Baitfeeder Reels & Sturgeon Report

Just wondering if anyone has used any of the baitfeeder spinning reels out there? I have recently been looking at the Okuma Avenger ABF “B” series to add to my sturgeon setup.

I know this isn’t a necessary feature, but the recent IDO episode got me interested in the concept since they were using the baitfeeder feature on their baitcasting setup and the tick of the line going out alerting them to a bite. For those who have used either the baitcasting or spinning reels with this feature, would you ever go back to fishing for sturgeon without it?

Our group was up on the Rainy from 4/22-4/26. We fished Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and looking back on our time up there I wish we had staid a few more days.

Thursday and Friday were really slow for my boat and our group as a whole. We mostly fished around the Baudette area and we were catching more redhorse than Sturgeon. Although it was slow the first two days, our biggest fish came on Thursday and Friday. These were highlighted by my FW personal best 61″ (pic of her sitting) on Thursday evening and a 56″ (pic of her standing) that gave our boat some excitement as the fish got tangled up in the anchor. After some maneuvering and handing off the pole a couple times, we were able to get the line free and the fight ensued.

Saturday was the nicest day of our trip and the most active. We fished out of Clementson and the bite definitely started to pick up. I heard a couple of different reports that Sunday was even better. I’ve included a few pics from our boat. Can’t wait until next year.

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Look at all the Tiger rods! Those are great sturgeon rods. Looks like a good time when the sun was shining!

looks like a great time
i own quite a few of the Okuma reels. the Avenger series are good reels, i would recommend a 65 or bigger series they have a beefier handle but thats just me. ive had a few for many many yrs now and they hold up well.
that Saltstrikers are made by Okuma just homebranded for Cabelas thats all. sum minor differences but not much.
u’ll be happy with those reels
as u already know technically u dont need the baitfeeder option for struggies as they rarely hit hard enough to pull clicker but every once in a while u’ll have those rockets that hammer the bait like a freight train thats when having a clicker is nice =)
plus its super cool to hear.

If using a circle hook, a bait feeder on a spinning reel or the line out alarm on a bait caster isn’t needed.

I know there are some that use them but it’s really pointless when using a circle hook.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

If using a circle hook, a bait feeder on a spinning reel or the line out alarm on a bait caster isn’t needed.

Now seriously Brian, if there isn’t an alarm, what’s going to wake me up when I have a bite? I suppose I could use a bell on the rod tip, or take a buddy who will stay awake.

Boone

For those who have used either the baitcasting or spinning reels with this feature, would you ever go back to fishing for sturgeon without it?

Thought I’d toss up ths picture because I like the Tiger rods as well.

Anyway, I never use the alarm/BF. We use circle hooks and when we get a bite we leave the rod in the holder and start cranking the reel like mad. Once the rod has loaded up we remove from the holder.

I don’t think there is a right or wrong way for these fish. It comes down to confidence.

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Good looking fish.

I never run clickers on circle hooks. Only J hooks.

Bells or my eyes are the bite indicators.

If they take off and run – hook is already set and all you need to do is take that rod out of the rod holder and bring em in.

More than 1 way to fish though.

Actually i just watch Andy catch fish, so it really doesnt matter if my clicker is on or off lol

i have a couple rods dedicated for circle hooks and i dont have clickers on those reels
Thx god i have good rods holders cz more then once have i woken up from a nap and my rods are halfway in the water lol
using bells is good idea and they wrk very well. now i just have to start using them

As far as clickers and baitfeeders go, I use the clicker on my Abu Garcia 6500C3 no matter if I have a circle hook or not. I usually fish where there’s rocks or where I have to leave my rod leaning against a rail of a bridge walk way or for example the Lowell Park wall against the St.Croix. I leave the clicker on and have the spool tension just tight enough to hold the bait in place when I push the spool release button. When a big catfish grabs my bait it will run the clicker a few times in the case of smaller fish, but my big 50lb Flathead grabbed the bait and took off like he had a shark chasing him! Without that bait clicker I’d never have had the opportunity to get my rod, he almost spooled me by the time I engaged the reel.

I’ll be fishing sharks off the beach of Sanibel Florida in a month, and have the Abu on my Flathead rod and a Penn 9/0 Senator for larger sharks on a boat rod. Both will have clickers ready to roll, because I tend to fall asleep on the beach after a few chilled GBP’s and the sound of the surf going all night!

^ Ahh and there is the difference!

The way you fish Rat a person would always use a line out alarm or lose their rod when the hook sets it’s self.

Fishing from a boat using rod holders allowing the fish to take line using a circle is working against the design of the hook.

We all have a tendency to forget that our advice comes from the way we fish (which might not be the way another person angles).

Very similar to my liking of shorter cat rods. Fishing from a boat a person seldom needs the longer rods for distance casting as opposed to a person that casts from the bank were a longer rod would have it’s advantages.

riverbank-rat wrote:

I’ll be fishing sharks off the beach of Sanibel Florida in a month, and have the Abu on my Flathead rod and a Penn 9/0 Senator for larger sharks on a boat rod. Both will have clickers ready to roll, because I tend to fall asleep on the beach after a few chilled GBP’s and the sound of the surf going all night!

This set up should work great. My parents have a place down on Sanibel and I always take my rods and reels with me. Should be into tarpon when your there too! Have fun!

Nice sturgeon!!!

I have a Salt Striker Baitfeeder on a Tiger lite spinning rod (the 1 pc heavy action) myself. Great combo.

I guess there’s a few times where I will disengage the reels, but really most anytime I’m fishing a livebait I have the anti-reverse locked in. Great reels though, guess it’s always nice to have the line-out as an option when the pick-ups get real light and they don’t move away with the baits enough to load up the rods. However, my rods are secured in rod holders and don’t go anywhere. So even if I fell asleep, as long as the drag can slip a little I’m not losing any rods when fish takes off.