Saw these on the ole Facebook, anyone seen this type of stuff ?

Why cut the bail off?

I have seen taped on reels for crappie/bream/etc

I have heard of cutting bails off but don't know anyone that does it.
I know it takes the fisherman putting the line on the roller to work and I am not sure I need another something to do when fishing. I am sure with a little experience/muscle memory training it is probably just rolled into the process

Not sure what either of these do to improve things?

Tape on a reel if you broke the seat would make sense but I have seen rods with only the rings that hold the reel on, no screw down locking mechanism

I read that in Field & Stream, or some other mag, back in the '70s and disfigured a couple perfectly good Mitchells

I’ve seen it before.. I think I have taped one reel on before.. side note, the slider company is 17 miles from my house.. lol

ifin they was 300's you should be horse whipped

That's been around for a long time. The old magazine Fishing Facts used to write about doing that. I used to make my own fishing rods with cork handles and always taped the reels on. Used the cushion tape that's used on golf clubs. The reason,,,, fishing a lot just before first ice and right after the ice was off plus spillways during the winter,, You can't believe how cold the metal reels seats would get even with gloves on. Plus , believe it or not, you get a much better feel with your rod and line.

No idea why one would intentionally remove the bail.

When I see the rods wrapped with what looks like golf club wrap I just shake me head. My rods that I have reels that are taped on is to eliminate as much material between my hand and the cork to increase sensitivity so I can feel even the slightest bite.

Adding a cushioned material that thick make for a good picture maybe but I see no benefit.

ifin they was 300's you should be horse whipped------double whipped!!!......jk

CK, With the way my setup was I could even feel if a fish even breathed on my jig. I even had a few set ups with the reel taped right to the rod. Cork in front and in back of the reel. I never found a difference between those two set ups. I used to get totally zoned out when I was fishing. A bomb could of went off and I wouldn't of even looked around. When we first got married my wife would get mad at me for not talking or more so for not listing.

I’ve got some extremely long (10’ plus) custom made lite rods for panfish and smallies that have full long cork handles and you must tape the reels on where you like them.no reel seats. I’ve seen them on commercial rods as well.

Osky

I'm not going to drop $100-150 on a rod and another $100-150 on a reel and turn around and wrap tape or golf club wrap on it.

What is the benefit of removing the bail on a spinning reel ?

May be my ignorance showing but I can see no practical benefits. If there is some kind of noticeable improvement im unaware of and its cost effective why not. But just to tinker hard pass

so I researched it a minute

apparently it is a little hand and wrong handed people issue

so they would go full manual to solve their short finger issue

also explains why I have never had the issue with my XXL mitts

I never been a fan of that type of spinning reel. I grew up using Quantum SS reels that had the little "trigger" for the bails. They were great until the trigger broke. Still have a bunch of them. Looks like shimano still makes that type.

I had a shimano withthe trigger , and some quantums and some abu growing up that did not

I am currently running mostly Okuma ABF-3000

I like the instant stop so it doesn't have to come back half way around to the lock , like the trigger style , but I do always bring the line around to the top of the reel when I open the bail to cast maybe that was conditioning from the shimano with the trigger I ran for a lot of years.

also my fingers are long , I can hold how the guy in the video says not to between my middle and ring finger and my index finger extends down the front of the spool all the way to the middle

which is why I think this might be a little guy mod , if you wear XL or larger gloves reach was probably never your issue .

That wrap would feel better in your hand, if it was really cheap I'd probably do it, but if I had to spend more than $3-4 per wrap, it ain't worth it to me. I'm ok with the bails on my spinning reels though. I open and close them by hand anyway.