Ross Robertson from Big Water Fishing pays a lot of attention to his spinning reel size and gear ratios. Bass anglers, more than walleye angers, are known for using many different gear ratios, but they can be just as important on spinning reels while walleye fishing.
Robertson uses the Shimano Vanford 2000 and 2,500 sizes. Not a tremendous amount of difference in size, but the amount of line per turn of the handle can make a big difference. He recommends looking for a reel that has a large arbor, because it’s going have bigger drag washers and a bigger drag system in general. It will also allow the line to come off the spool easier. Generally, capacity isn’t going to be an issue, especially when using monofilament, or really thin diameter braid. But the biggest difference is getting between 32 inches and 35 inches per handle turn, depending on reel size. In comparison the 1000 size is only 25 inches every time the handle turns.
Why does that make a difference? Let’s take fishing jigs for cold water walleye as an example.. Typically a slower retrieve is necessary. If using a reel that picks up more line per handle turn, it can be hard to slow down enough so the fish will eat. Using a reel that picks up less line per handle turn, it makes it much easier to fish slow and you won’t have to remind yourself to slow down, because the reel is doing it for you.
Something as simple as using a different gear ratio, a different size spool or a different size spinning reel can change how effective your presentation can be.
