Why Carp Anglers Love Baitrunner Reels

Carp anglers are perhaps the most dedicated bunch of anglers that you will ever find; they are extremely committed to their past time and will spend an awful amount of money to get the best equipment that money can buy. They don't buy the best equipment because they have nothing else to spend the money on, this is not the case at all in fact, they buy the best equipment because carp a big powerful fish and demand a lot of respect you cannot have cheap kit that will fail on you when you are reeling in the carp of your dreams.

One of the biggest innovations in carp fishing has been the baitrunner technology introduced to carp fishing reels almost 15 years ago by Shimano, here are three reasons why baitrunner carp reels have been so:

Using a baitrunner fishing reel with a bite alarm means that a carp angler can safely take a nap without having to worry about either their rod and reel been dragged into the water or a massive fish breaking their line. The second clutch on the baitrunner will allow fish to take line freely without snapping it.

Carp have a notoriously powerful first run when they realise though hooked they will bolt and it is often this initial powerful surge that snaps the fishing line. Having a reel with a  baitruner mechanism allows the fish to do their initial run without snapping the line.

As I mentioned above carp have powerful first search and anglers would traditionally leave their bale arm off and clip their line to the rod handle so that if a fish should bite it could freely take line from the reel. However, having no resistance on the line at all meant that if it was windy the line will tangle easily and this would be the last thing you'd want with a monster carp on the end of your line. The baitrunner runner technology allows line to be pulled freely from the spool but also keep the line tight between the rod in the fish so that there are no opportunities for a tangle to arise.

These three items used to blight every carp angler and the introduction of the baitrunner reel has really helped to keep these problems to a minimum. You'll probably find much better rested carp anglers now than it would have 15 years ago and similarly, you will find that they have less line breakages and less tangles to sort out.

Carp fishing is an expensive pastime to start in – there is a lot of other kit you will need to buy (a fishing bivvy and fishing chair will not be cheap). However, if you are thinking of starting up carp fishing there are many alternatives to be original baitrunner fishing reel produced by Shimano, and so if money is tight you'll probably be able to find a bargain which has all the same features as the original Shimano reels but for much less money.