How to choose a reel for a spinning rod based on the test: proven tactics

1. Price ratio:

But it’s all “with them”, “with us” things are different. “Combo” has not taken root on our trading floors and will definitely not take root. We are somehow more accustomed to forming kits and kits ourselves. And if you are not sure about something, you can check with one of your more knowledgeable friends. Or, now, find the answer on the Internet.

So, spinning rod and reel. Let's not touch on the multiplier gear for now, but limit ourselves to the “meat grinder”, which is more familiar to most. There are three main principles that are important to take into account when choosing.

Before going to a fishing store, you should determine: what type of fishing you will be doing, what weight of fish you expect, and what type of reel will be more convenient for you.

How to choose a reel for a spinning rod: parameters

Quantity does not mean quality, so when choosing a reel you need to remember that some Chinese manufacturers endow their products with many “improved” functions that are not intended for Russian fishing conditions.

Material

Metal. Metal spools are reliable and durable. Suitable for braided cord;
Plastic. They quickly become unusable and are not always convenient to use. They are distinguished by their low price. Plastic reels are only suitable for fishing line;
Aluminum. Lightweight material that does not tear the line when casting. Beautiful design; Easily attaches to the rod; Low price. Tackle made from this material is suitable as a gift for an angler who views fishing as a creative process, as it looks beautiful on a fishing rod (aluminum shimmers in the sun).

Total weight

Its weight depends on the size and material of the reel. For long fishing trips, you should choose a reel made from lightweight materials so that the fisherman’s hands do not get tired.

For spinning reels, you need to remember that they must be combined with the equipment, and if the rod is long, then light tackle is not suitable.

The weight of the tackle must correspond to the length of the fishing rod:

For inertial: weight

190 – 200 gr; For inertialess: weight

240 - 800 gr; For multiplier: weight

Size

The fisherman should pay close attention to this parameter, since the size of the reel affects the power and functionality of the entire fishing rod. Selected according to the diameter of the fishing line.

Line capacity (measured in thousands) at 1000: 100 m with D = 0.1 mm; 3000: 100 m with D=0.3 mm

1000 – 2500. Reels for catching small fish on a small spinning rod. Line capacity: 100 m with D= 0.1 mm;
3000 – 5000. Reels for large fish using medium or large bait. This size is most often used in the open sea or large bodies of water.
5000 – and more. For sport fishing and hunting rare species of large fish with a large fishing line diameter.

On the reel the dimensions will be indicated from right to left: 0005, 0003, 0001

Line laying mechanism

Inertialess reels have 2 types of winding: with an “endless screw” and with a “screw”:

Worm feed. The line is wound with an “endless screw” smoothly, evenly distributed over the spool;
Crank-rod feed. The “locomotive” link distributes the line, failures and “beards” are possible.

Types of winding line on a drum:

Straightforward. The fishing line is wound in one circle, the turns are layered on top of each other. Straight-line allows you to expand the capacity in small-sized spools, but the formation of knots or dropping of fishing line is possible;
Cross. The fishing line is wound crosswise, the turns go in different directions on the reel. The good thing about this method is that the line does not get tangled or form knots, but the capacity of the line is much less than that of straight laying.

Gear ratio

Shows how many revolutions the line laying mechanism makes with one rotation of the handle. The reel indicates the ratio of one turn of the handle to the number of revolutions of the rewinder. For example, 1:5 - for one revolution of the handle the mechanism will roll 5 times.

Multiplier gears have three types of gear ratios:
Express. From 1:6 to 1;7,2;
Universal. From 1:4.6 to 1:4.7;
Power. From 1:4 to 1:4.7.

Smooth ride

Depends on the number of bearings in the reel. They ensure smooth running, elimination of gaps and longevity of the reel. Their number should not exceed 4 pieces. Smooth running will be in the reel, where the bearings are in the right place - in the line reeler.

Friction brake

Helps to lift large fish that have exceeded the breaking weight of the line.

There are two types of brakes:

Front. Located in the spool. Small, but not convenient to pull out fish;
Rear. Located at the back of the reel. Heavy, but easy to replace the spool if it breaks. Not sensitive enough, easy to adjust under heavy load.

For excellent smooth running and uniform unloading of the mechanism, 4-6 bearings are sufficient; most reels are equipped with exactly this number. Marking +1 means the presence of a roller bearing for the overrunning clutch of the reverse stopper.

What is backing

Using a base or backing allows you to wind fishing line onto an inertia-free reel without flaws and waste of expensive cords. Often the volume of the spool is much more capacious than the diameter of the cord required for fishing conditions can fill. As a rule, the working dimensions of the thread do not exceed one hundred meters, and manufacturers strive to produce for sale precisely these volumes of bobbins.

In addition, braided cords of small diameters and fishing lines specialized for spinning equipment are expensive enough to fill the free volume without any practical use. In these cases, the excess spool height is filled with another, cheaper material. In various sources devoted to this problem, anglers are recommended to use electrical tape as backing, considering it a quick and effective way, but based on practice, I will say that this solution can subsequently cause a number of problems and lead to difficulties in using the reel.

The insulating tape is exposed to water, and water constantly gets onto the base of the spool from the winding cord, either getting wet or completely drying out. As a result, the electrical tape loses its elastic properties, begins to warp and break the winding pattern of the rings. As a result, the rings overlap each other, which ultimately leads to a loss of range of the tackle and increased wear of the cord, especially braided ones.

The most correct solution is to use monofilament fishing lines as backing with a slightly larger diameter than the main thread and, of course, with lower requirements for its quality. When winding fishing line onto a reel, you simply need to tie the fishing line together with a regular knot and cut the ends of the connection as short as possible, soaking the knot with glue to prevent it from untying. A knot hidden in the depths of the coiling will not interfere with the convergence of the rings when casting.

Characteristics of spinning reels

Inertia-free is a technically complex mechanism with a lot of technical characteristics, each of which affects the capabilities and price of the reel. Let's take a closer look at them.

Gear ratio

The number of rotations of the rotor per revolution of the reel handle is called the gear ratio - the higher the gear ratio, the more line the reel picks up per revolution. The average gear ratio is 5:1, values less than this are typical for power reels, and more for high-speed and longcast ones.

Low gear ratios - the traction characteristics increase, the loads on the reel are distributed more evenly, and it becomes a little easier to pull out really large fish. Low gear ratios are suitable for fishing with crankbaits, jerkbaits and heavy jigs.

High gear ratios - you can reel in large volumes of line faster and fish a larger area faster. High-speed reels are more sensitive and work well with most baits except the heaviest ones - excessive loads can destroy them. Fast reels are well suited for twitching; it is more convenient to choose loosening cord with a high gear ratio.

Medium gear ratios - if you have no idea what exactly you will use the reel for, then we recommend that you choose universal reels with a gear ratio from 5:1 to 6:1. Such reels are suitable for most types of fishing and animation of all baits.

Coil clutch

The friction brake in reels is of fundamental importance - it does not allow the fish to escape during strong jerks, giving up the line under load, and protects the tackle from breaking.

The clutch can be front, rear and also double, but for spinning fishing only the first two are used.

Regardless of the type of clutch, it is necessary to release it after fishing until the spool rotates freely - this will significantly extend the life of the reel.

Coil size

The size of the spool directly affects the amount and cross-section of the fishing line, and indirectly affects the casting distance. In spinning fishing, sizes from 1000 to 4000 are mainly used, but in some rare cases, for example for sea fishing, these can be reels with a spool of 5000-7000.

The smaller the dimension value, the lighter the tackle and bait can be used with this reel. Here is an approximate table of correspondence between the standard size of the spool and the weight of the equipment used:

For beginner spinning players, we recommend choosing reels from 1000 to 2500 for light and ultra-light rods, 3000-4000 for the middle class, and 4000+ for sea spinning fishing or heavy jigs - such combinations of rod size and class allow you to achieve an optimal balance ratio without overloading the equipment elements and do not tire your hand with frequent casts.

Bearings

The number of bearings is almost the first characteristic that different manufacturers trump. But is it really that important?

There is a myth that the more bearings in a reel’s design, the better it should work, but in fact this only overcomplicates the design, reduces its reliability and makes it more sensitive to contamination.

For excellent smooth running and uniform unloading of the mechanism, 4-6 bearings are sufficient; most reels are equipped with exactly this number. Marking +1 means the presence of a roller bearing for the overrunning clutch of the reverse stopper.

Secondary characteristics when choosing a reel

There are also characteristics that affect usability to a greater extent, but they are still quite important:

10. The line roller of the spinning reel must rotate. Otherwise, especially if you use a braided fishing line, it will wear out, a slot will appear, the fishing line will go into it, get dirty, and one day it will just get stuck there and the reel will have to be changed.

1. Correct spinning reel size. All models of spinning reels have their own classification and are divided by spool volume:

1000;
1500;
2000;
3000;
4000, etc.

For example, a spool with a size of 2000 tells us that it holds 100 meters of fishing line with a diameter of 0.2 mm. A reel with a spool, the volume of which is 1000, holds 100 meters of 0.1 fishing line. At the beginning of the guide, we gave advice to look towards 1500-2500, no more.

2. A spinning reel should lay the line very evenly on the spool. There are 3 types of winding:

cylindrical;
reverse cone;
straight cone.

Regardless of what the winding cone is, the line should not lie wavy on the spool. The line from the board should be straight. In the case of cylindrical winding, this line will be straight and parallel to the bobbin; in the case of reverse or straight cones, the line will also be straight, but at a slight angle to the bobbin.

Such a spool does not allow the braid to fly off the reel too much due to inertia, which prevents tangling.

The casting reel has a spool with a small margin for winding line, this allows you to make long casts and wind the line evenly

3. For beginners, a casting spinning reel is best suited. It differs from the usual one in that its spool has a very small reserve for winding fishing line, but this reserve is quite enough to wind 70-80 meters of fishing line. The advantage is more uniform winding.

Do not wind the line onto the reel to the very edges (to avoid beards and tangles), especially if you are using rigid monofilament or soft braid. An exception can be made for very soft monofilament fishing line and hard braid. Although it is still advisable to leave 1 mm from the edge of the side, and with experience you will understand whether it is possible to increase the amount of fishing line on the spool to the very edges, or whether this should not be done.

4. The reel should move easily. It should not crunch, the parts should not touch each other. The more the reel rotates after a short jerk of the reel handle, the better.

6. The number of ball bearings in the reel is not critical. Yes, this is indeed true, but under one condition, if there are at least 4 ball bearings, all the rest are secondary ball bearings and this quantity does not affect the elite quality of the product in any way. Now even the worst Chinese spinning reels can have up to 10-12 ball bearings.

The line roller must rotate, otherwise sooner or later it will begin to wear out and spoil the line. Its design must have a ball bearing

7. Choose branded reels. Even Shimano and Daiwa have reels in an affordable price range for almost any angler, and they will last much longer than any Chinese product.

8. Friction brake. It is difficult to find a spinning reel that does not have a friction brake. But this part of the coil is made in different coils of two types:

front friction brake (on the front of the spool there is a relief notch or other relief notches, by which this round clutch can be rotated in one direction or the other);
rear clutch (there is a handle at the back of the reel; by turning the handle you can loosen it and vice versa make the clutch tighter).

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The rear friction brake has a more complex mechanism, makes the reel heavier and, in general, reels with such a brake are larger, and it is also considered less sensitive than the front one. But in contrast to the disadvantages, it also has advantages: when playing fish, it is much easier to adjust, unlike the front clutch, and the spool of the reel, which has a clutch at the back, is easily changed and replaced with another spool (for example, with a different type of fishing line) .

The front drag is more sensitive, the reel weighs less, but adjusting the drag while fishing is more difficult than using the rear brake. And yet, we will give preference to the front clutch, it makes the tackle lighter and is sensitive.

There are as many as 3 washers for adjusting the line winding cone; if there are no washers, this is a minus

A reel with a good friction brake should not release line jerkily. If you pull the line from the spool with a uniform movement of your hand, then the clutch should evenly release the line.

How to wind fishing line on a spinning reel?

Before we talk in detail about how to wind, we note the following.

Whatever type of winding you are going to use, the fully wound line should be located completely in a straight line. There should be no steps at the edges. If they do exist, this will create additional friction when casting, which can reduce its accuracy.

Spinning reel

This is one of the most widespread options. In order to carry out winding correctly, you need to start by determining how much backing is necessary in this particular case. This can be done directly by winding the required amount of fishing line onto a spare spool, or it can be determined indirectly by knowing the size of this spinning reel.
First you need to tie the backing and the main line. To do this, you can use various nodes. Durability does not come first here. This is related to this. It is unlikely that when casting the reel will unwind to the connection point. However, if you want to make this knot secure, you can use the carrot knot (it's so named because of its appearance). It is characterized by its high reliability and is compact enough to, if necessary, pass through the rings of a spinning rod.
Now you need to attach the fishing line to the axis of the reel. To do this, it is customary to make a long loop. Some types of line may slide too much along the axis of the reel. To prevent this from happening, you can wrap the axle with electrical tape or adhesive tape and tie a loop on them.
Next you need to wind it by rotating the corresponding lever of the spinning rod. There is an important point here. In order to achieve a higher quality of winding, it must be done under tension. One option is to hold the fishing line in your hand in a cloth, holding it under tension.
The line is wound onto the reel until the end. Then the tip is threaded through all the rings of the spinning rod. That's it, winding is finished. Here we discussed a fishing rod without guides.

Multiplier reel

For this type of spinning reel, the process of winding the line is almost exactly the same. The difference is that there is usually a perforation on the axis of the reel into which the fishing line can be threaded and tied securely. Thus, problems with line slippage when using such a reel are practically eliminated.

Closed coil

First, let’s clarify what kind of spinning reels we are talking about. This refers to a certain type of spinning reel. Its difference from the usual version is that the surface of the wound fishing line is tightly closed.

Due to the fact that when casting a fishing line, the friction here is much higher than usual, it is used for relatively short casting distances.

Winding the fishing line occurs in the same way as is done for an open spinning reel. Note that the fishing line is wound here in such a way that the possibility of the fishing line slipping is practically eliminated.

Main characteristics and parameters

Smooth ride

One of the distinctive features of high-quality inertia-free motors is smooth running , which is ensured by careful manufacturing and fit of all parts and the presence of a sufficient number of good bearings in the design.
In this case, in no case should you chase the maximum number of bearings.

Bobbin size

The larger the spool size, the larger the diameter of the line used.

There are several different classifications of spool sizes for spinning reels, the most popular of which is perhaps the Shimano .

Coil size

The overall size of a spinning reel, as a rule, corresponds to the size of the spool: a larger spool means a larger reel, a smaller spool size means a smaller reel itself .

Line handle

During fishing, the line-laying arm of the spinning reel can be switched to one of two positions - “casting” and “rewinding”. It is equipped with a roller through which the fishing line passes during reeling.

The quality of the material from which the bail is made and its fastenings determine its strength and stable operation, and the quality of the material from which the line roller is made or covered determines the safety of the fishing line used.

Lever

The reel handle can be non-replaceable or replaceable , allowing installation on the left and right sides. The tip can be made of wood or artificial material.

Gear ratio

A characteristic such as the gear ratio shows how many revolutions the line handler makes per revolution of the reel handle. This could be 4.4:1 , 5.1:1 , 6.1:1 and similar values.

Friction brake

A high-quality friction brake makes fishing for trophies as easy as possible, leaving virtually no chance of escape even for the most active, stubbornly resisting fish. Its mechanism in a good reel should allow for precise adjustment - in this case, adjusting the clutch will not cause problems.

There are two types of spinning reels on sale:

coils with front adjustment of friction brake;
models with rear clutch adjustment.

Reel weight

The weight of the reel depends on its size and the materials from which it is made. Modern reels made of lightweight materials - aluminum, high quality plastic, magnesium - are lightweight and at the same time maintain stable operation and remain durable.

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When choosing a reel, take into account the number of bearings. They provide a smooth ride and guarantee the durability of the gear. It is noteworthy that the number of bearings is not always proportional to the quality: a low-quality reel may have at least 12 bearings, while a good, decent tackle may be equipped with 4.

Friction system

Almost all spinning rods are equipped with a friction brake, but it is not always in demand among fishermen. This element is used when catching very large fish, which are not always possible to catch. It will also help out with strong jerks - a reel with a good brake releases the line evenly.

A distinction is made between front and rear brakes. The front friction brake is more sensitive and smoother, and the rear one is more convenient, it is easier to adjust and, in case of failure, to repair or replace with a new one, along with the spool.

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These numbers roughly mean the following:

A spinning rod and reel are selected as a complete set for the existing fishing conditions, and first of all, for the weight of the baits that will be used. It is absolutely wrong to buy and install a high-power reel on an ultralight rod, or vice versa. When choosing a spinning reel, you need to take into account a number of characteristics of this device, first of all, pay attention to the size.

There is a recommended relationship between the size of the reel and the weight of the baits used. The larger size is suitable for larger bait weights.

Reel size and bait weight

The problem is that each company characterizes the size of the coils with its own classification, with Japanese manufacturers indicating the size in thousands - 1500, 2000, 2500... etc., and European manufacturers in tens - 20, 25, 30.... But the dependence is this: the larger the number (the larger the size), the heavier class of rods and baits this reel corresponds to.

These numbers roughly mean the following:

750 – 2000 (15-20) – light class, recommended weight of baits up to 14 g.
2000 – 3500 (20-35) – middle class, respectively, the weight of the bait is 15 – 35 g.
4000 – 5000 – heavy class.

Medium universal options

If you exceed the recommended weight of the lures, the reel will quickly become loose from excessive loads and may fail prematurely.
If a large and powerful reel is used with small weights, the sensitivity of the entire tackle will be lost, and the spinning rod will simply become rough.

Accordingly, the average option “for all cases” can be considered a regular spinning reel with a dimension of 2500 – 3000 (25 – 30). For beginner fishermen, it is recommended to buy a spinning reel with the specified characteristics, for the corresponding rod test (maximum weight of the bait used) - 20 - 30 grams.

Special designs

Also, from the whole variety of spinning reels, we can distinguish special designs intended only for certain fishing conditions.

Ultralight reels. They are designed to work with baits weighing only up to 14 grams. Their main advantage is their low dead weight and a precisely calibrated mechanism for thin fishing line, which is achieved by using expensive light alloys. Their price is significantly higher than usual. But using heavier baits with them, or those that have increased resistance in the water, is not recommended in order to avoid failure.

High power products. Designed primarily for heavy jigs (up to 50 g), used in the current. Their dimensions are also large - at least 3000, and additional bearings are introduced into the mechanism.
Usually, if the weight of the bait exceeds 50 grams, then it is worth thinking about a multiplier, because inertia-free (meat grinders) with such weights already lose their advantage in casting range and ease of control, and the fragility of their fundamental design begins to affect.