I've seen the light. low gear ratio for shallow cranks

[87tpita]

I slow roll my 6:1 201 and love it for crankbaits....

[Teal101]

It's easier to slow down with a fast reel than speed up (efficiently and effectively) with a slow reel.

.02

Eh, I find slowing down with a fast reel odd with large resistance baits. No way I'd be cranking a 6XD all day on a 7:1 reel. Work smarter not harder

[GARRIGA]

As it is, I think I crank to fast so low gear is for me the better equalizer.

[87tpita]

It's easier to slow down with a fast reel than speed up (efficiently and effectively) with a slow reel.

.02

Eh, I find slowing down with a fast reel odd with large resistance baits. No way I'd be cranking a 6XD all day on a 7:1 reel. Work smarter not harder

agreed,, but the op was asking about shallow crankbaits....7:1 at 20' down would be a bit of a challenge to say the least,,, however,, even with the shallow baits the gears inside of a 7;1 are working awfully hard but still doable somewhat comortably

[Teal101]

It's easier to slow down with a fast reel than speed up (efficiently and effectively) with a slow reel.

.02

Eh, I find slowing down with a fast reel odd with large resistance baits. No way I'd be cranking a 6XD all day on a 7:1 reel. Work smarter not harder

agreed,, but the op was asking about shallow crankbaits....7:1 at 20' down would be a bit of a challenge to say the least,,, however,, even with the shallow baits the gears inside of a 7;1 are working awfully hard but still doable somewhat comortably

Agreed. in that 0-10ft range a 6.x:1 reel works amazing and a 7.x:1 reel is still workable.

[mrpao]

5. ... :1 gears for most resistance baits - cranks and spinnerbaits.
If you fish these baits a lot, your arms and wrist wont be worn out at the end of the day.
I have 5....:1 gears for all my cranking and spinnerbait reels. Even shallow cranking and light cranking.

[sofinesse]

I have a bantam curado in 3.8 that felt a bit too slow but I might give it a go one of these days.

I have a mint Daiwa PT33C, which is a 3.8:1 that was fully tuned and polished by Ian...it still pulls 18.5" with a full spool per turn, it is very usable especially in cold water when slow rolling lots of different lures in deeper water. I also use it to slow wake larger lures, like the Buzzjet. Compared to any other reel in my arsenal, the cranking power on this reel is stoopid.

The biggest downfall with IPTs less than 20", is not being able to crank fast enough on fish that run towards you, or towards cover.

That was my biggest concern about not being able to catch up to fish that were running toward me. wondering if that can be slightly remedied by fishing a longer rod. I am not scared to run backwards to catch up to the fish, might be harder on a boat though . I was actually contemplating using it as a swimbait reel, but now I am thinking LC Bullfish and 1 oz. spinnerbaits might be in order .

[mark poulson]

I use a 6'9" TW special Powell square bill rod for square bills. It's long enough to get good casts, but short enough to be very accurate. When I'm working a square bill in cover, I fish it fast, and the bill bounces it up off snags, so I really like a faster reel.
And when I'm fishing rocky stuff, I feel it bump, and that feel is what controls how fast I fish it. I never really pay attention to how fast I'm reeling over rocks, just on how the bait feels, so the speed of the reel isn't a big concern for me, as long as it's fast enough to catch up with fish if I need to.

[dragon1]

To reiterate again - gear ratio and IPT, can and does differ from reel to reel. A 5.0:1 6500 Ambassadeur will likely have the same IPT as a 7.3:1 Daiwa Zillion.

Just sayin'...cranking power does not have to be sacrificed for IPTs, or vice versa.

[Chode]

how much line u have spooled up will determine ipt as well

[phatbass]

Got a curado I in the 5.5:1 gear ratio after much deliberation. After fishing with it now I'm hooked. Nice, smooth, and I no longer am overworking the bait. I like fishing fast and throw a lot of square bills and manns baby's. Even with such shallow water presentations I can't believe how nicely it works. I paired it up with a dobyns 705cb glass and muscled some redfish with it. Now that the fall is here I'll get to see how well I can keep up with the speedy speckled trout with this gear ratio.

The only thing I fear is it may be too slow for ripping rattle traps.

Anyone else switch over to low gears for cranks?

using the same reel for cranks and its been awesome.

[dragon1]

how much line u have spooled up will determine ipt as well

Yes, there was a post whereas I suggested that manufacturers have "markers" on their spool for the IPTs when the line is at that level. Just a thought since many old school Daiwas already had a "full capacity" line marking on their spools.

TT has also now taken on the calculation of IPTs when the spool is at certain levels of capacity...a nice extrapolation in addition to their rod wrack and reel/drag calculations.

[mark poulson]

how much line u have spooled up will determine ipt as well

Yes, there was a post whereas I suggested that manufacturers have "markers" on their spool for the IPTs when the line is at that level. Just a thought since many old school Daiwas already had a "full capacity" line marking on their spools.

TT has also now taken on the calculation of IPTs when the spool is at certain levels of capacity...a nice extrapolation in addition to their rod wrack and reel/drag calculations.

Now all they need to do is a chart of stock spool weights for all the major brands of baitcasters. That would really be helpful.

[dragon1]

how much line u have spooled up will determine ipt as well

Yes, there was a post whereas I suggested that manufacturers have "markers" on their spool for the IPTs when the line is at that level. Just a thought since many old school Daiwas already had a "full capacity" line marking on their spools.

TT has also now taken on the calculation of IPTs when the spool is at certain levels of capacity...a nice extrapolation in addition to their rod wrack and reel/drag calculations.

Now all they need to do is a chart of stock spool weights for all the major brands of baitcasters. That would really be helpful.

Yeah, just printed (engraved even better) on the body/underside of the sideplate of the reel like the old school Daiwas, Shimanos, Abus...

[MTBF]

Congrads on the Curado I very nice reel at that price point and will challenge many $200-$250 reels for performance and quality.

I like slow reels for crank baits. Never understood it until buying a Digital Calcutta (TE100DC), these reels are at 23" Per Turn, for big deep diving baits you keep a steady momentum but your bait stays in the strike zone 3x longer. When I feel the bite, the fish doesn't move much but you feel the head shakes and that parabolic rod load up, start cranking him in and enjoy! Smallies run a little faster but that's what adrenalin is for, speed r up and wind him in.