Slower gear ratio vs higher gear ratio

[Buffdaddy54]

I'm a little confused and need some clarity. I have read on these forums that it's better to use a slower gear ratio reel with Crankbaits than a higher one because you don't get as fatigued. How so? I realize that your bait moves slower with a 5:2:1 ratio than a 7:1:1 but not understanding why there would be less fatigue. Then I recently read where a 6 ratio is better than a 5. Help me out please, what am I missing?

[Team9nine]

Try this past thread:

 

Gear Ratio Thread

[Hulkster]

a lower gear ratio means the reel is more powerful ie easier to turn under a heavy load.

 

so for big baits that have a lot of resistance in the water like big lipped crankbaits and big inline spinners, I like a ratio in the 5.x to one ratio. I find they still fish fast enough without wearing me out.

[Steve1357]

just like a car...."torque"

[MickD]

Just like the transmission gear ratio on cars, except the nomenclature is reversed.  A 5.x to one reel is like first gear in your car compared to an 8.x to one which is like maybe third gear.  The lower the number the lower the effort to reel and the less line per reel handle crank you will retrieve.  The higher the number the higher the reeling effort and the more line you will retrieve with one handle crank revolution.

 

Having said that, I have found little difference in effort between the different gear ratios, most likely because the reels are so efficient these days.  Where I notice a difference is with trying to slowly retrieve a spinnerbait.  With a 7.x to one reel I have I find myself always tending to retrieve too fast.  So I've gone back to my old Calcutta 5.3:1 for my spinnerbait rod.  I like the higher numerical ratios for everything else.  Maybe a big, deep, crankbait would be noticeably easier to retrieve with the 5.x than with the 8.x.

[Buffdaddy54]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Try this past thread:

 

Gear Ratio Thread

Just read the thread. Thankyou, I now have a much better understanding.

[tkunk]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Try this past thread:

 

Gear Ratio Thread

I just read here that spool size doesn't affect power. I'm 99% sure that that's wrong.

 

[WRB]

IPT inch per turn is based on spool diameter, width and depth or line capacity. Reel spool size matters with considering gear ratio. My 8:1 Tatula 100 is listed at 34" IPT. I don't spool line to the rim of my reels, about 1/16" below the rim and my Tatula 100 measures 31" IPT at my full spool condition. After making a 40 yard cast measured, with 12 lb FC the IPT drops to 18", gear ratio is a constant 8:1.

My Penn International 80 has a gear ratio of 3.8:1 at high speed,the IPT measured is 71" at 40 yards the IPT is 70", very little change at this reel holds 600 yards of 50 lb mono. Spool size matters.

Tom

[MickD]

Another way of saying what Tom is saying is that while the gear mesh ratio remains constant (8 revs of the spool for every rev of the crank handle)  the actual working overall ratio changes with how much line is off the reel.  Therefore the crank effort would be highest with a full spool and lowest with an empty spool.  The more line you take in with each crank handle rev the higher the effort will be.

 

I hope this helps rather than hurts.

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, Buffdaddy54 said:

I'm a little confused and need some clarity. I have read on these forums that it's better to use a slower gear ratio reel with Crankbaits than a higher one because you don't get as fatigued. How so? I realize that your bait moves slower with a 5:2:1 ratio than a 7:1:1 but not understanding why there would be less fatigue. Then I recently read where a 6 ratio is better than a 5. Help me out please, what am I missing?

Couple of thoughts ~ @Buffdaddy54

First off, sounds like you may not have much (or any) experience long bomb casting a big deep diving crank bait and then winding that hard pulling deal back to the boat.  Over & over & over again - for like 6-8 hours.

I can assure you, it's not like flipping docks. 

Do it just one time, with any reel you like - high speed, slow speed or perhaps something in between - one thing's for certain - you'll get some clarity.  Additionally you may be able to recognize a little of that fatigued you referred to.

 

Secondly, actually doing for an extended period of time will allow you to identify what you prefer - and it is all about personal preference.   Either Low IPT or High IPT - faster gear ratio or slower. 

 

Personally, I prefer a 'slower' reel - on most (but not all) moving baits including crank baits. 

Although I'm required to turn the reel handle faster & more times per retrieve, it's easier to actually turn the handle which I find less fatiguing than having to apply more effort on less reel handle turns. 

I have much more endurance this way which means I can make more casts & cover more water which both equate to more & bigger bass in the net.

 

Here I talk about how I use what is essentially a cranking reel to burn my spinnerbaits - works well for me. 

YMMV

 

A-Jay

 

[haggard]

Higher gear ratio = horsepower = speed (gears: more teeth but smaller teeth)

Lower gear ratio = torque ("staying power")  (gears: fewer teeth but beefier teeth)

 

For low resistance lures & environments (ex: topwater) higher gear ratio may do well.

For high resistance lures & environments (ex: swim, crank, pads, weeds) lower gear ratio may do well.

 

[the reel ess]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:50 PM, portiabrat said:

I just read here that spool size doesn't affect power. I'm 99% sure that that's wrong.

 

If you had two identical reels except that one had a smaller diameter spool, that reel would have an effectively slower retrieve. Therefore, that reel would have more torque. It's like the difference between bigger rims and smaller rims on a vehicle. Big wheels are harder for the motor to turn, adversely affecting how much power you can put to the ground, and fuel consumption for that matter. I can attest to this because I put bigger rims and tires on my Jeep. It's getting around 14 MPG around town.

[Team9nine]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:50 PM, portiabrat said:

I just read here that spool size doesn't affect power. I'm 99% sure that that's wrong.

 

Not quite - keeping in mind we're talking about a very specific definition of 'power.' What was stated was that to move a bait a specific distance in a specific amount of time requires a certain amount of force. Those 3 factors combined are the physics definition/formula for 'power.' What reel you use, what spool size it has, doesn't change the power required (the answer) to fit that exact scenario. It still takes that exact amount of power to accomplish the goal.

 

Yes, if you change gear ratios you've changed one parameter of the "power" of a reel, but that has no bearing on the answer in regards to the crankbait. 

[tkunk]

19 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Not quite - keeping in mind we're talking about a very specific definition of 'power.' What was stated was that to move a bait a specific distance in a specific amount of time requires a certain amount of force. Those 3 factors combined are the physics definition/formula for 'power.' What reel you use, what spool size it has, doesn't change the power required (the answer) to fit that exact scenario. It still takes that exact amount of power to accomplish the goal.

 

Yes, if you change gear ratios you've changed one parameter of the "power" of a reel, but that has no bearing on the answer in regards to the crankbait. 

I get that moving a bait a certain distance requires the same amount of force, but the OP was also asking about fatigue.

 

I use a Tranx 300 HG, which is 7.6:1, for deep cranking, and I can burn baits all day with zero fatigue. I don't know anything about physics, but I'm assuming that the large spool size and long power handle make this possible. I can say from experience that deep cranking with a high-speed 200-sized reel is much more taxing.

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, portiabrat said:

I get that moving a bait a certain distance requires the same amount of force, but the OP was also asking about fatigue.

 

I use a Tranx 300 HG, which is 7.6:1, for deep cranking, and I can burn baits all day with zero fatigue. I don't know anything about physics, but I'm assuming that the large spool size and long power handle make this possible. I can say from experience that deep cranking with a high-speed 200-sized reel is much more taxing.

Correct - buried in that linked thread: 

 

"The formulas in the last post show that for a chosen lure and chosen constant retrieve speed, the required power is independent of gear ratio, IPT, spool size, etc.  On the other hand, required effort to achieve the same presentation DOES depend on these reel parameters."

 

Those mentioned parameters, along with others like handle length, would all play a part in effort or fatigue of reeling as you've experienced and mentioned.

[WRB]

Back in the 60's when Abu Ambassaduer red 5000 reels became popular the 1st thing we changed was the stock crank handle to longer "Power Handle" to fish (plugs) crank baits. I don't recall the ratio of the original 5000 maybe 3.8:1? The High Speed I believe was 4.3:1.

Tom

[Steve1357]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Back in the 60's when Abu Ambassaduer red 5000 reels became popular the 1st thing we changed was the stock crank handle to longer "Power Handle" to fish (plugs) crank baits. I don't recall the ratio of the original 5000 maybe 3.8:1? The High Speed I believe was 4.3:1.

Tom

Here you go Tom...

http://www.realsreels.com/ABu Reals Bob Hulme.pdf

 

I have the older ones, 3.8 they are. Great for worms and jigs, great for spawns with hogs. Hell on anything else if you're in a hurry lol.

 

80s brought in the 4.7 hispeed reels and the ultracast change where the spool spins on the shaft.

 

The later reels are 5.3.

 

(few exceptions of course, the 5500 series were hispeed before the 5000 was)

 

Steve

 

 

 

[WRB]

With the original short crank handles you hand to crank like a crazy person to keep up with the bass or retreive most lures to make another cast. The longer handle was easier to spin faster, it wasn't a torque issue as the reels gearing were so low.

Thanks for correct info, just didn't recall the ratios without looking them up.

I started with the 500, then 5000, then 4500 and 2500 Abu reels, never went to the thumb bar 4600. Changed to Daiwa Aplha series with instant anti reverse and free spinning spools and Shimano Calcutta's in the early 90's and never looked back. The Calcutta with 5.8:1 is probably the top cranking reel available to this day!

Tom