Ok so long story short. I just got heavily into bass fishing an as my arsenal grows (thanks monkey). I want to add another reel to it. All my reels are geared to 6:3. I have thrown 7:0-7:1 an man does things haul.

Can someone point me in the right direction for figureing out what gear is recommended for what situation. Thank in advance. Also sorry if this has already been covered I could't find anything in the search query.

memo

A lot of this is personal preference.  For crankbaits I prefer slower reels 5:2 to 4:7.  Lipless cranks 6:3 everything else 6:3, I don't have a burner reel and probably never will, like I said a personal preference.  I fish topwater, worming, jigs, cbs, a lot of buzz baits, spinner baits, lipless, etc.  Good luck

Well, gear ratio is a little misleading.  The true indicator on how much your reel is taking up per turn is called "IPT" or inches per turn.  I won't get into all that, but before others beat you down with that information, I thought I would throw that out to you.

I'll stick with gear ratio, since that is what you asked about.  I use a 5:3.1 for deep diving crankbaits.  For topwater, spinnerbaits, medium running crankbaits, and weighted plastics, I use 6.3:1.  For jerkbaits, carolina rig, frog, flipping, and senkos, I use 7.1:1.  Everything else I use 6.3:1.  This is just my personal preference and you will find what you like over time.

slower ratios (5:1) are good for deep cranks because you exert less energy. like riding uphill in the small cog of your front derailleur if you are familiar with mtn biking...

for baits that are moved with your rod (plastics,jigs) i like a faster gear ratio (7:1) to pick up slack quickly when setting the hook and to reel the bait back to the boat faster to get it back to the strike zone asap.

if you like to burn your spinner bait you might want a 7:1.

i think 6:1 is a good all around ratio.

keep in mind, this is all personal preference.