conventional reel users, tape fingers or gloves?

[tabasco_joe]

Was out in the yard casting with my fisrt salt rig, a conventional (Penn 975).  I am used to baitcasters in fresh water but wow, put the thumb down to feather the cast and what a burn.  I forgot that I read about people taping their fingers.

Question; Somewhere on the WEB I saw finger gloves of leather, these were either for the purpose above or maybe for use with salt fly fishing as drag agaist the reel flange.  What do people fnd works best?

I'm plannning to get over to IBSP this weekend for my first trip.  (Postponed last Sunday when I saw the wind forcast.)

[catfish hunter]

I never burn my fingers ,you might be thumbing it to much ,I thing by taping your thumb you will loose the feel you need to cast ,try using less thumb

[IrishAyes]

Joe,
This is the way convential reels has been explained to me:
The silver knob on the side of the reel under the handle can be adjusted to cut down on overrun during the cast.  This is a clutch mechanism put on for this purpose.  to adjust it, put a lure on the end of your line, take the reel out of gear, loosen or tighten the knob just until the lure starts pulling line out.  The reel should then be set for casting.

If I am wrong about this, i hope somebody will correct me, because this is how it was explained to me and I want to make sure I am not passing on bad info or doing this wrong myself.

Joe

[tabasco_joe]

Forgot to mention I'm using braided line, Tuffline which is more abrasive than Sufix.

Yes IA generally with freshwater baitcasters you set the spool tension to just let the lure drop.  Sometimes you tighten it slightly more if you get over runs.  Even with that many bait casters (again freshwater) feather the lure down with their thumb which is what I'm used to.  I'm just amazed how much faster the spool is turnng when you cast several ounces on a long rod.

[catfish hunter]

I fish w/ power pro on mine and I set the spool so when it hits the water I almost dont have to touch the spool w/ my thumb ,play around w/ yours it is a little dirent from frest water but not much

[robsrodnreel]

i would go with attempting to adjust the spool tension. if that doesnt work out for you (after some practice with the reel)  you can "mag" the reel. that is add extra magnets to the inside caseing to slow the spool down.  the reel your talking about already has some in there, but if you need them, i dont see how putting more in would hurt.  the magnets are refered to by penn as the "centrifugal cast control". 
   the magnets do not actually magnetize the spool in the tradition sense but the spinning of the spool around the magnets causes an ebb of energy that slows the spool down. 

[tabasco_joe]

Thanks Rob.  I did take the reel apart and check it out (I'm an engineer, I always take things apart.)  How do the Penn 975 hold up?  Those parts in the break mechanism look awfull light.  Anyway it's time to get out tomorrow and see how it works on the beach.  My wife is getting tired of me chucking 3 oz sinkers around the yard.  The birds have all left and the neighbors are starting to wear hard hats.

[robsrodnreel]

joe, i cant speak personally on how that reel holds up.  but most reel parts are pretty light, not too much room in there for some heavy duty parts.  the good thing about penns is the parts are easy to come by. 
if you plan on using the reel constantly or any other reel that has a line leveler for that matter, irecommend buying a few back up line "pawl's" for it. they wear out quick.  anytime i fix a customer's reel, i automatically replace the pawl.

[Ruger314]

I have mutliple 975 level drags and others. Hold up well and when I have problem I ship'em to Penn and just pay the shipping cost. They have been good to me

[bowguide]

The main thing to watch for on the 975 is the worm gear on the line guide if you fish alot it might get annoying.Last year I switched to Avet..... Love em!