Big pit or large baitrunner

[mickb]

Hi all. Not that clued up on carp fishing and what I do know is from years and years back. I still have 2 x 3lb test curve carp rods. They are 12 foot long and fast action. I do not have any reels for these rods. Would you suggest to go for larger baitrunners such as 10000 series or big pit reels? I don't know what would balance better on the rods. When I bought them years back they were considered heavy but now their considered the norm. So I'm kinda stuck on what size reels would be best.
Mickb

 

[mikench]

Take a rod to a tackle shop and try a few out. Big reels are only necessary if you need to cast heavy leads, big baits on large diameter lines( mono or braid) vast distances . Think about the waters you will fish and decide accordingly. A spool capacity of 300 yards isn’t necessary if you are only casting 40.. The weight of the reel is largely irrelevant if it sits on rod rests and buzzers most of the time. I find a Shimano Ultegra 5500 ideal for fishing with buzzers for carp , pike or any other large fish.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Big pit reels are expensive and really good ones are extortionate.

These days very good baitrunner reels are well priced.

If you are not going to fish venues where a long cast with heavy weights are required then a decent baitrunner should suffice.

 

[Philip]

Unless you have a very specific need for large line capacity, (and given you are just starting Carping again thats very unlikely) then forget the big pits and get some standard baitrunners. They will handle literally every situation your likely to face & are smaller, lighter and more practicle in use.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Like Mike I rate the Shimano Ultegra 5500 highly as a powerful reel that has a spool size and shape nigh on perfect where a few ounces needs to be cast good distances. Up to 120 yds with 40 lb braid is a doddle......or it was before my tennis elbow! The quick drag arrangement is adequate for still waters but not finely adjustable enough for river fishing imho.

For the rivers I rate the Shimano Oceanic 8000 baitrunners as perfect. I use braid of around 40 lb bs, that's about .21 mm diameter, casts 80+ yds which covers all the river swims I can imagine locally.

I have recently picked up a Mitchell Freerunner 5000 which is similar size to the Oceanic 8000. The Freerunner has the advantage of a "long-cast" style spool, though that makes little difference with braid. Only had one carp of 21 lbs on it so far but it worked smoothly enough. I bought the Mitchell in a mail order sale for about £60 delivered, so if you can get that price go for it - otherwise I prefer the Shimano brand.

 

[mikench]

Just to add I replaced the standard drag washers with ice washers on the Ultegra , which means that you can go from no drag to total drag in half a turn. I bought both from future fishing in Newark on Trent. Whilst utterly irrelevant the reel is a thing of beauty imo.

 

[Steve Arnold]

.....and add the Shimano Ultegra 5500 reels are a few ounces lighter than baitrunner equivalents!

If you want ultimate lightness seek out the Ci4 versions which have a lighweight but strong body/rotor and higher quality gearing. But Ci4 is more expensive and the standard version is still light for its size!

I have a couple of the 14000 Ultegra reels in the Ci4 material, wonderful reels but too big for anything I do now. They were purchased at quite a low price just before I moved to France as I expected to be fishing big lakes, doubt I will do that now....and I find the 5500 size perfectly adequate!

 

[chevin4]

I use a set of Medium LR XRB C14 Baitrunners the are probably as light as the Mitchell 410s I used for years. They are light and match up with my Drennan Bream Tench Rods perfectly so much so my set of 6000DL Baitrunners have become more or less superfluous.

 

[@Clive]

Don't forget the Penn Liveliners. If you don't mind permanent A/R they are bullet proof and cheaper than Shimanos.

 

[Keith M]

It’s very rare for me nowadays to fish any waters that need 100mtr plus casts; and I usually only need to cast up to around 75mtrs max; and usually it’s no more than around 35 to 50mtrs; and subsequently I am quite happy using my Shimano 5000 series baitrunners.

I have a pair of Greys 2.75lb and 3lb TC carp rods which I use with 2oz and 3oz leads, however I also have a pair of more forgiving 2lb & 2.25lb TC Powermesh rods and I use Shimano 5000 series reels with all of them with no problems at all.

I think that Big Pit reels are only really needed if you are regularly needing to cast to the horizon; otherwise they are totally unnecessary in my view.

So it depends on the waters that you regularly fish for your Carp; if they are not too large and you don’t need to cast 100 mtrs or more; then why would you need to use expensive Big Pit reels ?

Keith

 

[Phil Adams]

It’s very rare for me nowadays to fish any waters that need 100mtr plus casts; and I usually only need to cast up to around 75mtrs max; and usually it’s no more than around 35 to 50mtrs; and subsequently I am quite happy using my Shimano 5000 series baitrunners.

I have a pair of Greys 2.75lb and 3lb TC carp rods which I use with 2oz and 3oz leads, however I also have a pair of more forgiving 2lb & 2.25lb TC Powermesh rods and I use Shimano 5000 series reels with all of them with no problems at all.

I think that Big Pit reels are only really needed if you are regularly needing to cast to the horizon; otherwise they are totally unnecessary in my view.

So it depends on the waters that you regularly fish for your Carp; if they are not too large and you don’t need to cast 100 mtrs or more; then why would you need to use expensive Big Pit reels ?

Keith

I think the distance casting aspect is far less important relevant. 100m casts can be made with mini pits or 8000/10000 size reels with no issue.

However the 8000/10000 size reels lack torque and overall strength when compared to a good big pit or surf reel. I have personally bent the shafts of 8000 sized Shimano's when fishing in heavy weed and on tidal rivers for carp. One in-fact, seized up so solidly the handle could not be turned at all.

Another aspect is in the line retrieval rates, especially with a large lead on the end of the line. Being able to get the lead up in the water and moving quickly over bars, snags and weed beds is very useful, if not indeed safer for fish and angler.

There are many reasons why they can be of benefit in certain situations, and if it came down to having to choose one one pair of reels to cover all of my carping and big fish fishing, I would go for a larger reel as it covers more bases.

 

[mikench]

The Ultegra has a 5.3 ratio, spool reducers and slow oscillation. It’s very strong. It also comes in a 1400 size with super slow oscillation. I was persuaded by this

 

[chevin4]

It’s very rare for me nowadays to fish any waters that need 100mtr plus casts; and I usually only need to cast up to around 75mtrs max; and usually it’s no more than around 35 to 50mtrs; and subsequently I am quite happy using my Shimano 5000 series baitrunners.

I have a pair of Greys 2.75lb and 3lb TC carp rods which I use with 2oz and 3oz leads, however I also have a pair of more forgiving 2lb & 2.25lb TC Powermesh rods and I use Shimano 5000 series reels with all of them with no problems at all.

I think that Big Pit reels are only really needed if you are regularly needing to cast to the horizon; otherwise they are totally unnecessary in my view.

So it depends on the waters that you regularly fish for your Carp; if they are not too large and you don’t need to cast 100 mtrs or more; then why would you need to use expensive Big Pit reels ?

Keith

I use 5000 series bairtunners on my 1 25tc and 1.50tc for general specimen fishing for tench perch etc with lines up to 8lb. I originally brought the C14 Medium Baitrunners for pike fishing using braid. However I found them so versatile I use them for long range bream and tench fishing when using heavier lines particularly for fishing the method. When it is necessary to use 12lb line. The reels certainly make a happier marriage with lines over a 10lb than the 5000 on with a superior line lay they are more suited for long range fishing. It's "Horses for Courses I guess

 

[peterjg]

I don't carp fish anymore but inthe past I have extensively used both types of reel. I would suggest that you go for large baitrunners. In theory the line (mono) comes off of a large diameter spool easier than a small one but the line on a largish baitrunner is more prone to springing off of the smaller spool thus aiding casts. It's difficult to explain but in actual use the supposed benefits of big pit reels (if any?) are minimal. I think big pit reels are more of a silly fashion item for carpers, I had a pair of Daiwa Infinity big pits and gave them to my son who wanted them.

 

[Philip]

Shimano 8010 bait runners have covered literally all my out and out Carping which has been on everything from large rivers and huge Rezzies to small lakes & I have never felt I was undergunned in terms of the reel. I recon I could land a shark on them if I tried.

I find it hard to imagine for the average bloke fishing for Carp in the UK that a 8010 bait runner wont cope.