How-to: Understanding Gear Ratios in Casting Reels Advanced Lews Fishing

A medium gear ratio will allow you to effectively fish lures both slowly and quickly. You can slow down and fish swimbaits and deep-diving crankbaits slowly, and then rev up to catch the slack created from fishing worms, jigs, jerkbaits, and topwater. Generally, serious bass fishermen use a fast gear ratio for lures that produce slack in their line, or when they need to get the fish out of heavy cover quickly.

Baitcasting reels usually have a higher gear ratio than spinning reels, and as a result are often used for fishing applications with high speed retrieval. A high gear ratio reel retrieves more line at a faster rate, which is a godsend when you’re fishing hundreds of feet deep. When bottom fishing, especially in deeper waters, a reel with a medium to high gear ratio is ideal because you’ll be able to quickly bring your bait up from the bottom when it needs to be replaced.

Gear ratio determines how fast or slow the spool pulls the line —that’s why it’s such a big deal to serious anglers when selecting the best gear ratio. Reels with lower gear ratios generate more torque as you reel in a fish, while higher gear ratios generate less torque. The longer the handle increases the distance and will then increase the amount of force that can be applied to the gears. More specifically, some examples may include top water baits, Shaky heads, jigs, big worms, jerkbaits, Texas rigs, lipless crankbaits, and Carolina rigs. There is no one “right” answer on the best gear ratio for a reel—if there were, it would be the only gear ratio sold! Instead, when in the market for a new reel, you need to consider your specific needs.

His goal is to share what he’s learned over the years to help you enjoy fishing too. His work has been featured in On The Water, FishTalk, and Fur-Fish-Game publications.

When fishing freshwater or targeting smaller coastal species, this works out well. At this point you may be thinking that the speed or power of a reel is based on gear ratio alone. While it is a major part of it, the gear ratio is not the only facet. Reflect back to the spool gear, I call it this since it is the gear attached to the spool but something to think about is just how big is the spool?

Another thing to consider is that your reel will not retrieve as much line after a cast as it will when the lure gets closer to you on boat or shore. Again, the diameter of the line on the spool is smaller, so it will pick up less line with each turn of the reel handle. One of the more complicated components of fishing anymore is deciding which reel to use. We have a few brands around here in the Advanced Angler collection, and they are all top quality products. Each brand has a variety of models that grant the angler options to choose from that provide different features or quality of componentry.

Using a high gear ratio in this case will cause less fatigue and physical stress after a long day of fast retrieves, allowing for less resting and more fishing. In addition, the musky fisherman can more effectively work the lure and consistently give it the very fast action it requires, comfortably. The best gear ratio for a baitcaster is determined by the type of lure or fishing rig that you want to throw with it.

I love to speed things up in the shallows using a high gear ratio fast reel. This is where high gear ratios make things lots of fun for surface fishing. Those topics are reel speed – known as gear ratio – and the other is inches per turn. These types of baits necessitate the speed of a higher gear ratio in order to gain efficiency between casts.

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Dion Liriano is a 51-year-old American zookeeper who has retired from the business. He was once a highly successful director of the Zoo and Aquarium, but he has since hung up his gloves and moved on to other ventures. Dion's passion for animals began at a young age, when he would help his father care for their family pets. This love grew exponentially when he started working at the zoo; Dion quickly became one of the most experienced keepers in the business. He credits his success to the relationships he built with both staff and animals over the years.

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