BLOG: Choose your weapon

This is a topic I have written a fair bit about and one I've previously taken a fairly hardline approach with. I'm a diehard spin rod advocate; due to my pedigree there probably could have been no other possible outcome. I was raised on spin gear. It just feels natural to me to use a spin rod, almost second nature like riding a bike.

My theory is that a spin set-up balances better when a rod is loaded up and you don’t have to fight the fish as well as the torsion of a reel trying to twist in your hand and end up underneath the rod. My most recent trip to the Top End has put that theory in jeopardy...

On my previous trip I'd made a point of showing the locals what a fisho can do with a spin rod. The creeks we fished were fairly tame at the time and the neaps meant the water flow was negligible. I had a field day casting to bank side structure and landed all manner of tropical sportfish. Without big-noting too much I think I'm a pretty accurate caster with spin gear.

Now fast forward to the latest trip when the run-off was gushing hard from the flood plain and the full moon was a few days away. The building tides exacerbated the water movement and made flicking soft plastics an absolute nightmare - it required extra patience to work them efficiently.
We were fishing the upper reaches of the South Alligator River, which at its upper limits is quite narrow. I was using 7' & 6'6" spin rods that had had me feeling very cramped as I flicked lures in such tight quarters. In comparison the local boys on their 5'6” baitcasters were having a ball. Sean Cremin and John Snapper hit every nook and cranny on the shoreline possible. Once their lures touched down they had the slack well removed and were commencing retrieves with hard body lures adjacent to the stumps.

What was surprising was that some casts they made were no longer than 3 metres from the boat and they felt confident barra would still inhale a lure without regard for the intruders above them. It was real eye-opening stuff!

While I can use a baitcaster pretty well, I got a firsthand lesson on good casting. It was time to pull my head in and concede that at certain times and in certain places, the baitcaster rules. Mind you I dug my heels in like a stubborn mule. I never relinquished the spin rod, even though I knew deep down inside I was using an inferior tool for the task at hand...

I caught my fair share of fish, that wasn’t in dispute. But the fun factor could have been higher. There’s a great sense of achievement when you use the right tool for job.

Which outfit do you prefer to use and why?