Best Fishing Reels

My brother and I had our only bass tournament of the year the first weekend in August. With the summer off from tournaments, we had much time to pre-fish for this tournament. I spent about 8 days pre-fishing (helps that my family has a cabin on the lake). Over the 8 days I had many different patterns, but no defined go to one selected.
The day of the tournament we decided to start out shallow. I was tossing a Jig and pig using a Shimano Curado reel on a 7 ft medium heavy rod with 50 pound power pro. This produced nothing, so I switched baits to a baby brush hog on a 1/4 oz weight Texas rigged. We were flipping into reeds in about 3-4 feet deep. This turned out to be the bait of choice, as I pulled a limit of 1 to 2 pound bass in the next half hour.
Knowing that we needed a larger fish to cash a check in the tournament, I switched back to a Jig and pig. We pulled out one 3 pound bass from the reeds, but it was slow in going. After about 3 hours of this we decided to move off shore to a couple of rock piles. If you have not fished bass on rock piles in July/August you don’t know what you are missing. The bass can be fantastic!
We hit the first rock pile and I was using a 1/2 oz spinner bait on 14 pound mono with a 7 foot rod and Abu Garcia Ambassedeur Revo reel. On about the fourth cast I hooked a nice fish. I thought this was going to be a pig. Turned out to be about a 8 pound northern, not much help in a Bass tournament. Anyway, after about 1/2 hour of no fish we were about to move when I hooked another big fish. I brought it up and this time it was a bass, 4 pounds to be exact. The next cast was my brother using a Texas rigged ring fry on a Shimono Curado reel. He landed into a 5 pound bass. We managed to pull a few more fish off this spot. We finished fourth overall for the tournament and cashed a small check.
If it was not for time on the water and persistence out deep, we would have not done as well as we did! My experience with rock piles is that there is a spot on the spot and you need to spend many hours trying to find that. It will not be as easy as finding a rock pile, tossing bait out and catching the lunker. But if you spend the time finding the best spot, your time will be rewarded!

I am torn on what reels to use for drop shot rigs.  In the past I have always used a spinning reel.  It provided me with more control and feel when working a drop shot.  Consider that drop shot rigs are best when the bite turns off.  In these times, the fish will suck the bait in and unless you have a super sensitive setup you will not catch a fish.  I had always felt that spinning rigs were the best outfit for detecting the subtle bites.  Having your finger under the line on a spinning reel, one can easily detect the bite. 

During a recent trip to the sporting goods store, the salespersons made a convincing argument on why one should use a baitcasting reel for drop shot rigs.  The salesperson’s agreement was that you should use the rod to detect the bite and not the reel or your finger.  If you have a good quality rood, it will be very sensitive and transfer the bite to your hand.  With that said, you still want to have a smaller, lighter weight, sensitive reel that will pass the bite on through your rod to the reel.   

The salesperson talked me into trying out an Abu Garcia, round reel, Ambassadeur baitcaster for drop shot rigging.  The main reason for this reel was it’s lightweight and extreme feel.  And if you can’t give up that need to using your finger to detect the bite, a baitcaster allows for this too!

If you are in the market for a new crankbait reel, consider a baitcaster.  There are other types of reels on the market, but the baitcaster is by far the top reel for cranking.  With multiple options in gear ratios, you will easily find a reel that fits your fishing method. 

Here are a few ideas on what reels to pick in different cranking applications. 

Low Gear Ratio (5.3:1)

Use a low gear ratio when you want to slow down the retrieve.  This is great in cold water situations where the bass are lethargic.  It’s also killer over the top of weeds.  By slowing down the retrieve, you can hit the tops of each weed.  A low gear ratio is the prefered way to rip crankbaits from the weeds.  Crank the bait down into the weeds.  Then using the rod, make a firm jerking motion to yank it free.  High gear ratios will rip the crank free from the weeds without the erratic action you are looking for in this method.

Mid Gear Ratio (6.4:1)

If you don’t have the option to buy two crankbait reels, the mid gear ratio reel is the best option.  This will allow you to cover both methods, but requires more personal control over the speed of the retrieve.

High Gear Ratio (7.0:1 or greater)

Try a high gear ratio when burning crankbaits and rattle traps, fishing clear water, or when working wide open water with no weeds.  The higher gear ratio gives you the ability to burn the bait or slow it down if need be.  You are typically in depths of 5 to 10 feet or greater, which allows you to get the bait to depth with a few turns of the handle.  With a little control, you can slow down the retrieve if need be, but burn it to trigger strikes when that is the dominate pattern.  Don’t use high gear ratio reels in or near weeds, as this will make ripping it from the weeds more difficult.  Lower ratios are the best option.