[Culprit]

Over the past 15 years or so, reel manufacturers have made tremendous strides in increasing the take-up speed of their prod­ucts. Today five-to-one and even six-to-one hi-speed reels are as common as knee-high tackle boxes. But with all of this, don't get the idea that faster means better when it comes to crankbait fish­ing.
More speed does not neces­sarily translate into more depth. You need to realize that the high speed reels are moving your lure almost twice as fast as a slower ratio reel will.
Don't make the mistake of be­lieving that the faster you crank, the deeper the lure goes. Two critical things happen when you try and burn the lure with a fast retrieve.
First, it effects the action of the lure and secondly, it won't run at the same depth. Once you overcome the buoyancy factor of the lure itself, it will run at its deepest from that point. To gain maximum depth control usu­ally requires a moderate, comfortable re­trieve.
Let me tell you why a lower gear ratio reel works best for this kind of fishing:
• lower gear ratio means slower retrieve speed and more power
• it forces the angler to fish a crankbait at a slower speed
• it maximizes depth and lure per­formance.
• lower gear ratio takes less ef­fort to retrieve with high resis­tance lures
• it causes less fatigue on the an­gler
• 4.4:1 (4 point 4 to 1) works best for deep-diving crankbaits, and is ideal for best lure action and speed.
Example: A 6.1 reel retrieves ap­proximately 28 inches of line per turn of the handle; a 5.1 is 22 inches; and a 4.4:1 to 18 inches, which is ideal.

Slower retrieves allows the lure to achieve greater depth by allowing the bait to work verti­cally, not horizontally - allowing a more deliberate, natural bait action as it digs the bottom and bumps structure - and it keeps the bait in the strike-zone longer

 

[krnfishboy7786]

Aris,
Here's my "rebuttal" lol. I agree with everything your post said, here's just a different point of view I was reading up on a little while ago on bassresource.com.

To properly fish crankbaits you need a good reel. The reel offered by one company a few years ago was dubbed a "crank-bait" reel and offered a slow retrieve. I was at company events where this and other models were being introduced to some of us who were loosely dubbed as field staff. It offered just the opposite of what I felt was an ideal reel for crankbait fishing. I would not use anything other than a 5-1 or greater retrieve ratio. The logic is simple. Think of the reel in terms of a high power outboard. If you want to really open it up then you have the power. If you want peak fuel efficiency then you can run it at three quarter throttle. There are times you want the reel to allow you to more rapidly reel in the line such as working a sinking crankbait over cover or grass. Likewise there are times you want to "burn" the lure back and drive a diving crankbait down to the maximum depth as soon as possible on your retrieve. A low ratio reel will not let you do either. Interestingly, the slow "crankbait" reel is now a collector item since there were not a lot of folks who wanted its attributes.
One other thing that I neglected to mention as to an advantage of faster retrieve reels as applies to cranks is that you can more easily take up the slack and thus control the hooked fish. Most bass get off when there is slack, or a loss of pressure applied, during the retrieve.

The guy who wrote that sounds kind of dumb to me now lol but now I know a faster reel doesn't mean more depth, but atleast a faster reel does help take in slack to avoid losin' fish which happens a lot with me. boo... lol

And I just found this article a little bit ago by Mike Iaconelli, he says:
As for reels I'm looking for something with three characteristics. First I want a reel with a large capacity spool for long cast. Second, I'm looking for a reel with a medium, not a slow retrieve. I like to have the option to reel super slow or fast. Third, I want a superior anti-reverse system. The reels I choose are the Team Daiwa Millionaire with a 5.1 to 1 ratio for long cast situations and the TDS (5.1 to 1) for up close target casting.
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/iac ... baits.html

I've decided on buying a 5.0:1 Shimano Citica DPV as my cranking reel when I get the $ to buy it which means I'll need to wash a lot of dishes in the dormitory cafeteria. :shock:

Good luck tomorrow at Busse, and laugh at that one guy deep water crankin' with his team daiwa rod/reel in 1 foot of water, with his side-kick who goes in and unsnags his bait every 2 casts, hahah

Ya gotta show me how to crankbait those fish over at Deep in the spring. I'm getting ready :lol:

 

[Culprit]

The slowest reel i have is a 5.1 to 1 ratio
anything slower seems weird to me also

ofcourse most spinning reels r 4.1 to about 4.5 to 1 but i`m sure theres some a little faster.

That a good article by Iocanneli Tim.

dont forget a slow tip rod also lol

 

[krnfishboy7786]

This winter needs to go awayyy.... spring needs to come now! lol

 

[Culprit]

I feel ur pain tim !

 

[Culprit]

Not every rod in your rod locker is going to be good for catching fish with the crankbait. A good crankbait rod should have a relatively slow action. In other words, the rod should start to bend down about half way down when moderate pressure is applied to the top section. Fast action means that just the top third will bend with the same pressure.
Slower rods will help cast the lure further and help keep from tearing out the hooks when you catch a strong fish or when your fish turns and runs hard near the boat. Many experts contend that the slower action will also give the bass a little more time to inhale the bait before you set the hook, ensuring that you don't rip the bait away from the fish before it gets the hook.
If you don't have a cranking rod, select a medium action rod or a fiberglass rod that will have enough power to cast the big lures and handle heavy fish. Avoid a stiff, heavy rod and don't use one that is too wimpy, because you will need to get a good hookset on fish that may be far from the boat and a rod that has no backbone won't get the job done for you.
Reels are a little less critical for effective cranking but many experienced anglers select reels with 4:1 or 5:1 gear ratios to slow down the bait and provide more power for cranking in heavy fish. Make sure the reel has plenty of line capacity since you will often be making long casts. With a little wind at your back you can send a big crankbait a long way.

 

[Culprit]

http://www.davesreelservice.com/index.shtml

Check this site out about ur Shimano reels they will replace the plastic bushing shimano uses on there reels go to the ball bearing upgrade page.