Froggin’ Reel

In the market for a new slop fishing reel and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? Looking for mid range price.

Thanks

How about a daiwa mega force 7.1 Im me have one for sale

whatever you get make sure it’s a high speed reel…like previously mentioned something in the 7.1 range…

I, too, am quite interested in people’s commentary…

As posted on a different forum, I have traditionally used my muskie equipment (7.5′ Heavy rod) paired with an Abu 5500 C3 and 65# PowerPro. Never had an issue getting a fish out…

Albeit I was tried after fishing all day!

I will be tackling Frog fishing this year with a 7′ Avid Heavy… but have yet to pair it… albeit I was leaning toward a standard old green Curado style CU200 I have with 50# PowerPro… I am not a Froggin’ expert by any stretch, so if someone has a comment on using a CU200 (6.3:1) as “good” or “bad” or “adequate” I’d love to hear.

Slop – is the 7.1:1 ratio key to getting the frog back quit to make another cast? More of a functional thing? I know you lose power as you go up in ratio, but perhaps its a leverage thing? Use the rod, not the reel once you are hooked up, and use the high-speed reel to fish?

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whatever you get make sure it’s a high speed reel…like previously mentioned something in the 7.1 range…

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Yup…

Define midrange price though…

I currently and using the high speed Curado D and it works pretty well but not sure if that is realy mid-range…

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Slop – is the 7.1:1 ratio key to getting the frog back quit to make another cast? More of a functional thing? I know you lose power as you go up in ratio, but perhaps its a leverage thing? Use the rod, not the reel once you are hooked up, and use the high-speed reel to fish

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the high speed ratio is to get the fish UP and Out of/On top of the grass as soon as possible. If you let him dive down into the grass your odds of losing the fish are greater than if you are skipping him across the water like a flat rock on a calm day.

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If you let him dive down into the grass your odds of losing the fish are greater than if you are skipping him across the water like a flat rock on a calm day.

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I think I got it… makes sense, as the 5500 C3 is a ~5:1 ratio (muskie oriented and all) and as witnessed, I’m no expert, and the fish did dive… I now have an excuse for missing those fish! Thanks!

Thanks guys! I will let you know how this turns out.

I guess I disagree on the high speed reel, or atleast maybe I don’t understand. A high speed reel for this application doesn’t seem correct to me. It seems the fish WILL get buried up no matter if you are trying you best to get them out before they do. (Maybe not all, but some / most) When that happens, wouldn’t the high speed reel be detrimental as you would lack power to be able to horse them out? Granted the rod will do that work for you most of the time, but not always. I see many guys going to 5.1 reels for flipping because of the added power, and I’m not sold on that yet. I still believe higher speeds are beneficial for the same reasons you mention above, get them up and going as fast as possible.

So to me, I think for Frog fishing, and flipping in heavy cover, a medium speed reel (6.2) is the right approach. Middle ground between power and speed. Again, I might be missing the point or value here, but that is what my logic tells me.

FYI – I just picked up a President WLP (last years model on clearance) that is 6.2 ratio. I am thinking of using that for my Frog set up. The right ratio (in my mind atleast), please the wide spool for long casts.

On a side note, I picked up a Pflueger Summit WLP in 7.1 ratio last year. I went with the wide spool because the inches returned was 31″, where as the normal spool was 28″ (basically no different than the 6.2 ratios out there). My intent was to use this for a pitching reel where I wasn’t flipping in to heavy cover and didn’t necessarily need the power. I found out the the Wide Spool was NOT friendly in close pitch situations. The line on the spool was constantly crossed over, or more to one side than the other. So I’m looking for a new use for this reel. I have since purchased a new Curado E7 to use for this scenario.

Fluker,

good questions…..I guess we have to ask how does “inches returned” equate into “power”???

Good queston on the Power=gear ratio. Does the “power” in a reels gears really even come into play here? We are not talking about a car’s transmission or something here, I would think if the reel’s gears are strong enough not to break, the difference would be negilable. I may be missing something though.

I don’t have any reels above 6.3-1, but I sure wish I did. And I would like to use one for frogging.

Also an excellent point on spool size and shape meaning 2 reels with the same ratio could pick up lines at different speeds.

I went to a small Curado 101 on one of my pitching setups. I love it.

“Inches return” equates to “gear ratio” which equates to “power”.

I’ll speak to inches returned in more detail in a follow up post when I have more time to pull some examples of existing reels.

Think of a multi speed bicycle in terms of power. We’ll use 10 speed as an example.

In 10th gear (i.e. 5.0 ratio), you are in low gear (the biggest gear). It takes little effort to move the bike forward on an incline (resistence). Same is true for a low gear ratio real. It takes less effort, and is easier to continue to reel even when there is resistence (i.e. fish in the cover, crankbait pulling back, etc.) You’ll go slower (on the bike, or with the reel), but you still have the power to continue peddling / reeling.

In 1st gear (i.e. 7.1 ratio), you are in high gear (the smallest gear). It takes a lot of effort to move the bike forward on an incline (resistence). However when no resitance is present (flat land), you can go faster. Thus you need more power, or the same amount of effort = less power (results) with this higher gear.

In 5th gear (i.e. 6.2 Ratio), you are in a mid gear. It takes a little more effort to move the bike forward on an incline (resistence), but where resitence is not present, you can go faster with the same amount of effort. Same is true for a mid ratio reel.

Make sense?

Yeah, that makes sense for the theory behind the gearing power, but do you think the gearing of the reel is a limiting factor in getting the fish in? Say in your example, I am going up a steep hill in tenth gear, but I have Quad muscles like The Incredible Hulk, I can probably power right up the hill regardless of the gear selected. Likewise in fishing, I wonder if I can power the fish out of the weeds the same with a 7.1 gear ratio as a 5.1 gear ratio? As you said, the vast majority of the work is done with the rod, I wonder if gear ratio really makes a difference? Maybe it does, and I am completely off the mark, I’m not sure. Just seems at first thought if I can power them up with the rod and then reel in line as fast as possible, that would be the best solution.

Mossy, to be honest, I don’t have enough on the water experience with a 7.1 ratio in my hand yet to give you my personal opinion. One might be able to pull the fish out well enough with a high ratio reel. On the reverse side, you might also be able to pull it out with a Medium action rod too, but if a MH or H works better, that’s probably what you would use. All comes down to refinement and the best tool for the job I guess. 20 years ago, did they worry about this stuff? Probably not, and still whacked them good.

On the complete reverse side of that, your incredible hulk arms will be less tired after 8 hours of cranking a DT16 / DT20 with a 5.0 reel than with a 6.2 or 7.1. 1000 casts multiplied by more effort to crank that big plug adds up. For me, I think I can slow a 6.2 down slow enough that that is not the issue, but fatigue from cranking harder is the factor, and thus the reason that I have started using a 5.0 atleast with my deep divers.

The good thing is, there is no ONE right answer. Different strokes for difference folks. That’s why I didn’t post and say “You guys are smoking crack”, I just provided that my opinion was that a 6.2 ratio seems like the better option. For me it might be (or maybe not, I’m not even 100% sure), for you it might not.

Let me see if I can grab some inches per turn info to post now.

Some examples of differences in line recovery (inches / turn) in relation to gear ratio. This was collected in 2008, so it could be slightly different in 2009 models.

7.1 ratio reels
Revo’s – 31″
Daiwa Zillion – 31″
Pflueger Summit WLP – 30″
Quantum KVD, Tour, Enery and Code – 29″
Pflueger Summit LP – 28″
Quantum Accurist PT – 25″ (7.0:1)

6.0 to 6.3 ratio reels
Many of these mostly in the 26″ to 28″ line recovery. A few at 24″ and 25″.

5.0 to 5.3 ratio reels
Shimano Calcutta – 24″ (5.0:1)
Browning Citori – 23″ (5.4:1)
Shimano Chronarch – 21″ (5.1:1)
Shimano Calcutta CT50B – 16″ (5.0:1)

Basically this shows you that gear ratio is NOT the only factor in speed of the reel. Spool sizes are another contributing factor, and assumably there are more. An example is the 7.0 ratio Summit LP has 28″ of line recovery, which is basically the same recovery as many 6.2 to 6.4 ratio reels. So even though it’s touted as a high speed reel because of the gear ratio, it’s really not a higher speed reel that what we are normally used to.

Only purpose of this is to shed some light on the above and a reminder for you to keep the line recovery in mind in addition to the gear ratio when you’re looking for diffrent speed reels.

to me it seems like the ”power” of reels doesnt apply as much as we think. I think the reels that are on the market today are good enough were your going to be able to get a bass out of the junk with whatever ratio it is. I do think that the faster the reel is the better, if it is good quality. Its easier to reel slower then to speed up. if a bass makes a run at you when it hits the frog or whatever I think u need to have that extra foot or two to catch up to the fish. I dont even agree that people need slow ratios for crankbaits btw but thats a different subject.

So is there actually a different set of gears in the different ratio models? I assume there is., yet one could be lead to believe with all the different spool sizes, that could be the determining factor, I doubt.
So it gets me thinking about my equipment, its purposes, and what goes with what, for what. I do not put nearly this much thought into ratios for this and that and so on. I do have a couple burners for a couple deals, and the rest are all the same exact reel.
One thing I’ve always noticed is that the reels really gear themselves down as you run out of line. On most of my set ups, I will use the existing line until 1/3 of it is gone or more before I respool or add line. When the spools get low, it takes alot more cranking to get the same amount of work does as if it were a full spool. Point is, and it ties into my earlier comments, to keep the reel at its advertised gear ratio per say, you technically need to keep it full at all times, if not you are slowly losing that ratio to a lower one.
So with that said, could you not spool half line on a spool and have geared it down a notch?? It seems the spool is the final drive and if not at full capacity it would never meet its purpose.
I’ll admit, if you guys always keep your spools topped off, you’re better than me.
And one more thing for thought. ah, nevermind

I have been using an old “crankin’ reel” for the past 25 years.. and its been great.. and I never lose fish because of the reel.. and its low speed but you can surf the bass right across the surface of the weeds..

It casts down to the KNOT.. phenomenal LONG CASTS…

but its not fast and IT DOES NOT LOSE POWER EVER..

For me, I guess I like the old fasioned, low speed, round reel for this application. If I’m fishing heavy “snot” weed or throwing way back into a thick pad field I like the cranking power of my 5.8:1 Shimano 200 Cardiff. This reel is geared for light saltwatwer applications and has the “nuts” I think I need to hall in 20lbs of crud and fish without having a malfunction. I know the key is to get the fish up and out but there are times that just doesnt happen. At 8.6 oz, the reel is also farely light for an all metal round reel and it casts as far as my curados if not further…It also holds more line than most 200 low profile reels.

I’m with JimT, I like my round reel Cardiff for froggin. 5.8:1. The perception of more ‘power’ at least.

Not a glamour reel, but the Abu C4 series brings in about 30″ per crank if I remember right. I use a 5500 in my frog setup. Works!

The lower the gear ratio, the more power period. Check out the Revo Winch it’s like a 5.4 to 1. You would think a high speed retrieve like a burner would make sense because it takes in line faster, Something to keep in mind also would be the amount of use us northerners put on our reels compared to the pros. Although I used a tour edition burner on a C rig setup last year and burned out the gears after about a month??? So I guess the conclusion would be if you can get away with using a burner without “burning out the gears” go nuts. When was the last time any of you guys were trying to flip in a 8lber out of a mat of hydrilla?

it does not matter what your ratio is your not going lose fish because you cant winch a fish out because its to fast. theres no way. When was the last time that your 7:1 failed with anything. If you buy quality reels it doesnt make a difference