Both are light, but there’s no question that graphite is more stiff. And stiffness matters.
When you’re fighting a large, strong fish, all the force transmitted by your line and rod comes to bear on your reel. And if the body flexes, the gears have space to misalign.
You want maximum stiffness and minimum weight, and for me, that means graphite.
Gear material
Gear material can get tricky.
In small spinning reels, smooth, easy-to-machine materials like brass are simply too heavy.
Instead, reel manufacturers turn to light but strong options like aluminum alloys, sometimes stainless steel for extra strength, and in cheaper reels, plastic.
Skip the plastic gears altogether!
But in reels in 2500-size, aluminum and stainless are both great gear materials.
For my money, no one machines gears like Shimano, and their Hagane gearing is the smoothest you’ll find at the price.
Gear ratio and retrieval speed
A reel’s gear ratio is merely a measure of the times the spool is turned by one revolution of the handle.
Thus, a 6.2:1 gear ratio means that one turn of the handle spins the spool 6.2 times.
All other things being equal, higher gear ratios are faster and lower gear ratios are slower.
But of course, all things aren’t equal in the real world, and gear and spool size matter.
Reels with bigger gears turning larger spools can be faster than reels with higher gear ratios.
That’s why we report the IPT – inches per turn – each reel is capable of.
Faster reels can help you keep a tight line, maintaining pressure on the hook and making it harder to throw.
Drag
Drag is the heart of any reel, providing cushion for your line and knots as well as forcing a fish to work harder to take line.
Typically set at no more than 30% of the rated test strength of your line, a good drag system starts smoothly, releases smoothly, and never hesitates or stutters.
On our shortlist today, the real standout is Penn’s HT-100, a legendary drag system.
Capacity
Capacity matters, and it’s directly related to spool size.
Greater capacity means not only that you have more line at your disposal, especially for cutting and retying, but also more space for heavier test.
That’s especially critical in the salt, where 8- to 12-pound mono is common, or when heavier braid is needed for finesse bass techniques.
Final Thoughts
We can’t tell you which reel on our shortlist is the best choice for you, but one of them is going to fit the bill perfectly as an allrounder.
If you have questions or comments, we’d love to hear them, so please leave your thoughts below.
Source: usangler.com