Hey so I'm curious as to if anyone uses a cranking reel for big swimbaits? I'm considering picking up a Orra winch to use for swimbaits but I'm not sure if it would be ideal. I don't wanna absolutely destroy my gears chucking 1-5 ounce baits(don't plan on going higher than that right now. Maybe not even 4) 

I had the Orra Winch, very nice reel for SB''s in that weight range you want to use. Smooth, did not back lash and easy to palm. I did not keep it cuz it was just too slow for cranking for me, not my thing after using it. I opted for a Curado 301E, a bit faster gear ratio. This works perfectly for me, using glides, 6" Hudds and all in between. I may end up buying another Orra Winch, it was just such a nice reel.

I throw mine on Lexa 300, and for bigger baits I use a Shimano Conquest 400.

15 hours ago, ghost said:

I had the Orra Winch, very nice reel for SB''s in that weight range you want to use. Smooth, did not back lash and easy to palm. I did not keep it cuz it was just too slow for cranking for me, not my thing after using it. I opted for a Curado 301E, a bit faster gear ratio. This works perfectly for me, using glides, 6" Hudds and all in between. I may end up buying another Orra Winch, it was just such a nice reel.

I don't plan on going any heavier than that. Tackle Warehouse has the Orra Winch on sale for $100 and if you spend $75 on Jackal Products you get a free Gantarel. That's primarily what I wanna throw. I'm very new to the swimbait game so don't wanna spend $250+ on a swimbait reel if I don't know really what I'm doing. If that will work for baits in that range I might go with that. All I plan on throwing right now is maybe some Jackals, Magic Swimmers, and a few huds or smaller magdrafts. 

14 hours ago, mwh33 said:

I throw mine on Lexa 300, and for bigger baits I use a Shimano Conquest 400.

I've been looking into the Lexa. I like the look of it. I've never used a diawa reel before but I've heard a bunch of people say that's a good reel for that. I was leaning towards the *** A3 because I'm a huge fan of their products and it could also be a good real for heavy cover flipping. but I don't wanna dish out $230 on a reel that isn't gonna get that much use compared to my others. 

Orra winch can handle the lurest you mentioned. I did not have any problems casting a 6" Hudd. Casted far a whopper popper 130. The Orra Winch held plenty of 20 lb copoly line capacity . I actually liked how the reel felt in hand vs the Revo Winch. That huge gear bothered me when holding the reel for long periods of time.

2 hours ago, NateCatchesFish said:

I don't plan on going any heavier than that. Tackle Warehouse has the Orra Winch on sale for $100 and if you spend $75 on Jackal Products you get a free Gantarel. That's primarily what I wanna throw. I'm very new to the swimbait game so don't wanna spend $250+ on a swimbait reel if I don't know really what I'm doing. If that will work for baits in that range I might go with that. All I plan on throwing right now is maybe some Jackals, Magic Swimmers, and a few huds or smaller magdrafts. 

I've been looking into the Lexa. I like the look of it. I've never used a diawa reel before but I've heard a bunch of people say that's a good reel for that. I was leaning towards the *** A3 because I'm a huge fan of their products and it could also be a good real for heavy cover flipping. but I don't wanna dish out $230 on a reel that isn't gonna get that much use compared to my others. 

You talking baitcaster, right?  The Orra Winch is $56 on abugarcia.com right now.  (If you're right handed)

24 minutes ago, ghost said:

Orra winch can handle the lurest you mentioned. I did not have any problems casting a 6" Hudd. Casted far a whopper popper 130. The Orra Winch held plenty of 20 lb copoly line capacity . I actually liked how the reel felt in hand vs the Revo Winch. That huge gear bothered me when holding the reel for long periods of time.

I have a revo s that I use for cranking. I just prefer a little faster gear ratio when it comes to cranking in case the bass are really chasing so I can speed up or slow down. And I like the revo Winch I just don't wanna pay that much for a setup that won't be used a whole lot and also is something I'm new to. I plan on using 65 lb braid so I think I might pick up an Orra Winch 

20 minutes ago, adrenalnjunky said:

You talking baitcaster, right?  The Orra Winch is $56 on abugarcia.com right now.  (If you're right handed)

Yes. I use left handed for cranking. And actually I was wrong it's $80 or something like that on tw. A pretty good price for that imo

1 minute ago, NateCatchesFish said:

I have a revo s that I use for cranking. I just prefer a little faster gear ratio when it comes to cranking in case the bass are really chasing so I can speed up or slow down. And I like the revo Winch I just don't wanna pay that much for a setup that won't be used a whole lot and also is something I'm new to. I plan on using 65 lb braid so I think I might pick up an Orra Winch 

Yes. I use left handed for cranking. And actually I was wrong it's $80 or something like that on tw. A pretty good price for that imo

I picked up 2 of the 6.4:1 combos this spring, I think the reels are pretty decent performers, esp at the $80 price point.

1 hour ago, adrenalnjunky said:

I picked up 2 of the 6.4:1 combos this spring, I think the reels are pretty decent performers, esp at the $80 price point.

Are you talking about the Winch or the revo s?

3 hours ago, NateCatchesFish said:

Are you talking about the Winch or the revo s?

Sorry - I got the OrraSX in 6.4.  I actually picked up the rod/reel combos for about $100 each.  I like that the Orra series has the mag brake setup insted of the centrifugal setup the Revo S has. 

11 minutes ago, adrenalnjunky said:

Sorry - I got the OrraSX in 6.4.  I actually picked up the rod/reel combos for about $100 each.  I like that the Orra series has the mag brake setup insted of the centrifugal setup the Revo S has. 

I'm a big fan of my Revo. I actually got it on sale at Dicks for $60. They had 3 of them and I regret not buying them all. I have it paired with a veritas winch and it's the perfect cranking setup for all situations. That's my only complaint is the breaking system and I feel like the orra breaking system would be much better. 

Shimano Cardiff 300A

You aren't going to destroy you gears chucking 1-5 oz. baits.  The gears aren't engaged when you cast.  However, there's some stress on the frame, spool, and spool shaft.  The main reason we use a larger reel is line capacity, and the larger spool makes it easier to thumb the spool.  I like the Cardiff, Calcutta, Curado 300, and a Okuma Komodo for this stuff.  I rarely throw anything over 3 oz.

Conquest 300......very smooth.

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

You aren't going to destroy you gears chucking 1-5 oz. baits.  The gears aren't engaged when you cast.  However, there's some stress on the frame, spool, and spool shaft.  The main reason we use a larger reel is line capacity, and the larger spool makes it easier to thumb the spool.  I like the Cardiff, Calcutta, Curado 300, and a Okuma Komodo for this stuff.  I rarely throw anything over 3 oz.

Ok this cleared it up for me. Thanks! I just don't wanna spend $200+ on a reel for something I probably won't be doing that often that's why I figured I'd take advantage of the sale on the orra winch and go with that. 

I'm currently using a Quantum Exo 300 on my swimbait setup. It's very light weight, which was one of the primary reasons I ended up going with that reel. Didn't hurt that I found it on sale for $100 either

9 minutes ago, Oklahoma Mike said:

I'm currently using a Quantum Exo 300 on my swimbait setup. It's very light weight, which was one of the primary reasons I ended up going with that reel. Didn't hurt that I found it on sale for $100 either

Thats part of the reason i wanna go with a cranking reel. Im considering a cardiff but dont wanna spend a whole lot and I also am not a fan of round reels and it weights like 8 ounces.