Gear ratios, retrieve rates per species
 

Hi guys, I'm relatively new to kayak fishing, still learning. Was wondering what gear ratios or LPT lengths are ideal for bay bass, kelp calicos, bonitos and rockfish all fishing swimbaits or jigs (no live bait). Thanks for your input.

For bass fishing I typically prefer something a little slower, especially for spottie fishing where you want to just roll your bait slowly over eel grass. Same thing for calico's, although for Calico I like to burn my baits to get a reaction bite so I will often being winding in fast.

For surface iron I prefer something with a faster ratio, because you want to pull the jigs through the water at a speed to make them kick properly. Some jigs swim good on a fast wind while others swim good on a slow wind, but having something that pulls in a lot of line per crank helps a lot.

Keep in mind a reel with a high gear ratio doesn't mean it will pull in a lot of line per crank, so that is one thing you definitely want to look at when picking out a reel. I'm definitely no expert but I have found those options have worked really good for me. :cheers1:

This might be unhelpful but ya gotta find the retrieve speed the fish want. But like surfisher said, slower is generally better for the bass. For rockfish you're usually fishing strait down and bouncing along the bottom so slow is fine. Bonito like a jig moving farely fast. Surface iron retrieve is set by how the iron is kicking. While yoyo style is as fast as you can turn the handle. Reels can have both high gear ratios and torque now. A Trinidad is 6:1 but you can still button down the drag and grind. Some older high ratio reels just have no power. Gear ratios and line per crank differ by reel size. The length of line a little bait caster pulls per crank is nothing compared to one turn of a Penn 6/0. So it all varies but 4-5 on a ocean conventional and 6-7 on a bait caster are fine. Mike

For these species, the gear ratio shouldn't matter much.

For swimbaits like big hammers, I have found that they work best when worked slowly. But a fast or slow gear ratio won't matter, you just need to reel in at the right speed. I fish the central coast for lings often. I use 6.5 inch big hammers. I pretty much drop them down to the bottom and slowly move them, letting the current wiggle their tail and give them the swimming action. Clearly, the gear ratio would make no difference. This technique works well in the winter for calicos too.

Now that yellowtail have slowed down, I'll fish for calicos. I use the same reel I use for yellowtail which is an Avet MXL 5.8. I'll just put 20 # mono on instead of 30 # mono. I'll mainly be fishing swimbaits. I'll just adjust my reeling speed until I get the lure to swim at the speed I like.

If I were you I would go with a high speed reel. All my reels are high speed single speed. I have never felt the need for a low speed to turn the head on a big pelagic, and never had a problem fishing for smaller inshore fish.

Thanks for all of the information, greatly appreciated.

Oh and like the other guys said, make sure you understand that inches per crank does not completely correlate to gear ratio. It depends on the reel size and handle length. If you're comparing two similar sized reels, saying the gear ratio will be helpful. But saying gear ratio when comparing an avet LX to a freshwater baitbaster won't help at all. Then you have to look at inches per crank.

In general I prefer the faster reel.

Baitcasters... I prefer faster reels 6:1 or above. For me it's easy to slow my cadence when needed. And when I need to rip line ( sea lion, landing fish in surf, yanking them outta structure, quick retrieve to recast into boils ) I can do so in an instant.

Smaller Squidder size conventionals... I prefer faster 6:1 ratios which puts you at about ~36" per crank. Even with a higher ratio the smaller spool height of these size reels keep torque on the low side.

Medium Jigmaster size conventionals... This is where I have both slower and faster ones. Slower 4 or 5:1 ratio hits the sweet spot for swimming surface irons. Faster 6:1 makes less work for ripping in yoyo jigs and wahoo bombs. The torque difference is more noticable so pick your poison and learn to pump and wind. Metal famed reels will bind less under heavy drag pressures which can allieviate torque loads as well.

Bigger Senator size conventionals... Consider 2 speed reels in this size category. Set it on high gear as your default. Low gear when you need it.

Yes, this! x2

To clarify, I have two baitcasters, Lew's BB1 (5:1, 21") and a Abu Revo Toro 50 (5.4:1, 26") and was thinking to add another baitcaster, maybe 6-7:1, 30"ish) for more speed.

I'm just going to throw this out there cause I don't feel like reading the whole thread. I made the mistake of buying a 5.4 reel and regret it because I can't always retrieve fast enough. It's much easier to reel slower with a fast reel than to reel really fast with a slower reel.

I use both high and low for spotties depending on application. I'll use the higher gear ratios for blades and crankbaits. I use the lower gear ratios for when i fish heavier line for spotties and need to get them away from structure.

For calicos I only fish the Okuma 364 buttoned down to max drag. 65# izor braid to 40-60# fluoro depending on application.

hope this helps,

tight lines