im in the zone! this spring sale a BPS has me all worked up! lol...i have a 6-4-1 Abu-Garcia reel. that is the only real i have. i am going to get another new reel. what do you fish with a 6-4 and what would you use a 7-1 for? alot of people i have talked to said they would even own a 6-4. i no its personal preference but lookin for a guide lol. again i know this is basic stuff and sorry. im learning.

6.4:1=6.4 revolutions of the spool to one revolution of the handle

7.1:1=7.1 .............

The number that really matters is IPT (inches per turn). Most 7.1:1 reels have an IPT of around 30". That speed has some advantages. Most 6.4 reels have an IPT of about 26-28" IPT. I have both, and use the faster ratio for contact baits and around heavy cover where getting the fish out quickly is important. It is mostly about personal preference IMO.

I guess it would depend on what type of fishing you do.

A 6.4:1 reel is, IMHO, a pretty good ratio for treble hook baits and spinnerbaits, except for maybe deep cranks, where I prefer something even slower ( in the 5.3:1 area).

I prefer a faster reel for bottom-contact baits like jigs and t-rigged plastics because it allows you to retrieve slack line faster.

Just my preferences. YMMV and all that.

Tom

0.7

;-)

Ok, the gear ratio on a reel is the number of revolutions of the spool to one crank of the handle. Thus, 6.4:1 and 7.0:1. What is more important to know however is the length of line pulled in by one revolution of the hanle as this will give you a static comparitive value between reels. Say at 6.4:1 a reel pulls in 23" of line. another 6.4:1 by another manufacturer with a larger spool may pull in 25". The more line you pull in with one revolution of the handle, the "faster" the reel is. Or, how much faster you can reel in your bait with the same speed retreive.

6.4:1 is a good standard average gear ratio. This really will work for anything.

7.0:1 is considered a "burner" type reel. Used for fast retreive presentations or things like frogs where you may have to pick up alot of line fast.

Does that help?

Guess we were all on top of it. ;-)

The numbers you're talking about are gear ratios (7.1:1, 6.4:1, 5.1:1,....) This a gauge of how fast the reel takes up line when cranking. It tells you that for every full turn of the handle the spool revolves x times. A more true measurement is IPT (inches per turn) because spool diameter is taken into account. As far as applications go, 6.x:1 is the basic all purpose ratio. 7:1 is faster and preferred by some for burning baits and taking up slack quickly when jig fishing. 5:1 is preferred by many for deep running crankbaits due to increased torque hence less effort to crank. And you right that this like 90% of what we discuss boils down to personal preference.

awsome! thats what i was needing to know! thanks to all of you again and your patience!. think im going to pick up a 7.1:1.

Let me throw in one more thing. If you have not develped the habit of casting then switching hands to crank don't. Get what is sold as a lefty reel if you are right handed. This lets you cast with your power hand and be ready to set the hook or begin the retrieve immediately.

awsome! thats what i was needing to know! thanks to all of you again and your patience!. think im going to pick up a 7.1:1.

you might not really notice a difference in a bps 7:1 and an abu (if it's a revo) 6:1. the pro qualifier/carbonlite has an ipt of 25-26" (depending on how full the spool is) in 6.4:1 and 28-29" in 7:1, and the revo 6.4:1 has an ipt of 27-28".