Smooth

[Mobasser]

How do we determine smoothness in our reels? Like others here, I've tried a few reels over the years.                                         Not all have been expensive reels. Some reels, when new, feel very smooth but slightly sluggish. This may be do to how much grease is added when they're put together.                      I don't believe bearing count always means smooth, as I've had some reels with few bearings that felt very smooth.

         Years ago, a guy where I bought tackle wood spin the handle, and look at his watch. The reels that spun the longest were the smoothest. This was probably nonsense.                               So, when you check out a new reel, how do you judge smoothness?                                            P.S. I might add that one of the very smoothest reels Ive ever owned was a small Okuma Avenger. I bought it as a spare to take along on a trout trip. Cost was 22.95. So, cost may not always indicate smoothness.                                           What do you look for as far as smoothness in a reel?

[A-Jay]

I associate a reels 'smoothness' with a precision build.

Tight tolerances and a sturdy feeling construction can be a part of that I think.

I will add the overall 'weight' of the unit, often comes into play.

There seems to be a huge focus on 'lightness'

which in my world is OK but not at the sacrifice of durability.

Seems solid and ( OK I'll say it) heavy reels,

are durable as all get out, and maintain the Smoothness perceived when new, longer.

Bottom line, when fishing a bait of any kind, I never want to 'feel' the reel.

Strikes are hard enough to detect for this hack.

Just can't afford to be distracted by my gear. 

I'm going with that.

A-Jay

 

[bulldog1935]

Smooth = good balance and absence of geary feel. 

A lot of us associate low inertia or low winding resistance with smooth, and probably wouldn't consider a fully sealed reel like a Van Staal to be smooth.

A lot of stout reels such as Tica  will make my smooth list and others might disagree. 

I always like to use the low-grade Shimano Nasci in Tackleadvisors $100 spinning reel shoot-out for an example (if you can sit through an hour of it) - "smooth for awhile" 

He describes it as the smoothest reel on the table, then goes into why it won't last with hard use. 

That's a very different reel from higher grade Shimano, but demonstrates that smooth is always a target for Shimano. 

 

[Fishing_Rod]

Happy New Year Mobasser, and all,

 

A great question about the smoothness quality of a reel. I’ve been considering that recently too as I’m exploring a different brand of reel. I managed to find a number of these reels priced for clearance. I purchased one just to try and eventually purchased the remaining ones. I have to say in comparing the lot only two were consistently ‘smooth’ in operation.

 

So taking a look at what I consider smooth. I prefer a reel that operates with minimal input effort, low drag. That is a friction factor. I also prefer when it is smooth in operation, doesn’t have detracting vibration along with the expected movement. It should operate at the same pace as my input so I should only feel a consistent amount of drag when I am cranking it consistently.

 

I use lite weight equipment so any roughness is distracting as I’m counting on being able to detect slight changes attributed to interest by the fish. So a rough reel doesn’t make for a pleasant angling experience.

 

The other aspect of describing smoothness is the drag. As I pull on the line exceeding the drag setting I’m looking for that consistency in feel and appearance as the reel slips. I can feel the how it pulls and I can watch the response at the tip of the rod to visually indicate transients in tension. Again a couple of ways of assessing smoothness.

 

By the way the consideration of lubricants came into consideration when I was evaluating those new reels as perhaps the reason for the roughness. Now that I’ve had some time to use them they are getting better. They were never bad as in not acceptable, just not as good as I would like. So I’ll just keep using them to see if things continue to settle in.

 

Be well, cheers!

[Deleted account]

It's a reel not a fidget spinner, so I just fish with it, and if it works, it's "smooth" enough. If it becomes less smooth over time, I service it.

[Skunkmaster-k]

A smooth reel to me is no slack when I turn the handle backwards, no clicking, no whining gears . Balanced, with a buttery drag. Of course I don’t actually have any reels like that . A guy can dream though. 

[Jig Man]

What I look for is Shimano in the type and size that I want.

[WRB]

AJay nailed it, don’t want to feel the reel and distract me. Handle pads can be annoying. I want all moving parts to be vibration free and quite functioning perfectly.

Tom

[Catt]

I do a comparison test

 

Round reels get compared to Calcuttas 

 

Low profile reels get compared to Citicas 

 

[PhishLI]

People have different priorities. I don't have mini-me hands, so palming ergonomics are rarely an issue for me, and I don't care how smooth a reel is if I dislike its braking profile. Sure, I'd like every reel I own to be micrometer smooth, but if I hate casting with a particular system, and I do, then smoothness on the retrieve really doesn't matter much. Most of my reels run from reasonably smooth to very smooth, but while I'm focusing on what my bait's doing at the end of the line I'm not focused on that aspect one way or the other. But that's just me.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The question of what “smooth” means in reference to reels is a constant concern to people like I that service them. The two main camps are super free and buttery for lack of a better term. The types and volume of lubricants can be used to fine tune for either, obviously within the capabilities of the reels design and construction. My default during service is a middle ground that results in a more connected, buttery feel than purely “free”. Lightweight, rigid reels transmit feel much like a high modulus rod often leading to a misinterpretation of “geariness”. Bottom line, smooth is whatever it means to you.