For barra fishing and bass fishing and many other salt and freshwater species, when it comes to precision casting with a wide variety of lure weights, shapes and sizes, baitcaster reels are the way to go — and Shimano have the best in the business.

For decades now, a skilled baitcaster user who can land a lure just millimetres out from a snag has been a fishing opponent to be reckoned with. Now, while threadline proponents might disagree, a crack-shot with a baitcaster usually finds a lot of fish on the end of his line by the end of the day. And whether you hook a fish or not, there’s a lot of satisfaction to be derived from uncorking a bottler of a cast, whether you make use of cast assisting features such as Shimano’s Variable Braking System (VBS) or go it alone with the much revered ‘educated thumb’.

Shimano’s low profile baitcaster reels are ergonomically designed to be comfortable to use for long periods of time, as casting accuracy can really suffer when arms and wrists become tired, especially in the tropical heat, but when that long-awaited hookup does occur, other Shimano-exclusive features such as ultra smooth drags, SA-RB or A-RB bearings and Super Stopper come into play to make the fight even more enjoyable.

For mixed fishing situations such as live baiting and trolling — whether hand-held or sitting the outfit in a rod holder — traditional round cross-section baitcasters still hold sway, especially when line capacity is a factor if targeting species such as Niugini black bass, big saltwater barra and offshore dwellers such as Spanish mackerel and black jew.