The snow is gone there are Robins everywhere and I'm back in the Saver, all the signs of spring are here!

Like every season this one is promising to be as unique as a snowflake, with temperatures having already been in the 60’s and then back down to the 30’s. Regardless of the temperature turmoil the ice is gone from the lakes and ponds and the fish are biting. It's not non-stop action but there are some pan fish, bass and northern pike being caught at all the area lakes and ponds.

The Cedar River is still too high and dangerous to fish so I recommend leaving it for a while yet. The Mississippi river is only moderately high and is producing some walleyes, bass and northern pike however the action is spotty so don’t be disappointed if you only get a few bites - it still beats the heck out of staying home!

The annual sport and vacation show at the UNI dome was a huge success and gave me a great opportunity to stand back and listen to people as they streamed through Hank’s Bait and Tackle booth.

One of the things that stood out to me was the amount of people that had questions on what type of reel they should be using. The three most common styles of reels are spincast also known as closed face, spinning (open face) and bait caster. The end result with each reel is the same but there is a vast difference in how they work.

The bait cast reel is the oldest of these three and for sure the hardest to learn how to use. Today’s bait casters are highly sophisticated, finely tuned machines mostly associated with bass fisherman for many reasons - accurate casts, speed of retrieve and low line twist are some of the biggest advantages to this style of reel. Bait cast reels are the only one that have a rotating line spool, which is the reason for the low line twist and fast retrieve speed.  The biggest disadvantage of a bait caster is spool over run - more commonly called backlash.

With the technology that has been put into bait casters in the past 10 years they are much easier to use but still take some practice. Bait cast reels are great for casting and retrieving lures ¼ ounce and heavier and handle any type of line in most any pound test.

Spinning reels mount under the rod and have a line pick up or bail that wraps the line around the non-rotating open spool which eliminates backlash but is the cause of some line twist. With no resistance from a rotating spool and no fear of backlash, spinning reels can be used for throwing much lighter baits. Spinning reels are available in an enormous range of sizes and only take a few minutes to learn how to cast, making them probably the most widely used. .The open spool design requires using limp monofilament line or is ideal for braided line. Spinning reels are good for all types of fishing but are great in the smaller sizes with light line and light lures.

Spin cast reels have a fixed non-rotating line spool but it is enclosed with the line pick up and generally mounts on top of the rod. The line spool on spin cast reels is much narrower than spinning reels limiting line size and capacity. Spin cast are the easiest to use, the line pick up is retracted with the push of a button and then re-engaged with a crank of the reel handle. Reel companies are putting some technology into the spin cast reels making them not just for beginners anymore. With improved drag systems, infinite anti reverse and adding ball bearings these reels have come farther with improvements in the past few years than any other. Bait retrieval speed still suffers but these reels are by far the best for still fishing with live bait. This is a very condensed summary of these reels so please if you have further questions contact me at www.cedarvalleysaver.com.  Until next time keep your lure wet!