Curious as to everyone’s imput on what the best gear ratio is for bottom fishing. I’m needing to pick up a reel to match up to a 20-40lb light stand up rod for < 100ft action probably 30lb test. I have a bunch of the work horse Senators, a lot of high speed reels for kings and tuna, etc, just wanted to see what yall’s opinions were if you had to pick an all time favorite reel or gear ratio. Thanks again
Opinions are drag preference star compared to lever would be appreciated too if anyone wants to put in their 2 cents
-Wishes Charlotte was 3 hours closer to the ocean…-
Newer reels have much more efficient gearing systems that allow a higher retrieve ratio without losing power and the ability to winch up a fish. A more realistic measure of reel speed is line recovery per handle turn as it is a function of the gear ratio and the diameter of the line on the spool. Many reel manufactures are providing this information now. Anything less than 30 in per revolution is geared towards power and not speed. Personally I like a retrieve at or above 30 and lift the fish with the rod rather that winching on the reel. If your are going to jig you definitely want to higher retrieve or ante up for a 2 speed reel to get the best of both.
Iain Pelto
Sea Hunt Triton 160 w/ 90 ETEC “JB3”
Native Manta Ray 14
thanks for your response hairball that definitely helped. Any other inputs or opinions guys?
-Wishes Charlotte was 3 hours closer to the ocean…-
For heavy grouper fishing I really prefer a star drag to a lever. Pulling grouper out of rock piles is brute force fishing and we usually lock down the drag and pull until something breaks, or the fish comes up. If you let them run, they run straight into the rocks and probably aren’t coming out.
On most lever drags, it seems that if you set the preset drag tight enough to lock it down at max, then you don’t get a true free spool when you pull back the lever to drop the bait, so you always have to fiddle with it. With a star drag you can crank them down with a pair of channel lock pliers and the spool release always gives a free spool for dropping the bait.
I prefer lever drags for game fish that have room to run and you can use the drag to advantage, but you can’t let a grouper run anywhere, you’ve got to tun his head and get him heading up right away. The star drag works better for this IMO.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair