The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Bit like high ratio and low ratio on a Land Rover!

Stingray wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:20 pm High gear for free retrieve. Low gear for greater torque when heavy going playing a big fish. That's what it is.

It addresses the compromises of reels with high gearing having fast retrieve but poor torque and reels with low gearing having good torque but slow retrieve : it does both !

Yes, the same as the Super-matics. Low speed for cranking in big fish but this created the high torque problem of stripping teeth from the main gear.
I have bought two with stripped teeth even though they are steel cogs. The teeth however are very small and more like something from a clock.

Wal.

I like the inclusion of the ball-oilers for the handle and gear change actuator, a nice touch. Also the detachable seat stem, was this so you could replace the stem incase of breakage?
They look nicely engineered and built to last.

Wallys-Cast wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 8:44 am
Yes, the same as the Super-matics. Low speed for cranking in big fish but this created the high torque problem of stripping teeth from the main gear.
I have bought two with stripped teeth even though they are steel cogs. The teeth however are very small and more like something from a clock.

Wal.

Even with low gears reels should never be used as winches and pumping heavy fish is always the way to do it; same goes for multipliers. That said, I know many do winch regardless and the extra torque of a low geared reel is tempting in that respect, tempting some users to apply more torque than is good for the gears.

I should add that in addition to greater torque low gears enable smaller winds and adjustments for better control.

I think I'll load it up with some heavy line and have a try for some Silure when the weather warms up next spring. That should allow me to experiment with the low and high ratio settings on the reel and find out if it makes much difference when playing powerful fish.