Using A Spinning Reel On An Overhead Rod

[Rode Cary]

hi raiders,

i never thought about it before today's fishing trip. to cut a story short, the mechanical brake knob of my abu 6000 was blocked for unknown reason. the only spare reel i had was a spinning one, so i just use it on my overhead surf beach rod. i had no choice...and my fishing buddy was already catching fish.

to be honest, i had no issues with the use of the spinning reel on my overhead. i was able to do decent casts in where i wanted the bait to go. i even catch a 1m gummy shark with no problem

but my question is: what problems can u expect when using a spinning on an overhead??

btw, me and my fishing buddy headed to our fav fishing spot in the royal national park at 6am. we were targetting salmon mainly but ended with trevally, tailor, gummy shark and of course salmon. not to mention at least 15 sting rays caught and release. we used mainly pillies on gang hooks. total fish caught was 15 excluding the gummy shark and sting rays. the salmon were average size approx 50 -60 cm and trevs were around 30 cm

sorry forgot to take camera. next time for sure

cheers

bertrand

[sifisho]

You should be ok, you will lose a bit of distance on the cast as the first ring will usually be a bit on the small side, and result in more friction.

However, using an overhead on a rod ringed for a spinning reel will give you problems...

[Rode Cary]

i did lost a bit of casting distance, but was not a drama as the fish were close to the ledge. do you think the friction dammage the guides in the long run??

[gretsch]

A few probs I can see:

1. You will have the backbone on the wrong point of the axis

2. The stripper will be too small (and the first few guides after that) to enable decent casting

3. If is has a trigger grip it will be very uncomfortable as the trigger will be in the way

4. It will look silly

Other than that, fire away.. you will still catch fish.

Cheers

Ceph L.

[Rode Cary]

thanks ceph for your input

i don't really understand what you mean by "You will have the backbone on the wrong point of the axis".

in short, does it mean the rod will a weak spot somewhere? sorry for my ignorance

cheers

bertrand

[gretsch]

thanks ceph for your input

i don't really understand what you mean by "You will have the backbone on the wrong point of the axis".

in short, does it mean the rod will a weak spot somewhere? sorry for my ignorance

cheers

bertrand

Bertrand

When you bend a rod, it will "click in" as you rotate it between your fingers. Every rod has a backbone which is the strong point. To test this, grab one of your rods and place the butt on the inside of your ringht foot. Then with your left hand, hold the tip and put a bend in it (you need a good working bend). With your right hand, rotate the rod and you will feel it "click" into place. This is the backbone. Then check your guides and reel seat and see whether they are perfectly aligned. For a spinning rod, the guides will be on the underside of the bone; for a baitcaster, the guides will be on top of the bone (unless you have a spiral bind).

In my experience, very few commercially rolled rods are built on the backbone. Good quality sticks usually are.

So in short, when you rotate your rod to use an eggbeater, as it bends, it will want to rotate to the backbone. In theory, this would be 180 degrees around.

All very technical. It is not essential to have a rod on the backbone but you will feel the difference particularly on lighter sticks. Put it this way, the fish don't know.....

Cheers

C.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Ceph

[Mondo Rock]

As I understand it fishing with the rod backwards (i.e. fishing against the backbone) will eventually lead to the rod breaking when it is under load.

I would never fish a threadline on an overhead rod or vice versa for this reason. Given your capture of a 1 metre shark I think you were lucky it held together.

[fishingrod]

I asked the same Q re using a spinning reel on a overhead rod on another forum and at my local tackle shop.

The discussion above about the first (stripper) runner is true.

I dont think line "wear" will be a problem unless the runners are very small or the eggbeater has a very very large spool.

Re the backbone question. Its is true what has already been said.

Ive got a Ugg Stik Gold overhead rod (about $65) and many people agree that lower cost rods such as this dont have a true backbone.

PS: im using a Baitrunner 4500 on the Ugg Stik

cheers

Rod

[gretsch]

I have tested some cheap rods in tackle shops and found some, particularly Ugly Sticks, are built on the back bone. I also have a couple of Uglies from the 80's and 90's which are built right on the bone and, have withstood the test of time on Kings.

Conversely, I have bent a few high end rods (no names mentioned for fear of the Moderator) and found them to be built off the bone (some substantially). I always test this when I am going to buy an off the shelf jobbie. Some of the thread work and epoxy jobs on these high end rods is also questionable. When shopping in the $400 to $500 range, one would expect these issues to be eliminated.

My nephew (4 years old) has a Bart Simpson $49.99 special (complete with zero ball bearing reel and a float) and suprisingly, it has a backbone and is built on slightly off. Probably a fluke more than anything.

Such is tackle.....

Edited April 18, 2007 by Ceph

[Rode Cary]

am so grateful to those great explanation on the backbone thing

to be honest, i never heard about it before!!!

thanks ceph for that great explanation

this knowledge is definitely very useful when buying a rod. will try to check all my rods now

cheers

bertrand