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Posts: 267
| I did a search on trolling reels and didn't really see any discussion on gear ratio. How much line pickup do you like on your trolling reels? I could see a faster gear ratio being valuable if you are trying to keep a planer board above water. If you had a high gear ratio, you wouldn't necessarily need to keep the boat going forward too fast. Thoughts? |
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | Slower the better, more cranking power when fighting fish or reeling in heavy pulling cranks and boards. High speed reels have no advantage in my experience, and if anything are a hindrance. |
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| 4.2.1 is perfect. 5 at max |
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Posts: 20181
Location: oswego, il | When i use the tactic when fish don't count:-) i like the lower gear ratio for cranking power. If you use a big board you will really really wish you had the cranking power. Gear ratio is relevant, so is the size of the handle. For instance the penn 209 has a 3.2 gear ratio and the standard power handle renders it useless. With the big power handle the reel is great. Okuma reels have great cranking power with the power handle that comes with it. The only time you would want a high gear ratio line counter is for long leadcore and copper setups for salmon. Takes awhile to reel in that much line but on a board, not so much fun. I have had two people in my boat, both big guys sit down and rest after reeling in a tx 44 board. |
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| Thanks to all who answered and shared their experience. I am ordering my first reel just for trolling in the next week and not being very bright, never thought about gear ratio. I have not used planer boards but may in the future and that makes perfect sense. Was with my nephew and he showed me how to use them and despite him being young, strong and fit, now that I think of it, took some effort on his part. |
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Posts: 20181
Location: oswego, il | Sometimes you can get good cranking power by upgrading the handle. My penn 209 reels will reel in my tx-44 boards now with the huge 30 dollar penn power handle on them. Add 30 bucks to that reel and you can just get a different reel to do the same thing. I bought two aftermarket handles for my diawa 27 size sealines which improved cranking power greatly. The okuma reels moving the standard power handle to the end hole makes them great. If you have a coldwater be careful, the handle has a spring under it that can take off, just know it is there when doing it. |
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