07-15-2007, 04:52 AM
I was out fishing on our little 1 acre bass pond this afternoon, I had some lures I wanted to test out, and I wanted to get in some refresher practice with my LH retrieve Shimano BassOne Mag baitcast setup (BassOneMag on a Medium action 5' Berkely Lightning Rod Pro)
I adjusted the reel and tossed out a 3/4 oz Coach Dog pattern Hula Popper, and was rewarded with a swirl on the third "Bloop!", but the fish seemed more interested in playing with the lure, tailslapping it and such....
long story short, i tried out a few lures, and came to the following conclusion....
Hula Poppers are great lures, but using them on a spinning setup is a definite recipie for line snarl, a baitcaster is much better for working a hula popper, but forget decent casting if you're dealing with a headwind....
the time i spent with the casting setup reminded me why i put it away in the first place, even when properly adjusted and thumbed during the cast, it's casting performance couldn't compare with my spinning setups, and the inevitable rats nests, though rare, were very frustrating, thankfully i brought my Ultralight rig and my Medium Light rigs down as well, or i would have probably ended up chopping the baitcasting reel into little, tiny bits, and then jumping on them until i could think of something even more unpleasant to do to them....
I wanted to get a reel that combined the long casts of a spiining rig, with the line control of a casting setup
It was at that time that my nephew (5 year old fishing fanatic) came down with his little Zebco 202 setup i gave him, i helped him set it up put on a lure (he loves fishing the Jitterbug), and after a bit, he wanted to try out one of my spinning rigs, i let him try my Ultralight, and i took a few casts with his rig.....
it got me thinking, "maybe spincast isn't as bad as i remember", yes the 202 was/is a pretty weak setup, it could barely handle his 1/4 oz spinnerbait, as the blade produced far too much hydrodynamic drag, i could hear his reel grinding in protest from 5 feet away, but it cast easily, and worked fine with lightweight/low drag lures
I started researching spincasting reels, i wanted something that cast well, had a smooth retrieve, and was built to last, no cheap, disposable Zebco 202 for me, thanks
I happened upon the Daiwa Goldcast series, rugged, well built, simple reels, they've been around for a long time and seem to be a time-tested, proven design, i prefer simplicity in a reel, and the Goldcast impressed me with it's solid, durable construction, good heft, and nice, smooth drag, and this was just playing around with it in the store, not even mounted on a rod.....
I decided to take a chance, and purchased it, got into the car, dismounted my Bass-One Mag, and mounted the Goldcast, and drove down to Bartlett's Brook, intending to catch some hornpout.....
I clipped on a balsa stick bobber, and hooked up a nightcrawler, and made the first cast with the Goldcast.....
it tossed the bobber/worm rig easily, a nice, far cast, at least three times the distance that the baitcaster rig was capable of, and with far more accuracy than the baitcaster, i could drop the worm rig exactly where i wanted, with no worries about line snarls and rats nests
ly, the hornpout, and even the eels were uncooperative, so i switched over to a 1/4 oz silver Kastmaster, it cast like a bullet, almost to the end of the water, casting distance was almost equal to my spinning rig, the retrieve was smooth and strong, the reel felt nice and solid, it's aluminum frame kept everything aligned properly this is no wussy, plastic bodied light-duty reel, this is a solidly made, high quality fishing tool, able to hold it's own with both spinning and baitcasting tackle....
How strong is this reel, well, let me tell you.....
on my last cast in Bartletts, the Kastmaster flew high, and the line arced over the branch of a pine tree overhanging the water....
frell... looks like I was about to lose that lure, I began reeling back, fully expecting the line to break when the Kastmaster got caught up in the tree limb....
as expected, the lure entered the pine needles and lodged solidly, snapping the rod back only drove the hooks into the branch harder, the lure was stuck, great, now i'll have to break the line and buy another Kastmaster....
since i had nothing to lose, i climbed up the banking and headed for the road, the drag smoothly feeding line out, no binding, no stuttering, just a nice buttery smooth line feed, very controllable...
the lure was as good as lost, so i cranked the drag up as high as it would go, and pulled straight back against the tree branch.....
PWING!.....ZING......KLINK....clatter.....
*something* shot past me, inches from my head, bounced and skittered off the pavement, and lodged in the grass across the road, I frantically reeled the line back in, expecting the inevitable broken line, as the line was put back on the spool, there was an unexpected weight at the other end of the line.....
could it be?....
as i reeled in the final line, i saw the familiar silver glint of the Kastmaster, it was *still connected*!! i DIDN'T lose my lure, the Daiwa Goldcast was strong enough to pull it free of the pine tree!
as i lifted the lure to my hand, i could see it had taken on a few battle scars from it's skitter across the road and bouncing off a metal guardrail post, there was a rather deep gouge in the tail of the lure, right above the rear treble split ring, *and*, amazingly enough, one of the treble hooks had been slightly straightened out, the Goldcast was able to put enough force on the line to partialy straighten one of the hooks on the rear treble!
Impressive, most impressive... and it was only 10 pound test line to boot....
the Goldcast survived it's trial by fire admirably, the drag worked flawlessly, and the gear train withstood a large amount of pulling force, a lesser spincast reel would probably have self-destructed under the strain of dislodging the Kastmaster, or at least sustained *some* damage to the geartrain
After getting home, i decided to go back down to the pond with some topwaters and see how the Goldcast performed in an unrestricted area, where i could throw for some real distance, i'd also be able to see how it worked as a Hula Popper rig....
I grabbed my topwater box, and my Princeton Tec EOS LED headlamp, slathered myself down with Naturapel bug repellent** and walked down to the pond
the Goldcast casts exceptionally well when you have a nice, unrestricted casting area, it casts almost as well as my Shimano Sedona and Sonora reels, i'd say about 90% as well as those high-performance spinning reels, truly an impressive casting spincast, it's not as fast on the retrieve (4.1;1 for the Goldcast, 5.2:1 for the Sedona/Sonora), but it's not bad either
It's also a great Hula Popper rig, it's got the casting distance of a good spinning reel, and the line control of a baitcast, after a good half-hour of Hula Popper-ing (Is so a word....now...
) there is no sign of line snarl
the Daiwa Goldcast is a great, high quality spincast reel, if you're looking for a simple pick-up-and-go rig for times when you don't want to deal with the eccentricities of spinning or baitcasting, or you're looking for a good, solid backup/loaner rig, the Goldcast is a great setup, it's also a great night-fishing rig, you can cast all evening and not have to worry about rats nests in a baitcast, or line snarl after tossing lightweight/slack line lures with a spinning rig
I had always looked down on spincast, i saw it as a beginners/kids setup, serious anglers use spinning or baitcasting setups, spincasting was clearly for novices/kids/the lazy, or people who didn't care for the intricacies of fishing, it was the "automatic transmission" of fishing, the "point-and-click" camera of fishing, something only "noobs", kids, or the lazy use....
that view was based purely on my past experience with *cheap* spincast equipment, the low end Zebco and Shakespeare reels, a high-end spincast, like the Daiwa Goldcast, paired with a good, solid rod can hold it's own with spinning and baitcasting, the Goldcast is highly reccomended
Goldcast Pros;
Long casting
smooth drag
solid Aluminum frame
strong, powerful gears
Oscillating spool for smooth line-wrap and no digging in when fighting large fish (or pulling your lures out of Lure-Eating Trees )
Ball Bearing drive
rotating pick-up pin for reduced linewear
Selectable Anti-Reverse
Right or Left hand retrieve
Goldcast Cons;
anti-reverse clicker is annoying
palming the reel is difficult, but doable
drag adjustment dial turns too easily, drag setting could potentially be changed when fighting a fish if the reel is "palmed"
Changes i'd make to the Goldcast series
add in an Infinite Anti-Reverse feature
silence the Anti-Reverse (no clicker, please)
add thumbrests to the sides of the reel for increased control without having to palm the reel
upgrade the line ring at the cap of the reel to a Ceramic, or Titanium line ring
coat the inside of the cap with an anti-friction compound (teflon?)
slightly increase the size of the line ring to reduce casting friction
these are basically minor tweaks, and would enhance functionality with minimal impact on the reel's design
I'd rate the Daiwa Goldcast at 9.0 on a scale of 1-10, when compared against other spincasting reels, highly reccomended
(**our local Maine mosquitoes are the size of small Cessnas and are incredibly tenacious and bloodthirsty, if the tiniest area of skin/clothing is missing bug spray, they *will* find it, the only really effective repellent is Bens 100 (100% DEET), but DEET bug sprays are a bit nasty, especially Ben's 100....)
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I adjusted the reel and tossed out a 3/4 oz Coach Dog pattern Hula Popper, and was rewarded with a swirl on the third "Bloop!", but the fish seemed more interested in playing with the lure, tailslapping it and such....
long story short, i tried out a few lures, and came to the following conclusion....
Hula Poppers are great lures, but using them on a spinning setup is a definite recipie for line snarl, a baitcaster is much better for working a hula popper, but forget decent casting if you're dealing with a headwind....
the time i spent with the casting setup reminded me why i put it away in the first place, even when properly adjusted and thumbed during the cast, it's casting performance couldn't compare with my spinning setups, and the inevitable rats nests, though rare, were very frustrating, thankfully i brought my Ultralight rig and my Medium Light rigs down as well, or i would have probably ended up chopping the baitcasting reel into little, tiny bits, and then jumping on them until i could think of something even more unpleasant to do to them....
I wanted to get a reel that combined the long casts of a spiining rig, with the line control of a casting setup
It was at that time that my nephew (5 year old fishing fanatic) came down with his little Zebco 202 setup i gave him, i helped him set it up put on a lure (he loves fishing the Jitterbug), and after a bit, he wanted to try out one of my spinning rigs, i let him try my Ultralight, and i took a few casts with his rig.....
it got me thinking, "maybe spincast isn't as bad as i remember", yes the 202 was/is a pretty weak setup, it could barely handle his 1/4 oz spinnerbait, as the blade produced far too much hydrodynamic drag, i could hear his reel grinding in protest from 5 feet away, but it cast easily, and worked fine with lightweight/low drag lures
I started researching spincasting reels, i wanted something that cast well, had a smooth retrieve, and was built to last, no cheap, disposable Zebco 202 for me, thanks
I happened upon the Daiwa Goldcast series, rugged, well built, simple reels, they've been around for a long time and seem to be a time-tested, proven design, i prefer simplicity in a reel, and the Goldcast impressed me with it's solid, durable construction, good heft, and nice, smooth drag, and this was just playing around with it in the store, not even mounted on a rod.....
I decided to take a chance, and purchased it, got into the car, dismounted my Bass-One Mag, and mounted the Goldcast, and drove down to Bartlett's Brook, intending to catch some hornpout.....
I clipped on a balsa stick bobber, and hooked up a nightcrawler, and made the first cast with the Goldcast.....
it tossed the bobber/worm rig easily, a nice, far cast, at least three times the distance that the baitcaster rig was capable of, and with far more accuracy than the baitcaster, i could drop the worm rig exactly where i wanted, with no worries about line snarls and rats nests
ly, the hornpout, and even the eels were uncooperative, so i switched over to a 1/4 oz silver Kastmaster, it cast like a bullet, almost to the end of the water, casting distance was almost equal to my spinning rig, the retrieve was smooth and strong, the reel felt nice and solid, it's aluminum frame kept everything aligned properly this is no wussy, plastic bodied light-duty reel, this is a solidly made, high quality fishing tool, able to hold it's own with both spinning and baitcasting tackle....How strong is this reel, well, let me tell you.....
on my last cast in Bartletts, the Kastmaster flew high, and the line arced over the branch of a pine tree overhanging the water....
frell... looks like I was about to lose that lure, I began reeling back, fully expecting the line to break when the Kastmaster got caught up in the tree limb....
as expected, the lure entered the pine needles and lodged solidly, snapping the rod back only drove the hooks into the branch harder, the lure was stuck, great, now i'll have to break the line and buy another Kastmaster....
since i had nothing to lose, i climbed up the banking and headed for the road, the drag smoothly feeding line out, no binding, no stuttering, just a nice buttery smooth line feed, very controllable...
the lure was as good as lost, so i cranked the drag up as high as it would go, and pulled straight back against the tree branch.....
PWING!.....ZING......KLINK....clatter.....
*something* shot past me, inches from my head, bounced and skittered off the pavement, and lodged in the grass across the road, I frantically reeled the line back in, expecting the inevitable broken line, as the line was put back on the spool, there was an unexpected weight at the other end of the line.....
could it be?....
as i reeled in the final line, i saw the familiar silver glint of the Kastmaster, it was *still connected*!! i DIDN'T lose my lure, the Daiwa Goldcast was strong enough to pull it free of the pine tree!
as i lifted the lure to my hand, i could see it had taken on a few battle scars from it's skitter across the road and bouncing off a metal guardrail post, there was a rather deep gouge in the tail of the lure, right above the rear treble split ring, *and*, amazingly enough, one of the treble hooks had been slightly straightened out, the Goldcast was able to put enough force on the line to partialy straighten one of the hooks on the rear treble!
Impressive, most impressive... and it was only 10 pound test line to boot....
the Goldcast survived it's trial by fire admirably, the drag worked flawlessly, and the gear train withstood a large amount of pulling force, a lesser spincast reel would probably have self-destructed under the strain of dislodging the Kastmaster, or at least sustained *some* damage to the geartrain
After getting home, i decided to go back down to the pond with some topwaters and see how the Goldcast performed in an unrestricted area, where i could throw for some real distance, i'd also be able to see how it worked as a Hula Popper rig....
I grabbed my topwater box, and my Princeton Tec EOS LED headlamp, slathered myself down with Naturapel bug repellent** and walked down to the pond
the Goldcast casts exceptionally well when you have a nice, unrestricted casting area, it casts almost as well as my Shimano Sedona and Sonora reels, i'd say about 90% as well as those high-performance spinning reels, truly an impressive casting spincast, it's not as fast on the retrieve (4.1;1 for the Goldcast, 5.2:1 for the Sedona/Sonora), but it's not bad either
It's also a great Hula Popper rig, it's got the casting distance of a good spinning reel, and the line control of a baitcast, after a good half-hour of Hula Popper-ing (Is so a word....now...
) there is no sign of line snarlthe Daiwa Goldcast is a great, high quality spincast reel, if you're looking for a simple pick-up-and-go rig for times when you don't want to deal with the eccentricities of spinning or baitcasting, or you're looking for a good, solid backup/loaner rig, the Goldcast is a great setup, it's also a great night-fishing rig, you can cast all evening and not have to worry about rats nests in a baitcast, or line snarl after tossing lightweight/slack line lures with a spinning rig
I had always looked down on spincast, i saw it as a beginners/kids setup, serious anglers use spinning or baitcasting setups, spincasting was clearly for novices/kids/the lazy, or people who didn't care for the intricacies of fishing, it was the "automatic transmission" of fishing, the "point-and-click" camera of fishing, something only "noobs", kids, or the lazy use....
that view was based purely on my past experience with *cheap* spincast equipment, the low end Zebco and Shakespeare reels, a high-end spincast, like the Daiwa Goldcast, paired with a good, solid rod can hold it's own with spinning and baitcasting, the Goldcast is highly reccomended
Goldcast Pros;
Long casting
smooth drag
solid Aluminum frame
strong, powerful gears
Oscillating spool for smooth line-wrap and no digging in when fighting large fish (or pulling your lures out of Lure-Eating Trees
)Ball Bearing drive
rotating pick-up pin for reduced linewear
Selectable Anti-Reverse
Right or Left hand retrieve
Goldcast Cons;
anti-reverse clicker is annoying
palming the reel is difficult, but doable
drag adjustment dial turns too easily, drag setting could potentially be changed when fighting a fish if the reel is "palmed"
Changes i'd make to the Goldcast series
add in an Infinite Anti-Reverse feature
silence the Anti-Reverse (no clicker, please)
add thumbrests to the sides of the reel for increased control without having to palm the reel
upgrade the line ring at the cap of the reel to a Ceramic, or Titanium line ring
coat the inside of the cap with an anti-friction compound (teflon?)
slightly increase the size of the line ring to reduce casting friction
these are basically minor tweaks, and would enhance functionality with minimal impact on the reel's design
I'd rate the Daiwa Goldcast at 9.0 on a scale of 1-10, when compared against other spincasting reels, highly reccomended
(**our local Maine mosquitoes are the size of small Cessnas and are incredibly tenacious and bloodthirsty, if the tiniest area of skin/clothing is missing bug spray, they *will* find it, the only really effective repellent is Bens 100 (100% DEET), but DEET bug sprays are a bit nasty, especially Ben's 100....)
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