New BC reel isn't casting very far 2025
ALLCAPS reply :
For Christmas I received an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur SX reel that I didn't setup to use until yesterday after I bought a new rod to go with it. I spooled the reel with 20lb braid and decided to take it off the dock to see how it casts. I have a 3/8oz jig on there with a small trailer, but when I go to cast I can only get about a 15 ft. cast out of it. I have adjusted the tension to as loose as it can get, yet the jig still drops slowly when releasing the spool.
I can't adjust the spool tension any lighter than what it is at, yet that doesn't seem to be light enough. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this simply because 3/8oz is not enough weight? Maybe the reel needs to be broken in? I have the reel on a 7 ft. rod, and the wind conditions shouldn't have been an issue. I've fished with BC's in the past with good luck, but I can't seem to get this one to cast right.
Edit: I should add that I don't have nearly as much line on the reel as possible. I spooled on 125 yards of line but completely neglected to buy more line considering the reel can hold quite a bit. Could that be the issue? Would having less line on the reel hinder the casts this much?
FrankN209 reply :
Did you adjust the 6 pins behind the side plate?
ALLCAPS reply :
On 4/19/2017 at 6:18 AM, FrankN209 said:Did you adjust the 6 pins behind the side plate?
Actually, I did not. I've never owned a round BC, only low profile ones. What do the pins control exactly?
I think I need to read the manual or something if this is common knowledge and I never knew about it.
RoLo reply :
Those pins control the static braking tension.
For starters, engage every other pin (which is to say, disengage 3 pins).
Roger
ALLCAPS reply :
Awesome, I am going to try that right now and will report back with how it goes. Thank you for the help so far!
ALLCAPS reply :
Okay I just took the sideplate off and here is what I see. I don't see where the brakes are to disable them. I'm looking at pictures online and can see what the brakes would look like, but I'm clearly missing something here. Even the schematics picture on Abu's website makes it looks like the brakes should be right there where the spool is.
moguy1973 reply :
If you pull the spool out are the on the other end of the spool?
ALLCAPS reply :
Sure enough, they were on the other side of the spool.
So I just adjusted them to 3 on, 3 off. Still way too much tension though. The jig doesn't even fall at all now when releasing the spool. I guess I'll turn off all the brakes and see if it helps. I'd hate to run it like that, since i know the brakes are there for a reason, but I may have to for this light of a lure or something.
Is it unrealistic to think that 3/8oz might just be too light for this reel and the line I'm using? I've only owned one other BC in the past and I'm pretty sure it would have casts 3/8oz lures fine.
moguy1973 reply :
What rod do you have it on? Might not have a good enough action to cast it?
RoLo reply :
The pins & centrifugal brake are independent of the lure's fall rate.
The fall rate of the lure is dialed-in with the spool tension knob, a separate mechanism.
Roger
ALLCAPS reply :
On 4/19/2017 at 7:34 AM, moguy1973 said:What rod do you have it on? Might not have a good enough action to cast it?
It's a 7' medium fast Abu Garcia Vendetta. I'm no expert when it comes to fishing, do you think this rod would be an issue?
I did make a mistake though, initially I posted that the lure was 3/8 oz, but it isn't. It's actually a 1/4 oz, so maybe that's just too light? Anyhow, I disabled all brakes (for the time being), and put on a 5/16 and was getting a further cast, but still that's not much heavier than a 1/4.
Maybe I should just stick to 1/2oz or heavier for this setup. I mean the 5/16 with no brakes was casting about 25-30 ft, which is alright. I don't need to lunge the thing a half a mile in most situations. I feel with a 1/2 oz I could easily cast as far as I'd want to.
CenCal fisher reply :
It sounds like your problem is with the spool tension. It's a little knob on the reel near your drag star. YouTube "how to dial in a bait caster" and you will find some videos that will help you out. I think bass resource has a video that covers this's.
craww reply :
Without knowing which ambassador you have, safe to say that's a pretty light weight bait for it. They have heavy spools, which will cast a heavy bait a long ways once they get going; but I would start at 3/8oz baits.
Glenn reply :
And here ya go!
KDW96 reply :
Did you put any cheap mono on the reel first as backing? If it only has the 125 of braid,you need more line for sure.
Respool the braid back on the original spool. Then use mono as backing,wind it on tight leaving enough room for about half of the 125yds of braid. Put a peice of electrical or masking tape on the spool to hold mono. Then spool your braid (60yds) on. But remember to spool it very tight on the reel,to help keep the braid from moving on you. 
Fill reel to about 1/8 inch from the top of the spool.
Edited by KDW96added info
ALLCAPS reply :
On 4/19/2017 at 9:24 AM, KDW96 said:Did you put any cheap mono on the reel first as backing? If it only has the 125 of braid,you need more line for sure.
Respool the braid back on the original spool. Then use mono as backing,wind it on tight leaving enough room for about half of the 125yds of braid. Put a peice of electrical or masking tape on the spool to hold mono. Then spool your braid (60yds) on. But remember to spool it very tight on the reel,to help keep the braid from moving on you.
Fill reel to about 1/8 inch from the top of the spool.
I sure didn't. I was debating if I should put some backing on but decided not to. I'll definitely do as you said though, I think I have some cheap mono around here somewhere.
Delaware Valley Tackle reply :
Your problem is the model of reel. On their round reels the level wind doesn't disengage for casting so it takes a lot more weight to get it going. That reel won't cast anything under 1/2 oz very well especially right out of the box.
KDW96 reply :
I can cast a 1/4 oz pretty far. BUT -- it require the spool control to be set pretty loose,which i dont recommend just learning with this reel. A well educated thumb is also required on a loose spool control, which only comes with time practicing and fishing.
Poolshark reply :
A couple of things I noticed... And a couple of pointers.
1) 125 yards of 20 pound braid? Sounds like it is severely under spooled. I would buy 30 or even 40 pound braid and spool it to 1/16 inch from the top of the spool. Use a few yards of mono to back it. Otherwise it may slip.
2)the brake pins. 3 pins on 3 pins off. Every other pin. The centrifugal breaks should be applied evenly around the spool. One on one and one off all the way around.
3) Reduce the tension on the spool tension knob ( the knob on the sames side as your star drag) so that the bait falls slowly when the spool is disengaged. The less tension means the more possibility of a backlash but it will cast farther. Hold the rod out and press the thumb bar in so that the spool is free.. Adjust the knob until the bait starts to slowly fall.
4) The 4600 sized ambasaduers that I own ( c3s) will throw a 3/8 lure very far. As far as any reel I own.
5) The medium action rod that you are using should be fine.
dwh4784 reply :
One thing I saw you mention is that "the jig doesn't even fall at all now when releasing the spool". Regardless of anything else you do it will never cast like that. If you can't get it to drop via the spool tension knob you need a different reel, a heavier lure, or much lighter line. I often wonder when people mention 20 lb braid whether they mean 20 lb test braid (which would be roughly 6 lb mono diameter) or 20 lb (100 lb equivalent mono) size. That would make a huge difference as well.
ALLCAPS reply :
Welp guys, I took some of your suggestions and changed some things. I unspooled all my line and put some mono backing underneath and then spooled the braid back on. With the same 5/16 lure I was getting almost double the cast distance. However, this was still with all of the brakes off so I took her back apart and activated 3 of the brakes and left 3 off.
That's when the reel just started giving me crap and now it won't work for anything. I'm fed up with it at this point because I spent the last 2+ hours taking the thing apart repeatedly making sure everything was seated fine when reassembling (there really isn't much that could go wrong, but apparently something is). Thing won't reel unless you put more force than necessary into it, it won't cast at all, the lure doesn't drop one inch with tension completely loosened. I've tried everything and I'm done with it. Every single time I have taken it apart to adjust the brakes it has done this, but before it had fixed itself and now it won't.
Oh and just to specify, the model number is an AMBSX-6601
Poolshark reply :
Something is out of whack when you put it together. It is not a broken reel. Just redo it until it is right. Takes patience and practice.
Btw. The 6500 sized way more reel than needed for bass fishing unless you are throwing a rigs or swimbaits.
Not an ideal size for casting smaller lures. 4600 is closer to what you would want.
Take it back and upgrade it. If you really like the ambasaduer line... Go with a c3
ALLCAPS reply :
Yeah I'm kind of starting to learn that this reel would be better suited for other applications. I received it as a gift and unfortunately don't have a receipt or anything to return it. I was thinking about using it to throw heavier swimbaits and maybe for jigs when I want something that can rip through cover, but I'm still not entirely sure what I want to use it as.
I'll look into the rod more tomorrow. I don't see what I could be doing wrong, but clearly there is something that isn't right. I was just genuinely frustrated with it today because once I respooled it I was happy to see it casting well, then once I put the brakes on it stops functioning right. I took that thing apart so many times it was ridiculous.
Poolshark reply :
The fact that it started casting farther with the proper amount of line does not surprise me. 3 brakes shouldn't make a problem. My guess would be that something didn't alight right when you put it back together. It's probably not aligned right.
Bass fishing is best reply :
Have you tried casting 1/2 oz lures yet? A couple of members have already mentioned the light weight being the issue and I agree. If the lure still falls slowly with tension loose you should stop right there. Brakes mean nothing if the lure isn't heavy enough to make the line drop quicker. Put on a 1/2 oz weight and see if your drop rate is faster. If so try casting it, if not there is something mechanically wrong with the reel.
My first baitcaster years ago was a Quantam round reel and I had the exact same problem. I figured this issue out, switched to heavier lures and then moved on to all the other issues I had with Quantams.
ALLCAPS reply :
I think I figured out the issue. When engaging the brakes, you pull out each of the tabs just like almost every other reel. Well I found when you pull the tabs out as far as they'll go, they click in place but that ends up being too long and when you put the reel back together they get in the way which is why it wasn't working. So I just pulled them out to where they were loose and can move, but not entirely extended.
I hope that's how they are supposed to work, because I can't see how the reel would work with them fully extended.
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