Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

So I have a New Curado 200 E7 on my current CB rod but I'm wondering if the 7.0:1 is the optimal reel gear ratio. Is there advantages to going with a lower ratio on a CB rod?

I'd sure like to hear some opinions on this one.

Thanks

I like a fast reel. You can slow down a fast real easy but you will kill yourself trying to make a slow reel fast all day long

I read somewhere that lower gear ratio will allow the crank to dive a little deeper. Not sure about that though.

I use 5 to one reels for cranking. I do not think you can effectively slow down the retrieve on a 7 to one. Most of the time I am not burning a bait so the 5 to one gives me better control and feel for the bait's contact with structure and wobble.

Robert F wrote:I use 5 to one reels for cranking. I do not think you can effectively slow down the retrieve on a 7 to one. Most of the time I am not burning a bait so the 5 to one gives me better control and feel for the bait's contact with structure and wobble.

+1

This time of year, 5:1 or slower!

Later in the year, I'll go up to 6:1 reels as fish become more aggressive.

Robert F wrote:I use 5 to one reels for cranking. I do not think you can effectively slow down the retrieve on a 7 to one. Most of the time I am not burning a bait so the 5 to one gives me better control and feel for the bait's contact with structure and wobble.

+2

I tried a 7to1 on my cranking rod for a while, but I much prefer a 5to1. I always have a harder time slowing down than speeding up.

Even in the winter when everyone fishes really slow presentations, I can assure you you cannot reel a lure fast enough to get away from a bass that really wants to go after your bait..Now that being said, chances are most bass actually do prefer a slower moving bait over a faster moving one..I believe this is true, even when the water is warmer..They expend less energy chasing slow prey than they do fast prey..A 5 to 1 or a 6 to 1 gear ratio is plenty good for most crankbait situations..If you are throwing large deep divers, a 4 to 1 or a 5 to 1 makes it easier to throw and retreive them for long periods of time, less wear and tear on your wrists and arms..I have used and do use all of these ratios for cranking..I do like the really high speed 7 to 1 reels for blades, buzz baits and frogs and sometimes jigs..Not so much for moving the bait fast, other than blades and buzzbaits, but to take up line quickly for better hooksets..

mac

Garcia 4600 or 5600---6:3.1 , the couple years I have been fishing, you can't get more bang for your buck, handles all you can give it, plus they been around a long time.

Thanks for the advise. Took out Xmas money.

Think I'll go with a 5 to 1 and try it.

7.3.1 cover water
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/vlogpage ... de=VLOG064

I feel VERY strongly, as do most who have thrown a crank a TON, that a 5:1 ratio is ideal for deep cranks.

speed comes down to a few factors. how fast, on average, is your crank arm turning when a little drool is running out of the corner of your mouth (IE when you are on auto pilot)

how large is the diameter of the arbor, how far did you cast?

what diameter is the line you are using?

the faster you crank on auto, the faster you get back line. however, if you are using a thin line, the arbor is larger (has a greater diameter) at the end of an x-foot cast that the same length cast, with a thicker line. also, this value increases at a slower rate if the line is thinner, as each revolution builds diameter more slowly!

HUH?

what all this means is a large spool revolving at 5:1 may recover 31" per revolution, while a small spool @ 7.1:1 may get in 27", or whatever.

it all comes down to comfort. i feel better at the end of a day of deep cranking if i use a 5:1 ratio, regardless of how may feet i have dragged a bait! my best one day total for five fish in my state (Colorado) is 25lbs. i fished a crank ALL DAY, in the blazing sun, without pause or rest, on a little piece of structure i found after walking the bank three times. i am POSITIVE i would not have been able to do this if i was using my 6.3:1 Curado's... i would have been too tired. all my bites came in a 10 minute period at the end of the day!

if anyone wants to know my crank rod rig, it is a Loomis GL-2 PR844C popping rod, slow as hell, with a 5:1 Curado, and 10lb. P-line evolution. this rig is cheap and very cozy for hours of cranking.

in case the speed issue is a factor, i fish 'traps all the time on this rig. i find it easy to fish faster, hard to slow down! if i had to burn baits all day, i would look for a higher ratio, but that is not how cranks get fished by most.

slow ratios provide more angler comfort, as the hands and wrists are not working as hard. no different than pulling stumps...low=power.

Shaun

Phil wrote:Garcia 4600 or 5600---6:3.1 , the couple years I have been fishing, you can't get more bang for your buck, handles all you can give it, plus they been around a long time.

Had a couple Garcia's and just don't care for how they feel in my hand. Just personal preference I guess. I even bought a Revo and don't can for it much either.

biteme wrote:7.3.1 cover water
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/vlogpage ... de=VLOG064

Great clip, thanks for that. I fish the Delta most of the time. I've only fished lakes twice in the 5 yeas I've had my boat as I'm about 2 blocks from the Delta. (Really need to go to Clear Lake).

While there are plenty of spots with 25' plus depth, I just don't think they are as common as in Lakes. My point is that while I do like to fish DD-22's in deeper water it's just not my go-to technique for crankin on the Delta. Perhaps I'm missin the boat.

So, I'm sure Randy's advise is great, but is it as true on the Delta as in the lakes? I'm not sure. The guy obviously knows what he's doing I just wish he was speaking specifically about the Dleta.

It's all good advise and I appreciate the feedback.

Worst comes to worst, I have a reel that I have to figure out what to do with if it's too slow for crankin.

You will love that 5 to 1. Now what you need to remember is that your target structure will dictate your bait's depth range. What I mean is pick a bait that has a running depth to make cover contact, whether it is rip rap, grass, etc., at that slow cranking speed. Don't try to force a shallow bait to do a medium runner's job. You will get bit.

Cranking is one of my favorite things to do, especially on the Delta though. I love my DD22 at Clear Lake and my DD14 and Deep little N on the Delta. On the Delta, I personally mainly crank deeper crank baits on low tide only. I prefer a 7 to 1 or even 6 to 1 because I cover water and have more confidence in faster gear ratios. In my opinion, it's just more of a confidence thing, I love cranking in heavy current and sometimes feel like a 5 to 1 can't keep up with the current.


Just my .02 cents

With respect to Delta crankbait fishing there are two excellent articles in the westernbass Libary.

Speed traps, timber tigers , rat-l-traps are a part of the advise, in fact I just bought a dc2 timber tiger for those heavily weeded subsurface situation that I've been using wake baits on.

Keep in mind through, you want to hit stuff down there and even on the delta nd certainly in steep banked resevoirs you need baits that get down and still have dependable action.

For a deep crank the Norman d22 and the rapala are both very nice.

I personally don't adhere to the Slow crankbait reel deal...I maybe missing the boat but a 6:1 has always been fine, and I see no problems using a 7.3:1 ...I have two of those reels but not on my crankbait rod.

I've never had problems slowing down and have often seen the advantage of plowing a loosely hooked fish into the boat...in fact thats why I use my fast reels on topwater and spoons/jigs for the same reason.......and those are not fast presenations either....at least not unbtil I hook up.

My lone experiment into slow reels was a 3.8:1 curado..I didn't like it.. but maybe some of these other choices are better.

Also most spinning reels are like 5.4:1 and cost a bit less than baitcasters....just food for thought.

Also most spinning reels are like 5.4:1 and cost a bit less than baitcasters....just food for thought.

man, i gotta respond to this.

i know we all have our ideas. and i think that is awesome, i really do. so dont get me wrong! but i would not wish a hard days cranking on a spinning reel on my step mother...

as far as ratios go, there may be divergent ideas as to what will qualify as "comfortable", and i will freely admit i am a wuss, but there is pretty much one idea of (classical) physics, and like i said, low ratios provide more TORQUE! if a crank is part of a junk pattern, it does not matter, and that is that. but if you are commited to a crank, a slow (5:1) ratio will hurt less at the end of the day.

promise!

Shaun

I like the shimano conquests and te-dc for the crank which i believe are 5-1. Not only does it slow down the crank once you hit the structure, it also brings in the fish powerfully and slower once they are hooked decreasing the chance of the trebles pulling free especially if you have one treble in the fish. I find that since switching to glass and slow ratios I get two sets of trebles in their face. Of course the line, type of rod and its action comes in to the equation as well. The te-dc in particular also casts the cranks a mile and does not backlash as much. So with that in mind I would say that the te-dc is a sick crank reel. I also use these for blades and buzzbaits the 5-1 gives you that extra second to not react too quick. JMO

My favorite crankin' reel is an old Lew's Speed Spool BB-1N with a 4.3:1 ratio. Mounted on a fibre-glass crankin' rod, it handles all-day casting of crankbaits, including especially the deep-divers, with minimal effort and optimum control. I totally agree with Buddy Brown's rationale for the lower gear ratio. My other cranking reels are 5:1 for billed crankbaits and 6.3:1 for lipless crankbaits. I've tried the latter for billed crankbaits and really don't like the extra effort needed to retrieve the lures when cranking for any length of time.

I didn't say I used spinning reels to crank, I just observed that spinning reel in fact do have a fairly slow retieve....

but now that I'm thinking about it I do "crank" little rapala cd-5's and cd-7's on spinning tackle and it works fine.

seems like some people like 6:1 or 7:1 and others like it slower.

I don't think its anything more than a preference. And when push comes to shove, Ill listen to guy like macabee that has won tournamnents doing very little more than crank.

There are advantages to both fast and slow cranking setups.

On the Delta, when the water is moving at a fast clip during a tide change you will need a fast reel to hit optimum depth as the water is flowing towards you. It can be tough to reel fast with a slow reel because the water is just going too fast, think of water rushing through an old levee like Mildred. You will need some speed to look for fish around that break, to get down and scrub bottom for fish hanging out there feeding. Many of the baits you might choose in this instance probably aren't deep divers anyway. Think of faster river sections, those are great places for the faster reels. Its also fun to burn baits across flats, not just for stripers.

Slow reels can really help out crawling all over stuff and around weeds. Think of worming with a crankbait, letting it float backwards, and crawling forwards again. Also the slow reels can help you stay in the thump/thump slow wobble speed zone that works pretty well right now. If you are reeling faster, it increases the cyclic rate at which your bait operates. And at times that super fast rotation of the bait is a turn off to the fish. Think of the thump of a big round blade on a spinnerbait vs. the tight fast spin of a willow style blade. A little less RPMs on your crank can result in more bites at times. Most guys mess up by catching a fish, and unconciously start reeling faster, and the bite dies. They never figure it out, why the fish stopped biting.

For big heavy deep divers like DD 22s slow reels do really well. Its easier on the angler and the reel. Your reel will not wear out as fast, as a fast geared one doing the same job. Yes a fish can out speed you once in awhile, but that is rare. You can move a bunch of line quickly with a big 7 foot plus rod and a quick move on your part. Its not like we have a fixed boom mouted on the boat with a winch on it.



A.G.