Gear ratios, retrieve rates per species

[surfisher]

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.