7' Medium Heavy spinning rod, recommended reel size?

[Skeet6]

30 vs 40? I am coming back to standard tackle from many years nearly exclusively fly fishing. The new-fangled baitcasting reels and rods I have figured out pretty well, but the new spinning gear is a bit different. I have a 30 size Abu Garcia Revo on a medium 7' rod with 8lb test, and it's perfectly balanced. If I were to pick up a medium-heavy 7', should I step up to a 40 size? I would be using 10lb mono on that. It seems the reels in that series are barely 1/2 oz different between 30 and 40.

 

Thanks for the help!

Mike B

[dodgeguy]

I'd go with the 40 for ease of line management.

[Skeet6]

1 hour ago, dodgeguy said:

I'd go with the 40 for ease of line management.

Do you mean for the larger spool diameter for the 10lb mono? Thanks. Wish I could get them in my hands.

Mike B

[TOXIC]

Are you talking about 2500, 3000 and 4000 size spinning reels? Standard rule of thumb….freshwater….

 

1,000-2,500 trout, panfish and crappie

3,000-4,000 walleye, largemouth, smallmouth

4,500-5,500 pike, musky, catfish 

6,000+ offshore

That being said, I use a lot of 2,000- 2,500 size for my finesse setups.  I step up to 3,000 for my 35lb braid and larger mono.  I also like the Wide Spool Technology spools on the 3,000 size for braid. 

[Skeet6]

34 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Are you talking about 2500, 3000 and 4000 size spinning reels? Standard rule of thumb….freshwater….

 

 

Yep, Abu uses 20, 30, 40, etc.

 

THANKS!

[bowhunter63]

I have a 40 size on 7 ft 6 rod . The bigger spool gets father out casting 

[dodgeguy]

2 hours ago, Skeet6 said:

Do you mean for the larger spool diameter for the 10lb mono? Thanks. Wish I could get them in my hands.

Mike B

Yes larger spools help prevent line issues. Lots of guys use 2000 size but I don't get it. KVD always used larger sizes so that's enough for me.

[TOXIC]

I tend to match the reel to the application vs line capacity.  A 3,000 size reel for Ned rigging, Senkos, and other finesse applications is just too big and heavy.  I use a 3,000 for vertical jigging and weighted Senkos on 10lb mono.  

[Pogues2300]

I’d go with casting! Just kidding… a little

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3000 is the goldilocks of spinning reels imho.  Perfect size for Bass fishing.   

[GetFishorDieTryin]

It depends on the weight/balance, guide train and use of the rod.  MH is probably the power with the biggest margin in actual power and weight.  There are MHs that are pretty much M powers and then you have MHs that are rated for well over 1oz.  It all depends on the particular rod you like.

Guides are optimized for a certain size spool and line.  Most FW bass rods are designed for 2500/3k reels using braid or light FC.  So long as the outfit will balance with a 3k and you're using braid I dont see the need to upsize.  If you want a slightly longer cast or are using FC I can see where the 4k would help.  Keep in mind a 4k will hold a considerably more which adds weight as well.   

[roadwarrior]

4 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

3000 is the goldilocks of spinning reels imho.  Perfect size for Bass fishing.   

Hmm...

Too much capacity, 2500 is my recommendation.

[MN Fisher]

^ I'm with Kent - my MH/F spinning rig that I use for skipping and light pitching has a 2500 on it. Casts far enough and I have no issues with line management...course I run braid to leader on all my spinning rigs...20# Smackdown to 10# YZH for this rig.

[Firstoutfisher]

Most bass rods I prefer a 2500 size reel but since you are talking about a medium heavy spinning rod I would go with a 3000 size shallow spool with 1.5 gou braid to 8-10lb fluoro leader

[Obi_Wan]

I use nothing but spinning gear in Canada for Walleye and smallmouth.  I have two 3000 spinning reels.  Only one makes the trip and its a backup reel.  I use a 1000 or 2000 for walleye and smallmouth.  Never had one issue with those reels.  If I had to use 10 lb line, then go with a 3000.  I like the BPS carbonlite because its not like holding a lead anchor all day.  YMMV.

[KP Duty]

I'd go 3000 👍

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If you’re using heavy 10#> mono/fluoro then ya go with a 4000. Otherwise 2500 is perfect for bass applications. If you want to multi species bringing pike, carp, stripers etc into the equation that’s a whole other thread. 

[Brian11719]

Ironically some reels (eg. a Lew's Custom Lite 20) end up w/ the same line cap as others in the 3000 size (eg. an Ultegra). That said I usually go with a 30/3000 for everything except my drop shot rod. In my case I for my medium heavy / fast spinning rod I have a Hypermag 300 so it has a little extra line capacity than most of my other reels (all Shimano). I also tend to go for reels with more drag for this particular setup since it's one of the ones I use around grass a lot so that might be another thing to consider while you are deciding which one to get. In terms of brands for spinning reels I like Shimano and Lew's. The other thing I look at is weight and while I haven't noticed much of a difference between 2500 / 3000 reels it does seem like a bit of a jump up to 4000 (I tried a 4000 reel once and ended up selling it almost immediately).

[Skeet6]

20 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

IThe other thing I look at is weight and while I haven't noticed much of a difference between 2500 / 3000 reels it does seem like a bit of a jump up to 4000 (I tried a 4000 reel once and ended up selling it almost immediately).

That's the interesting part of the Abu (Revo) that I am looking at. Seems the 30 is 7.8oz, the 40 is 8oz. I am thinking that the difference will only be a bigger spool. I can't find anywhere local to get one of each in my hands, and none of the online pics show size comparison. Thanks all for the help!!

 

Mike B

[BayouSlide]

2500/3000 floats my boat 😉👍

[Craig P]

Off the cuff I would tell you 3000 though I have learned that size is different amongst manufacturers.  A Shimano vs a Pflueger for example, a Shimano 2000 is more like a Pflueger 3000.  With that in mind, I started looking at the weight of the reels, the line pick-up, gear ratio, line size, etc. for the intended purposes and whatever series it is, it is, so to speak and just the model # I end up buying.

[MN Fisher]

24 minutes ago, Craig P said:

A Shimano vs a Pflueger for example, a Shimano 2000 is more like a Pflueger 3000.

Pflueger's sizes are a little wonky

Pflueger:     Others:

20                500

25                1000

30                2500

35                3000

40                4000

[Hulkster]

back in the days before I learned how to use a baitcasting reel, I used a 4000 size stradic on a 7 foot MH spinning rod with 12 pound test trilene mono. 

 

it worked very well. this was in the days before shimano offered the 3000 or the 2500 reel. they had the 2000 or 4000 and the 2000 was pretty small.