9.0:1 Really Needed

[Teal]

Nah... 7:1 is plenty. Its a classic case of the fishing industry catching more anglers.

[Deleted account]

But not all of them have the same amount of line on that spool or a deep spool vs. shallow spool for total volume of line which will radicaly change the diamater of the spool at the point which the line is revolving. Nor do all reels have identical handle radi.

 

So, in actuality a 9:1 gear ratio reel can provide a slower speed of bait retreival than a 5:1 gear ratio reel based upon the above variables.  So, why care if a reel is rated for 9:1?  My example above of the 7.9:1 MGX I have is that it's relative gear ratio is more in line with your common 7:1 reel because of it's smaller size and smaller line capacity.   As well it behaves more like a 6:1 with the line volume low.

 

Gear ratio is relative.  Why sweat it if you don't know the other variables?  It's marketing hype that the bass fishing community has bought into as gear ratio being the only thing to take into consideration about how "fast" a reel is.  Things are getting better with IPT numbers being advertised, but this is still not a real answer. 

 

And yes, the delta in bait speed can be quite radical across platforms with similar gear ratios.  Or, quite similar across platforms with greatly differential gear ratios.

 

The value that should be discussed when selecting a reel as "fast" or "slow" should be inches per second of bait movement as an integral of spool diameter at the radius of the line on the spool to it's center based upon a common velocity of the handle at it's end.  THAT would differentiate one reel from another and this test could be completed very easily and used for maketing.

 

Reel manufacturing companies however will never be this honest with the consumer.  Honesty about your product is not sexy. 

 

This reminds me of a Dilbert strip that I always loved.  Dilbert is trying to explain to a sales person all the technical qualities of a new product.  This occurs for several frames and in the frame afterwards the person just stares at him.  In the next frame Dilbert says, "Let me rephrase that in a language I like to call Liberal Arts Major".  In the next frame he says "It's Blue".  In the last frame if I remember correctly, the sales person loves it and determines that its going to make them rich.

 

Are you in Colorado right now?...

[Goose52]

Is a 9:1 gear ratio (very high IPT) necessary?. NO. Would it be handy to have at times?  Yes, for the reasons already mentioned: (1) bringing a bait back fast once it's out of the strike zone to make another cast, (2) when a fish swims directly at you, and (3) burning a bait over skinny water.  However, while it has those advantages, it would be a niche ratio for me...not something I'd want to fish with all the time.

 

Practical application of two of the concepts discussed in this thread - gear ratio and handle length. About an hour ago I was at a lake and toss my trusty lipless crank out to max range - borderline hookup range.  I let the bait hit the bottom in about 15 fow, wait a second, and pop it off the bottom and let it fall. The rod mushes up, hookset, BIG fish on.  Couple strong tugs, fish runs to the right, then turns directly at me and makes a run...VERY fast. About now, I'm wishing I had a 20:1 ratio reel with about a 50mm handle. I crank as fast as I possibly can and am not keeping up with the fish. The fish then turns, I feel the weight of the fish for just a second.... then it's unbuttoned and gone.  Probably never had a really good hook-up, and the fish got some slack line and that didn't help.   After that, my shoulders droop down, I shake my head, then think to myself...I guess I'll post on that 9:1 thread after all..................................

[bflp3]

your thinking is correct, but the magnitude of the effect you are talking about may be a little off. say you have the 9:1 ratio like the rocket has, by increasing the size of the handle you will effectively" slow down" the reel, but it may slow it down to the speed equivalent of an 8.5:1 or an 8:1, but you will have better leverage when reeling than you had before without totally sacrificing the speed of the reel. In my opinion it is a better mix of Power and speed. But apparently it already comes with a 95mm handle so upgrading may not be necessary...

It really just depends on how big you go, but any additional leverage is coming at the cost of speed. I think preference in handle radius should really be the deciding factor. If that doesn't matter to a person, they are better off keeping the smaller handle and picking a slower ratio than buying a higher ratio and then spending extra money on a bigger handle.

[Capt.Bob]

If anything I think it would be good for teaching you to use the rod because it would be useless trying to hog em in! I have no use for one.

[plumworm]

Wow, This has to be the most technical thread in a long time. I didn't understand 90% of it, but read the whole durn thing, hoping that I soon would. I didn't. I will attempt to learn the angle of the dangle and the Malthusian theory before I ever try to read another post like this. BTW, I have 2, 5/1 reels and the rest are 6/1 and I still catch a fish once in a while. Do you think if I bought a 9/1 I could be a better fisherman? I need help.

[Jeff H]

 Do you think if I bought a 9/1 I could be a better fisherman? I need help.

 

Without a doubt.  They should have telescoping handles too.

[The Rooster]

I tried to get behind all these multiple gear ratios......fast, super fast, moderate, and slow, and ultimately ended up learning that a basic 6.x:1 was good enough for nearly anything I care to do while fishing. If a bait absolutely requires more or less than that then I just won't fish it.

All these tech specs and details suck the fun out of fishing anymore. I have a 5.4:1 crank reel that I didn't even bother to put line on this year. I have a 7.1:1 reel that has last year's line on it still, and I find myself occasionally wishing it was a 6.4:1 like my other two are. When I replace these 3 I'm currently using (they're getting old and about due) I'll probably just buy one single gear ratio across the board for every bait I throw, deep diving, topwater, surface burning, dead sticking, and any other presentation there is. If it works it works, and if it doesn't then I had fun trying and I'll call it a day and try again later, changing absolutely nothing when I do.

On a 9.0:1 reel, I can say for sure I'll never see the day when I try one.

[WdyCrankbait]

I'm not sure if the hyper gear ratio of 9 to 1 is really needed, but it sure is fun!!

 

Got a Revo Rocket a couple of weeks ago and it will be my primary pitching reel with a 7 to 1 Curado 50E as a back up (w/Hawgtech handle).  But, I see a good advantage in being able to with a couple turns of the handle, have the bait out of the strike zone and heading to potential another.

 

But, as mentioned above a couple of times, this is just the latest thing.

 

Great discussion as well on this topic.  Usually this type of topic can take a turn for the worse, but I liked reading all the different view points.

 

Wdy

[hatrix]

I could see it making buzzbaits or "toads" (the kind with kicking feet) easier to keep on top. You could slow your retrieve down and still keep those things burning on the surface. I've heard that for use with pitching that reel is the most efficient because it literally takes two handle turns to get a pitched bait back for another cast.

A couple guys were looking at one of those and I said I could see it being nice for buzzbaits/frogs or traps. They looked at me like I was weird and said it was for pitching. I thought of using it for buzz stuff and traps first so maybe I am weird.

[Felix77]

Necessary ... no.  But it looks so freakin' cool.

 

[tcbass]

ever lose a fish cause they came straight towards the boat and put slack in the line? i use a revo rocket for everything from crankbaits to drop shotting and everything in between. just learn to slow your roll and it works great. also it takes 3 turns of the reel handle and your ready to make another long pitch. It works for me but to each his own i guess

So you'd definitely buy another one?

[GaterB]

A couple guys were looking at one of those and I said I could see it being nice for buzzbaits/frogs or traps. They looked at me like I was weird and said it was for pitching. I thought of using it for buzz stuff and traps first so maybe I am weird.

 

If that makes a person weird I'm fine with it! I think it would be awesome to be able to have a slower, super controlled retrieve and still burn a bait across the surface or over submerged grass!

[snuffboX]

So you'd definitely buy another one?

 

oh yeah in a heartbeat!

[Alex Ball]

On 3/27/2014 at 8:27 AM, J Francho said:

I remember when 5:1 casting reels were called high speed. It's interesting that no one discusses spinning gear ratios. A small 6:1 spinning reel can take up 30+ IPT.

My Sahara(That I bought cuz of you J! LOL)  eats 41" per crank on a 6.2 ratio. Agreed, Spinners are now on a level playing field mathematically. Also, the higher IPT on a lower Ratio satifies the Torque problems with the "rocket" reels, IMO.

[KP Duty]

I have 9 and 10 speed reels mostly for bottom baits.  The main advantage for me is getting my bait back to the boat lickity split so my bait spends less time out of the water.

[WRB]

The fact this thread is now 7 1/2 years old the topic isn’t new. Gear ratio’s for bass high speed bait casting reels have settle to 7.3:1-8.3:1 for Shimano, Daiwa and Lews, the leading reel mfr’s.

Tom

[Phil77]

Lews 9.5:1 hyperspeed comes out next week. TW exclusive so I'll have to wait a while to get one.