Baitcasting Questions

[Bonefish]

I have always been a spin caster through the years, but have recently got into the art of baitcasting both for fresh and salt water fishing. There are some facts I am curious about and also curious as to what the board thought about the following statements. Overloading the spool means more initial braking pressure to control spool speed. Oil, magnets and line level and balance also control spool speed. Thicker oil on spool bearing is better than increased magnetic breaking. "End tension" ("end float"-amount of lateral movement a spool has within the reel frame) should be set with minimal discernible end play. And lastly, a spool should be lined with spool-balance in mind to prevent "screaming." Thanks, Bonefish.

[DJD]

Interesting take on baitcasters. I don't use models with magnetic brakes but purely centrifical brakes. I keep the spool tension loose but tight enough to not have any lateral movement. Started using "Rocket Fuel" for my oil and this setup really lets me pitch light lures with so little effort. Not sure about using thicker oil? What brand do you like to use on baitcasters?

[Bonefish]

There is a Red RF oil for the bearings, and if it is too slow, you can change to yellow RF. I know some guys use EP80 Hypoid on bearings, if it is too fast which to EP120. Others use a liquied grease on the bearings. In fine tuning, I notice some guys adding or removing brake blocks or magnets. I realize most of us would rather just load the spool and go fishing, but there are guys who fine tune baitcasters with a lot of trial and error knowledge and get great performance out of their reels. Last night I spool a new 65001C3 and after I got the line on the spool, it was way out of balance because it did not spool evenly on both sides so I will have to adjust it. I am just learning the finner points of tunning and that is why I am asking what some of you are doing to fine ture your reels.

[DJD]

There is a Red RF oil for the bearings, and if it is too slow, you can change to yellow RF. I know some guys use EP80 Hypoid on bearings, if it is too fast which to EP120. Others use a liquied grease on the bearings. In fine tuning, I notice some guys adding or removing brake blocks or magnets. I realize most of us would rather just load the spool and go fishing, but there are guys who fine tune baitcasters with a lot of trial and error knowledge and get great performance out of their reels. Last night I spool a new 65001C3 and after I got the line on the spool, it was way out of balance because it did not spool evenly on both sides so I will have to adjust it. I am just learning the finner points of tunning and that is why I am asking what some of you are doing to fine ture your reels.

At the recommendation of VMAXX i replaced the bearings on an older shimano reel i had with ceramic bearings. I also used lighter fluid to clean all the bearings in all my reels which gets grease out of them. After they were dry i placed a drop or two of TG's yellow rocket fuel on each bearing. All the reels had an improvement maybe from the thorough cleaning? Maybe from the bearings being cleaned? Either way i could pitch so much easier. I use all shimano and some of the reels are chronarchs and they all feel great. A clean shimano reel and new 12-14lb test will cast great!

[basshuntin]

I just started using Hot Sauce to oil the bearings in my reels and was impressed on how much farther I can pitch a light jig.