Why did they stop making 5:1 power gear ratio baitcasting reels?

[Captain Phil]

Anyone remember when we bought high speed gears for our round Ambassadors? 

[bloom]

32 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

Anyone remember when we bought high speed gears for our round Ambassadors? 

I sure do, but I 'm not sure what retrieve ratios we went from or to.  I'm thinking the reels came with 3.7 to 1, and the High speed gears were five point something to one?

[detroit1]

I had a Quantum "crankin" reel in the 70's...3.8: 1.  Those Rebel deep R's felt like a 3" grub coming back to the boat. 

[ska4fun]

12 hours ago, katmandew said:

I’m cranking a deep running cb (14-16 feet) for 8 hours straight so a 6.3 will wear you the heck out.  Even worse the faster you get.  The rule of thumb for what I’m doing is the slower the better.  Slack control is of no concern, nothing about what I’m doing calls for speed.  Speed kills your chances in this case.  I currently use 4.7:1  pro qualifiers and a 5.1 older Orro Winch.  Just have a couple that need replacing.  I may just pull the trigger on a gen 5 revo winch.  Thanks all.

Line slack control is of uttermost importance, if you use topwater lures, like stickbaits, poppers twitchbaits, propellers and jerkbaits. And to avoid the fish getting into structures.

 

 

[katmandew]

3 hours ago, ska4fun said:

Line slack control is of uttermost importance, if you use topwater lures, like stickbaits, poppers twitchbaits, propellers and jerkbaits. And to avoid the fish getting into structures.

 

 

Not for what I’m doing.  Not using any of those baits for this.  It’s strictly for deep cranking.  It’s of zero concern for what I’m going to use it for.

[ska4fun]

On 5/7/2023 at 6:05 PM, katmandew said:

Not for what I’m doing.  Not using any of those baits for this.  It’s strictly for deep cranking.  It’s of zero concern for what I’m going to use it for.

Actually not if you knew about the ''sudden death'' and drag/drifting works for crankbaits.

[Dwight Hottle]

@katmandew look at the JDM shimano reels they offer the PG which is 5.5 ratio. 

[katmandew]

4 hours ago, ska4fun said:

Actually not if you knew about the ''sudden death'' and drag/drifting works for crankbaits.

You simply cannot crank on 6.3 or higher and do what I’m doing.  It’s too tiring to do for 8 hours.  None of us care about sudden death/drag/drifting.  It doesn’t come into play for what I’m doing.  Not even bass fishing here bud.  You have no idea what I’m doing, therefore have no idea what i need or what matters relating to the technique.

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

@katmandew look at the JDM shimano reels they offer the PG which is 5.5 ratio. 

Thanks, yeah checking those out as well.

[bowhunter63]

Rock old school with a round Abu. I still use em for Carolina rigs. 

[ska4fun]

18 hours ago, katmandew said:

You simply cannot crank on 6.3 or higher and do what I’m doing.  It’s too tiring to do for 8 hours.  None of us care about sudden death/drag/drifting.  It doesn’t come into play for what I’m doing.  Not even bass fishing here bud.  You have no idea what I’m doing, therefore have no idea what i need or what matters relating to the technique.

Thanks, yeah checking those out as well.

Indeed. I'm wrong on my higher expectations, indeed.

[FishTank]

On 5/9/2023 at 11:53 AM, katmandew said:

You simply cannot crank on 6.3 or higher and do what I’m doing.  It’s too tiring to do for 8 hours.  None of us care about sudden death/drag/drifting.  It doesn’t come into play for what I’m doing.  Not even bass fishing here bud.  You have no idea what I’m doing, therefore have no idea what i need or what matters relating to the technique.

Thanks, yeah checking those out as well.

I have been following this a little at a time. 

 

So you want a lower than a 6.3 because of fatigue in 8 hours of cranking? I can tell you from owning several reels that there is very little difference in the fatigue factor because of different gear ratios. For me when it comes to dealing with fatigue, it's how does the reel palm, how heavy it is , how long the handle is, and what rod I am using. 

 

Also, what's your budget?  What rod do you have in mind and what line (this can also be a fatiguing factor)? Heavy deep diving crankbaits or something small and light?

 

 

[J Francho]

Look at IPT. In some cases smaller diameter spools are similar to those 5:1 reels despite the higher gear ratio. 

[SproDD79]

If you can find one, the Daiwa Steez A TW 1016-CC is a wonderful cranking reel, comfortable to grip,  low ipt ,5:3:1 gear ratio, just a straight up winner. Those who mentioned the previous generation Bantam PG are spot on, that's another outstanding cranking reel.

[zell_pop1]

On 5/9/2023 at 11:53 AM, katmandew said:

You simply cannot crank on 6.3 or higher and do what I’m doing.  It’s too tiring to do for 8 hours.  None of us care about sudden death/drag/drifting.  It doesn’t come into play for what I’m doing.  Not even bass fishing here bud.  You have no idea what I’m doing, therefore have no idea what i need or what matters relating to the technique.

Thanks, yeah checking those out as well.

Need a deep cranking reel for something other than bass then Shimano still has the 300K in a 4.7 to 1 ratio.

[LonnieP]

On 5/6/2023 at 6:43 AM, JediAmoeba said:

 

 

Tat 100, Tat 150, 2016 Zillion TW and the Zillion HD all come in a 5.x.x gear ratio 

JDM 21 zillion SV also comes in 5.5

[Scud_Muffin]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:40 AM, ska4fun said:

Actually not if you knew about the ''sudden death'' and drag/drifting works for crankbaits.

What is that? I don’t know how that works but sure would like to.

[garroyo130]

On 5/10/2023 at 7:56 AM, FishTank said:

I have been following this a little at a time. 

 

So you want a lower than a 6.3 because of fatigue in 8 hours of cranking? I can tell you from owning several reels that there is very little difference in the fatigue factor because of different gear ratios. For me when it comes to dealing with fatigue, it's how does the reel palm, how heavy it is , how long the handle is, and what rod I am using. 

 

I agree. I don't believe I've ever felt fatigue on the cranking hand as much as on the palming hand/wrist. Being that the crankbait will have the same amount of resistance if it is traveling at the same rate of speed, I don't see much of a difference in fatigue with different ratio.

[ska4fun]

3 hours ago, Scud_Muffin said:

What is that? I don’t know how that works but sure would like to.

Dragging is the act of pull a crank/jerkbait, using line tension, without cranking. Sudden death is a frenetic cranking, followed by a sudden stop.

[J Francho]

Perfect description. I'll add dragging works when you're working a crank through wood or brush. You can feel and react to the contact better then when reeling. 

[WRB]

Today’s casting reels have spools nearly 50% smaller diameter then yesterday’s round ABU -4500/4600 or wider 5000 reels. Gear ratio is less important than IPT at the end of your cast. 

Todays 100/200 size reel spools IPT at 40 yards drops nearly 40-50%. 8:1 gear ratio with 34 IPT full is around 18” after 40 yard cast.

Need to take IPT into consideration.

Tom

[ChrisD46]

5:1 or 5:6:1 bait cast reels are just the ticket for deep cranking large bill , deep running 16' ~ 20'+ crank baits . Even deep cranking with a 6:3:1 bait cast reel becomes tiresome after a couple of hours .