I currently use a 6x reel for my cranking.  Most people use a 5:1 reel.  I am torn about making the purchase.  Looking for opinions either way with regards to the benefit of a 5x reel for crankbaits.  (suare bills and otherwise)

 

Note that I have a single 7' M rod which I use for all my cranking.  I also use it for jerkbaits.  As a co angler I try to limit it to one.

I use 2 crankbait setups. One is a 6'6" medium action with a 6.3:1 reel for anything under 12 foot divers. The other is a 7'11 with a 5.3:1 for fishing deep divers. If i only had one of those i would probably stick with a 6.3:1 reel because the slower reel makes you have to reel way to fast with jerkbaits and squarebills IMO.

I only use a 5:1 for deep divers which I rarely use because the lake I fish most averages 5-7ft deep.

But for all my other lipped crankbaits I use a 6.4:1 because I'll lose my arm trying to reel a 5:1 fast all day haha

For lipless cranks I like a 7:1 or higher

The lower ratio / IPT is noticeable on DEEP divers (DD16-22 etc) other than that you're fine with a "Normal" ratio 6.x:1 +/-

Normally you don´t steadily crank jerkbaits except you were fishing deep diving jerkbaits ( which I normally don´t see many people owning, better for me, they don´t know what they are missing ) and even in that case you will still jerk it. In 10+ ft diving lipped you do notice a difference, a slower reel allows you to reel in steadily without having to worry that you might be reeling in too fast ( which causes many baits to roll on their side ) and you´ll keep your bait in the strike zone longer. With lipless cranks doesn´t matter much, you can reels those at arthritic snail pace or burning the water so it´s more a matter of how fast or slow you want to present a bait, obviously, you want to reel in fast you´ll have to crank like crazy

 

On the other hand, there used to be a time for me ( until I purchased my first Curado ) when I fished with 4.7:1 for anything and everything, I still managed to catch a trockload of fish.

I currently use a 6x reel for my cranking.  Most people use a 5:1 reel.  I am torn about making the purchase.  Looking for opinions either way with regards to the benefit of a 5x reel for crankbaits.  (suare bills and otherwise)

 

Note that I have a single 7' M rod which I use for all my cranking.  I also use it for jerkbaits.  As a co angler I try to limit it to one.

 

I've been down this road and to this day I scratch my head as to why people think you need a slower ratio for deep cranks.  I understand deep cranks pull pretty hard, but I just can not perceive any difference in effort between a 6x:1 and 5x:1 deep cranking 20 foot divers.  I say gear ratio selection should be based on line recovery.  A 6X:1 is a good middle of the road point and if you are inherently a fast cranker than slow yourself down with a 5x:1 or vice versa with a 7x:1.  I'm a slow cranker by nature so a 6x:1 suits me well but I do have 5x:1 that I use when cranking really cold water temps to slow me down ever further.

 

Only you can know what ratio is best suited for you.      

I have one, and one only. It's only uses are for deep diving cranks, and slow rolling lip-less cranks in cold water.