# Working a bailess reel



## Mullet Killer

I know this is not related to fishing gear to sale but, I just got a penn706z for Christmas and been practicing with it on the dock. I fish the piers alot in the summer for king fish. I dont entirealy understand how when your free spooling and say a king fish takes the bait. How exactly do you get the line back into the roller? Would appreciate any tips! Thanks


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## lastcast

Lift the rod and drop it quick, creating slack.


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## kanaka

If you have surgical tubing/bungee cord/rubber bands etc... to put tension on the fishing line to simulate a king strike. Put a bunch of tension on the line by walking backwards, hook the line on your finger taking it off the roller. Release like you had a strike. As the line is still coming off the spool, stick your finger back in towards the front of the spool till you feel the line, hook your finger and bring the line that's still pouring off the spool while winging the reel handle like crazy. (if you get that finger too close to the roller you'll find out) The roller eventually grabs the line.
All this should takes place under a second.


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## Kim

This shows how it's done.


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## Ocean Master

I fished the piers back in the 70's and always free spooled the fish just a bit.

Now when in a boat you can just throw a dead cigar minnow out the back sit and do nothing and catch all you want. 

I don't think free spooling is needed at all.


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## Ocean Master

kanaka said:


> If you have surgical tubing/bungee cord/rubber bands etc... to put tension on the fishing line to simulate a king strike. Put a bunch of tension on the line by walking backwards, hook the line on your finger taking it off the roller. Release like you had a strike. As the line is still coming off the spool, stick your finger back in towards the front of the spool till you feel the line, hook your finger and bring the line that's still pouring off the spool while winging the reel handle like crazy. (if you get that finger too close to the roller you'll find out) The roller eventually grabs the line.
> All this should takes place under a second.


 Why would you release when the fish is already on?


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## JD7.62

Ocean Master said:


> I fished the piers back in the 70's and always free spooled the fish just a bit.
> 
> Now when in a boat you can just throw a dead cigar minnow out the back sit and do nothing and catch all you want.
> 
> I don't think free spooling is needed at all.


I think it has more to do with the fact from the pier you use a single treble hook and from a boat most people use stingers.

If the fish just inhales the bait and runs from the get go you dont need to free spool but if he comes up and slashes it in half its a good idea to free spool and let him whorl back around and get the rest and swallow it before you set the hook. Sometimes they will even grab it and swim off with it a bit before they swallow it with the hook so again free spooling is ideal here.

At least thats what I did from the pier. Setting out a fly line over a reef offshore its almost a sure thing for kings but I guess, as you know, from the pier you dont get as many shots at hooking a fish so doing all you can to ensure he swallows the hook is an ideal practice.

But my pier days for kings are over, from they yak they are almost too easy and some days down right annoying!


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## Mullet Killer

appreciate all the help!thanks for guiding me in the right direction. Tight Lines!


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## kanaka

Ocean Master said:


> Why would you release when the fish is already on?


Don't know about you but whenever I fished a live bait off the pier, I always had the line off the roller and on my finger tip.
When a fish strikes, the line comes off your fingertip and is freespooling. 

Releasing the line with the bungee tension on it will simulate a strike and subsequent run. 
Maybe line going over branch with heavy weight tied to it would do the same.

It'll take you quite a few strikes to get the technique down but the first time it comes all together and that king is leaving the area headed for Cuba, drag screaming and roller singing, it will be worth all that frustration.

Kim, nice video find.


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## Redneckracoon

freespooling a fish off of the pier is pretty much mandatory if you want a good hook set. usually I let them run at least 3-4 seconds before engaging the fish. you can take a heavy jig out to the water and play around with the pickup, it`ll take a while to get the hang of, but you`ll get used to it. oh and when fishing a bait from the pier, always take the line off the roller and put it on your finger instead while waiting for a bite. this allows you to just let go of the line and let the fish run instead of trying to take it off the roller. Hoped this helped. Good luck!


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## flipper1

So when th3 fish is taking line out you just grab it and put it on the roller?


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## Randall2point0

Wirelessly posted

Yeah, there will be enough slack in the line from the fish running to put it back on the roller. Even if you miss a few times it's not a problem, just don't get nervous.


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## startzc

I had never used one before I moved here and it was very easy to learn with practice. Another good reason in if you have a king on and a shark trying to steal him you can free-spool to let him run from the shark on his own or to get them to turn and run away from the pier if they are heading into pilings. I learned all of that the first time I fought a small king, if you ask someone will help you and tell you how to play them with the manual after you hook up.


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## hsiF deR

flipper1 said:


> So when th3 fish is taking line out you just grab it and put it on the roller?


Basically. If you start to turn the handle and put your finger out the line will essentially fall on the roller. 
One easy way to get the hang of it is to go and cast a cobia jig hard. Try and stop the jig in mid air and have it hit the water as soft as possible. It is the same principle.


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## Mullet Killer

Thanks everyone all the info, has helped a lot! :thumbsup:


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## fairpoint

I use my thumb and indexfinger of my left hand on the spool lip as well as the index one of my right hand.....I can let out as much or a little line as I want.....I can also flipcast to fish close to the pier just by pinching the line with my left hand onto the lip ....a little quicker than puuting on the right hand every cast.....From the top view looking at the top of the spool you want to make a triangle with the three fingers mentioned.....Once you try it a few times it becomes second nature.....


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## fairpoint

flipper1 said:


> So when th3 fish is taking line out you just grab it and put it on the roller?


If a king is freightraining offshore with a big hardtail in its mouth your gonna have to point your rodtip behind you quickly and then point it back at the king....this will make enough slack for you to be able to finger the line and put it back on the roller....


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## Mac1528

You could always get a bait runner reel and that would solve the problem. I love the ones I have 

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk


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## 9/0

Braid is you're enemy when a smoker hits it doing 50mph.


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## JD7.62

Mac1528 said:


> You could always get a bait runner reel and that would solve the problem. I love the ones I have
> 
> Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk


Except for when youre snobbling a cig and having to reset the bait runner every few seconds!


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## fairpoint

The full time antireverse reels are not as good as the switchable....You can work a bait a few feet ..reel backwards.catch the line for anticipated freespool....then repeat...
what you don't want is for a fish to hit while the line is on the roller....if so he will spit the bait or cut your finger off trying to freespool...lol.....


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## Mac1528

*snobbling*
_n._— «Pier fishermen use a particular technique called snobbling. They take a dead sardine or other baitfish, hook it through the nose, then cast ahead of a cruising cobia and jerk the bait to make it twitch like a struggling baitfish.»

"Snobbling is basicaly casting dead cigar minnows out and working the back in with long quick sweeps of the rod. When the bait approaches the top it is freespooled back to the bottom and the process started again. Cigar minnows are THE choice because of their flash as well as their physical characteristics make them very castable and easy to immitate a fatally wounded minnow."




JD7.62 said:


> Except for when youre snobbling a cig and having to reset the bait runner every few seconds!


I had to look this one up, I was not quite sure what it meant. I guess from the definitation I still don't see the problem. A baitrunner will do everything any bailed spinning reel will do with the addition to be able to let the bait be taken without the main drag engaged but enough drag to know that a fish has taken your bait. If you don't want to use the "baitrunner mode" then you don't have to reset it every few seconds. I suppose that everyone has an opinion of what they like, and that was mine!


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## bay slayer

Manuals come in handy for pier fishing, freespooling happens many times while fighting a fish, for whatever reason a splice might need to be tied in a quick and fast way. Bailless reels are much quicker to the draw, that extra second can go a long way while throwing a jig at a ling. Sometimes a bail will flip over and pop off your jig a bailless reel will eliminate that threat. If a fish is headed towards the beach and you freespool, he will turn and swim south, which is a lot better then going all the way down the pier and having to deal with set rods and all that mess. Bailless reels are better in general IMO.


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## Kyle R

After you have mastered the art of the manual pick up, everything else seems like k-mart shit. I would only buy older reels do I could customize them to manual pick ups. Faster operation, no flip overs and snap offs. I remember I taught an old girlfriend how to use a manual, and she flat out refused to use anything else after she got the hang of it. Made me so proud....lol


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## WhyMe

Practice makes perfect. I will say it took a little while for me to master the manual bail, but when I got it down "watch out". Now I have old 706, new 706, old 302 Mitchell, Van Stall, and this season I will be trying the new but older Mitchell 498.
WhyMe
Mako My Dayo


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## fairpoint

WhyMe said:


> Practice makes perfect. I will say it took a little while for me to master the manual bail, but when I got it down "watch out". Now I have old 706, new 706, old 302 Mitchell, Van Stall, and this season I will be trying the new but older Mitchell 498.
> WhyMe
> Mako My Dayo


The 498 is what I fish with also....It being a skirted spool ....it will take a little different approach because you will have to reach under the spool to rotate the rotor to the position you want for casting or whatever....I'm going to see what Pompano Joe can do to upgrade the drag system in mine....If your anti-reverse screw does not have a nut retaining it...? Install a locknut on it or risk the lever of falling out and not having anti-reverse.....I also use a shorter length handle like whats on a 302/402 with a coffee grinder knob...Just a couple little upgrades for you to think about/try out.....


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## 9/0

Just don't Jack the fish up 15 times in a row. 1 or 2 good jerks is good enough.


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## Ez2cDave

Randall2point0 said:


> Wirelessly posted
> 
> Yeah, there will be enough slack in the line from the fish running to put it back on the roller. Even if you miss a few times it's not a problem, just don't get nervous.


If you're using braid, be sure to have a "good supply" of Band-Aids on hand !


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## reelthrill

The 706z comes standard with a fairly small roller. Find someone that sells the bigger rollers and change that out with your smaller roller. It will make it much easier to use. Obie at Fastcast used to sell them.


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## FleaBag

don't like manuals on a boat. sure they are fun but more fish broke off and opportunities lost by people picking them up that don't have a clue. and even some that do..


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## T-Boy

I use a bailed reel on the pier and flip the bail when a big king hits. Many of my friends use bailless reels. The bailless reels work better snobbling a cig. If I have time I can flip the bail when the fish is attacking. sometimes its screaming drag and I am trying to flip the bail with line beating my hands to death.


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## tinboater

fairpoint said:


> .....From the top view looking at the top of the spool you want to make a triangle with the three fingers mentioned....


threespool! threespool!


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