Finding the best gear ratio for topwater fishing is important if:
- You like explosive strikes
- You prefer landing the fish that hit your lure
It really is that simple. The correct gear ratio will increase your cast efficiency, improve your hook-set, and help you land more fish.
The Best Gear Ratio for Topwater Fishing is a 7:1 or Higher.
Here is why:
It Picks up Slack on the Cast
In many scenarios, topwater fishing is benefitted from a long cast. A long cast with a heavy lure can create slack in your line.
Reaction strikes can happen at the end of your cast. If you haven’t taken the slack up when that happens, it will result in a missed fish.
A 7:1 ratio means 7 rotations of your spool to 1 crank of the handle. This brings us to point 2.
Catch Up After the Pause
Any presentation that uses the rod to move the bait benefits from a high ratio reel. This is because, when your rod moves back towards the bait it creates slack. As noted earlier, a high-speed reel allows you to quickly catch up and remove the slack.
Reel Up Slack After a Strike
Fishing a working man’s tournament on Lake Sweetwater in the 90s, I learned this lesson the hard way. Between two docks there was a lone pipe visible under the water. I was looking in the area when I saw a shad break the surface running.
Almost on reflex, I cast to the pipe and made two pops on the lure and the surface exploded: BIG Bass! I set the hook the rod bent but the fish ran straight at me. I was fishing a 5:1 gear ratio and even though I made contact with the fish, I couldn’t catch up to it. As a result, the bass pulled free and I lost potential money.
A 7:1 gear ratio simply keeps you in better contact with your lure and increases your successful hook-up rate.
Get Your Frog Back Quickly
Fishing weedless topwater style baits like frogs usually means you are only truly fishing in the ‘strike zone’ for a part of every cast. For that reason, when you come to the end of the strike zone then it should be ‘lures blazing’ back to the boat to cast into bass habitat again quickly.
Basically, increasing the time in the strike zone increases the number of bass that see your lure. Sometimes, it even increases a bass’s irritability which for a predator means more strikes.
Get a Buzzbait on the Surface Faster
The buzzbait is absolutely one of our favorite ways to catch bass. The key to a buzzbait is surface noise. Using a 7:1 gear ratio is the best way to get your lure moving and, consequently, on the surface quickly.
A 7:1 Gear Ratio Gives You More Casts
Finally, all this taking up of slack and getting the lure back to the boat quickly is for one reason: more explosive topwater bass! Getting the lure back to the boat more quickly in a morning of fishing can mean dozens, maybe hundreds of more casts. As a result, if you are searching, or trying to cover water, this absolutely means more fish!
From getting the lure moving to setting the hook to achieving more casts, a high-speed reel will help more fish see your lure. Subsequently, you will get more strikes and land more fish.
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A great budget reel & the ONE we Use:
Our Dream Reel:
As always, tight lines and we hope your new high-speed reel becomes thePerfectCombo for some unforgettable topwater fishing fun.
