as most have noted, if it works for you, bobs your uncle as they say.

[jackrabbit000]

There's nothing wrong with spincast reels. I use a Shimano spinning reel but my cousin has always used a spincast and simply doesn't like spinning reels. Use whatever you feel most comfortable with.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Nothing wrong with them but spinning and bait caster are better and smoother in my opinion but then again I don't know much .

[cube]

I happen to like spincast reels especially for beginners. I have always thought that they got a bad rap primarily because most people’s first experience with them was with a $4 dollar Wal-Mart special that let in every bit of grit and had tin foil for gears.

The disadvantages that I have found with them though

1. Total line capacity. If you have one break off you have very little line left if a big fish decides to take a run. I have had to chase a number of fish because I was getting very close to the end of the line capacity (you also have to guess at this as you can't really see how much is left).

2. The drags are not as smooth and consistent as more expensive bait casters and spinning reels (though probably about as good as cheap spinning and bait casters)

3. both spincast and spinning reels twist line if you reel when fish is taking drag. Bait casters don't.

4. Spincast don't handle large heavy musky plugs well. They seem to have a large amount of strain on the button and I think it puts a large amount of strain on the line at the pin.

5. Most spincast are not compatible with braided lines.

6. When the line wraps under the rotor (above the normal spooling area it is a bugger to get out and like mentioned before you may need a tool that you don't happen to have with you at the time.

I do believe though that if reel manufactures wanted to they could overcome most if not all these disadvantages but they don't really seem to want to. I also believe it would be very easy to write a list on the short comings of the other reel types as well

[Sushi]

I always preferred a spincast...in fact, I hated spinning reels until I tried one with braided line instead of mono. Made a huge difference for me, I'll never go back to spincast or mono line.

[pike_king780]

Spincast is for grandmas and children, baitcast or spinning the way to go..

[ericlin0122]

taking about smooth... wait till you cast a centerpin