In Praise Of The 6:3:1 Gear Ratio Bait Cast Reel ??

[jbsoonerfan]

Most of my moving baits. Squarebills, lipless, chatterbait, spinnerbait, buzzbait, etc.

[ChrisD46]

Thanks for the replies - good to see the applications for the 6:3:1 (or approx. 29 IPT ) .

[frogflogger]

I use mostly 6's - feels very fast compared to the old Langley Lurecast's and Shakespeare tournament no level wind reels I started out with.

[Hulkster]

I love my curado 200 PG which is 5.5:1. I find that even the 6 ratio reels are a bit fast for most moving baits. 

 

The 5.5:1 ratio is perfect, spoons flutter not spin, crankbaits are easy to retrieve as are big spinners. 

 

however, they are a dying breed of ratio, at least for shimanos these days. when my 200i dies i will have to maybe look at another brand. 

 

 

[Allen Der]

I prefer 6.x:1 on all my reels.  I think it's easier to get used to one gear ratio and adjust your retrieve speed as needed.  It's easier for me to speed up than slow down with a faster reel

[Johnbt]

"I use mostly 6's - feels very fast compared to the old Langley Lurecast's and Shakespeare tournament no level wind reels I started out with."

 

That's the truth. I still have the two I started with back in the late '50s, early '60s.

 

[Diggy]

I use them for everything basically. I have pretty much all speed retrieve ratios up to 8.xx and haven't had any problems using my 6s for everything.

 

My 1st bait casting reels were a citica 200e and a revo sx gen 2 both in 6s. If they were still my only 2 reels I had, I wouldn't have any problems.

[Jaderose]

All my BC's are 6.3 except my frog which is 7.5.  Work just fine

[deadadrift89]

Crankbait

Swimbait

Swim Jig

Chatterbait

Spinnerbait

Buzzbait

Lipless cranks

 

I use 7x and 8x ratio reels for bottom contact baits and some topwater

[Josh Smith]

I use them to make me slow down

[Bankbeater]

All of my baitcasters are in the 6x range except one.  I use them for everything from moving baits to bottom contact soft plastics.  The baitcaster I use for jigs is in the 7x range. 

[Hower08]

My deep cranking rod is 5.1:1 I also use it for chatterbaits. My topwater squarebill and jerkbait rods I use 5.3:1 my flipping and frogging rods are 7.5:1 and 8.3:1

[Big-Bass]

I was fishing my TD-Z 103H Type R+ yesterday with jigs and it was handling them just fine.  And it also threw spinnerbaits perfectly.  I think there is a lot of hype in "speed" of a reel rather than IPT.  

[Shimano_1]

As stated the ratio is irrelevant at this point.  Inches per turn should trump the ratio. I do still use slower ratios for my deeper cranks,  spinnerbaits and bigger swimbaits. Companies are getting better tho. I remember the first couple high speed reels I had felt over worked with any baits with resistance.  I've thrown a rigs on burner reels now and maybe not ideal had no problems.  I hate the crazy fast reels tho. My buddies rocket is too fast for me even for jigs and such

[Bluebasser86]

Spinnerbaits, traps, poppers, bladed jigs, big swimbaits. 

[Big-Bass]

Isn't it amazing though how we have changed to think that faster and faster is always better and better.  Back about 15-20 years ago, a 6.3:1 was a bottom presentation fast as lightning ratio.  The baits didn't change but we seem to now think that we need a 12:1  to fish a jig anymore.

[redmeansdistortion]

Like many here, I fish a lot of moving baits.  I have a few reels that are 6.3:1, but most are 5.3:1.  I also have a 4.7:1 and even a 3.8:1 in my arsenal.  I really love the 4.7:1 for throwing big #5 Mepps.  The 3.8:1 never gets used as I haven't found a purpose for it.

[PourMyOwn]

I still remember when my Abu Royal Express 6.3 was the fastest reel out there. It made buzzbaits a lot easier to fish.

[redmeansdistortion]

2 hours ago, PourMyOwn said:

I still remember when my Abu Royal Express 6.3 was the fastest reel out there. It made buzzbaits a lot easier to fish.

It's still a quick reel.  The 6.3:1 ratio of a classic Ambassadeur brings in 30" per turn.  Some of the low profile reels out there need 7:1 or even 8:1 in some models to bring that much line in.  It isn't so much about the gear ratio as it is the spool depth.

[newyorktoiowa57]

I land much more fish on 8.x:1 for frogs, jigs, and texas rigs.  For all moving baits I like 6.x:1.  To me the 7 speed is an in between speed I don't find particularly good for any one thing, but works for most things. 

[Log Catcher]

9 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Like many here, I fish a lot of moving baits.  I have a few reels that are 6.3:1, but most are 5.3:1.  I also have a 4.7:1 and even a 3.8:1 in my arsenal.  I really love the 4.7:1 for throwing big #5 Mepps.  The 3.8:1 never gets used as I haven't found a purpose for it.

I use a 3:8:1 when the water temp is below 55 degrees. Fish usually aren't chasing anything real fast in water that cold.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Most of my abus are 5.4 or 4.3 i have a few 6s never needed more ...i dont tourny fish so time isnt a essence and i sure dont cast a million miles trying to cover all the water i can...i disect a area with close to mid range accuracy and rely on just a few lures with a good catch ratio....im good no speeding here and doin fine like 30 yrs ago...speed sells for sure 

[Glaucus]

I use 6.3:1 and 6.4:1 for almost everything. I have a couple 7.3:1 I got for bottom contact baits and frogging. If I'm honest, I find 7.x:1 to be useless in the sense that I don't like them for moving baits at all, and I do not notice any difference whatsoever in my ability to hookup with bottom contact baits qnd frogs between them at the 6's. That whole "pick up the line faster" thing is silly to me unless you need every single possible advantage if you're fishing for big money. The idea of reeling in line faster to cast back out there faster gets an Owen Wilson "wow" from me. I regret the 7's in the sense that none of my setups is dedicated to solely one thing and I find the 6's make me happy with everything and the 7's don't (moving baits).

[Glaucus]

On 6/3/2019 at 6:05 PM, newyorktoiowa57 said:

I land much more fish on 8.x:1 for frogs, jigs, and texas rigs.  For all moving baits I like 6.x:1.  To me the 7 speed is an in between speed I don't find particularly good for any one thing, but works for most things. 

Maybe this is why I find my 7's useless. Maybe I should trade them or sell them to get 8's and actually dedicate those setups. I find no difference between 6 and 7 in bottoms and frogs.

[5by3]

I fish mostly 6.3:1s and have not felt that I’m at a disadvantage for doing so. 

 

I like the fact that 6.3:1 gives you versatility to fish nearly every application.  I don’t want to be tied down to only being able to use certain reels on certain rods because of the gear ratio.