what baits would a 7:1 gear ratio reel be good for?

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You will probably get varied answer, but here is what I normally use a 7:1 gear ratio for: bottom bouncing baits such as worms and jigs, frogs, toads, and sometimes when I am burning a lipless crank. You can always slow down a 7:1 gear ratio for almost any technique.

It's more about bait presentation than it is about particular baits.  The 3 times I think a 7:1 works best are:  burning a small or lipless crankbait, pitching jigs when fast gears get your jig back quickly so you can make more pitches and cover more water during a day of fishing, and a Carolina rig where fast gears let you take up slack and set the hook a bit faster.  It's true that you can always slow down a 7:1 reel but it's hard to speed up a a 5:1 reel to warp speed for any length of time.  But most like to crank at a moderate speed so choosing different gears helps with different presentations, if you fish with multiple rods/reels.  BTW, gearing is not the whole story.  You need to look at how much line the reel retrieves in one handle turn.  That is the truest measure of reel speed.

You can use 7:1 for everything except Deep Cranking where you really need the low gears to help you pull that bait thru the deep water on REALLY long casts.

You can use 7:1 for everything except Deep Cranking where you really need the low gears to help you pull that bait thru the deep water on REALLY long casts.

X2 !

7.x for anything but deep water, the lower 6.x ratio really helps in deep water.  I learned that the hard way recently on my first trip to a big lake when I only took 7.x reels.  Lucky my friend let me use one of his 6.x reels.

For baits you work with the rod like: worms, jigs, poopers, prop baits, walk the dog.

For baits that need to be retrieved fast: buzzbaits

You can also use it with baits that are not affected by the high speed but you want to retrieve fast: lipless cranks, single bladed spinnerbaits