Looking To Buy a New Reel

[MuskieBait]

MA, there is a lot that a light reel can handle. My friends in California often fish for 3- to 4-foot leopard sharks and guitarfish using 2000 size reels and 8lb test. They can do just fine on those reels, even in a surf environment.

In saying that, I prefer to go a little larger personally. To me, a few more ounce of weight from the reel is really a small sacrifice to trade for versatility. I don't have money to spend on a lot of gear (saying that...I do have over 20 combos at home from ice rods, fly rods, surf rods and float rods...). Most of the time, I'll try to buy something that can handle the bigger fish. I hardly go smaller than a 3000 size reel. I much prefer to have larger gears in my reel (stronger guts to fight stronger fish), a bigger spool capacity (in case of a big fish that takes out 100+ yards of line), and also the bigger spool diameter (to cast further and more line retrieval).

I'll use the Pflueger President as an example...

6925 size - gear ratio 5.21, line capacity 4/110, max drag 6lb, line recovery 22.4"/turn, weight 7.2oz

6930 size - gear ratio 5.21, line capacity 6/145, max drag 9lb, line recovery 25.2"/turn, weight 8.3oz

6935 size - gear ratio 5.21, line capacity 8/185, max drag 10lb, line recovery 27.4"/turn, weight 9.9oz

1) Line capacity - A lot of people consider a 10oz reel to be heavy...but seriously the 2.7oz difference between the 6925 and the 6935 reel is small. But you can gain a lot from using a larger reel. Notice that if you step up from 6925 to 6935 size, you gain a lot of line capacity. You can only likely only load 8/75 on the 6925 size reel. Well, 75 yards of line is not a lot. I had a salmon at Bronte Pier stripped off 2/3 of my spool of 8lb test within 30 seconds (probably about 130 yards). I was already using a 3500 size reel!

2) Max drag - You could argue that you can use 8lb braid to get more capacity. As abrasion resistant as braid can be, it is poor for sharp edges. Line diameter offer you more abrasion resistant in that case (there is a reason why large game surf anglers still use heavy mono as a rub leader). Anyways, even if you decide to use 8lb braid and a heavier rub leader, when you have a hot running fish, you are still limited by a limited drag pressure. Okay, most times, you are not likely to even use 5lbs of drag. However, if you need to drag a bass, pike, musky or carp away from weedbeds or snags, you would want to have a little more drag just in case. In saying that, I have yet to crank down the drag to full lock down drag. I do not like to lock down the drag. Looking at max drag is really only worth of discussion when it come to some of the faster running fish like carp, salmon and steelhead, or inshore species like bonefish, snook, striped bass, bluefish and tarpon. Most definitely, when you intend to go offshore, then you definitely need to look at max drag...but that's beyond the interest of the readers here.

3) Line retrieval rate - This brings two benefits with one increase. Note how the line retrieval rates (inches per turn) increases quite dramatically when you go from 6925 to 6935. You may argue that the increase of only 4" per turn. However, if you cast an average of 50 feet (that's 600 inches), it takes about 27 turns to reel in with a 24.4"/turn retrieval rate. However, it only takes about 22 turns to reel in with a 27.4"/turn retrieval rate. If you are say fishing for steelhead in streams and you need to reel in every time your float is downstream and at the end of your drift, or you are bottom bouncing in the river for walleye, the higher retrieval rate is to your advantage. Over the course of a day, reeling in faster and with less cranks allow you to increase your fishing time a lot (look, you went from 27 turns to 22 turns...that's a saving of 5 turns per drift...or a saving of 18%...or roughly 1/5). There is also advantage when you are fighting a fast running fish and you need to reel in fast to keep tension as the fish is running toward you. The higher retrieval rate allows you to keep tension much faster.

4) Casting distance - Line generally flows off the spool during a cast much nice with a larger diameter spool compared to a small diameter reel. When using mono, most mono will have quite a bit of line memory which cause the line to conform to the spool. With a smaller, narrower spool, your line will have many more smaller curls. With a larger, wider spool, your line will have less and larger curls. It is to your advantage to have fewer and larger curls as the line flow off the spool and through the guides much nicer, reducing the friction on the equipment. This allows you to cast further. It may be a significant increase in casting distance, but a few feet can often make the difference.

Of course, you can say that I ignore discussion between balance of the rod with the reel. For me personally, I prefer to have a butt heavy feel over a tip heavy feel, so having a heavier reel helps to provide that butt heavy feel for me. With a butt heavy feel, I can keep my rod tips up better to give much better sensitivity. However, it is almost impossible to balance a butt heavy combo as compared to a tip heavy combo. For a butt heavy combo, you may have to saw off sections of your rod butt to lighten the weight, where as for a tip heavy combo you can just add washers to the butt to increase the weight. But like I said, I personally prefer a butt heavy feel and for most part, I rather to have some smaller sacrifices but gain more in the factors I mentioned above.

I guess this is not a simple decision between small vs. large reel...but all of this is to demonstrate that reel selection is really depending on your fishing targets and intended use.


I have yet to find my perfect reel yet...I don't think there will be one as some factors are conflicting...unless you are willing to go very high end or custom reels...