Alan's Workbench
When do you really need a 2-speed reel?
Sep. 1 2010, 6:59 AM
Sep. 1 2010, 6:59 AM
When do you really need a 2-speed reel?
In the hunt for big fish, most everyone will agree that a two-speed reel is essential. The question will commonly arise, however, at what point do you really need a 2-speed? Big fish, obviously, but someone will invarialbly chime in, "Hey, I can land one of those without a 2-speed!" OK, fair enough. Remember the guy at that cocktail party? Yeah, him. The one with the fish tie, now your wife's EX-boss. Well, that's fine. Maybe he can land a big fish with a single-speed reel because he can bench press 300 pounds. But fishermen, like fish, come in all shapes and sizes. Meet my good friend, Ed Watson.
In the hunt for big fish, most everyone will agree that a two-speed reel is essential. The question will commonly arise, however, at what point do you really need a 2-speed? Big fish, obviously, but someone will invarialbly chime in, "Hey, I can land one of those without a 2-speed!" OK, fair enough. Remember the guy at that cocktail party? Yeah, him. The one with the fish tie, now your wife's EX-boss. Well, that's fine. Maybe he can land a big fish with a single-speed reel because he can bench press 300 pounds. But fishermen, like fish, come in all shapes and sizes. Meet my good friend, Ed Watson.
Ed fishes all over the world. On one of his last fishing trip, Ed hooked into an 80 pound yellowfin with bad attitude. You know the type. These are the young bucks. The ones that don't know when they're beat. Ed had a 6:1 high and 3:1 low gear ratio 2 speed reel and kicked it into low gear as soon as he hooked up. The panga had no rail and his reel had no harness lugs. Ed was in a "stand up" arm wrestling match the entire time. Even with a 3:1 low gear ratio, there were times when Ed could not turn the handle. At Ed's age, pumping that rod for the entire fight was not going to be an option. So what we need to do is build a special reel just for this man. We have the technology.
Let's build a 50 pound two speed for Ed. First of all, we are going to take advantage of improvements in fishing line technology and make a tiny aluminum spool that will hold 400 yards of 65 pound solid spectra. We will use an old school 40 turn bimini and and 20 turn albright to connect a 3 foot leader of 50 pound fluorocarbon. The frame and side plates will be aluminum as well. Built in harness lugs will be unnecessary for most fishermen, but they will be a lifesaver for Ed . A large, oversized, offset handle grip will make cranking much more comfortable and greatly reduce the chance of Ed's hands cramping. Since we're already asking for the moon, why not design a reel that will deliver 24 pound of drag at strike with no side load. That way we can string up Ed's dream reel with 60 pound fluorocarbon and push the drag to 40% of line weight, should the need ever arise. Finally, we need to select a gear ratio. Ed will not be fighting any of his big fish in high gear, so let's just pick a middle-of-the-road gear ratio like 5:1 for the high gear. That way he won't take all day to retrieve a bait. All we need now is a low end gear ratio and, for that, we will need Ed's help.
We're going to hook up Ed to the rod and reel, then we are going tie the line off to a trailer hitch. With a 50 pound topshot of fluorocarbon, a drag setting of 30 to 40% comes out to a 15 to 20 pounds. Let's set our dream reel to 18 pounds of drag at stike. With Ed harnessed in, there is no way that he can crank the handle when the reel is in 5:1 high gear. Even with a 3:1 low gear ratio, Ed will having difficulty. Let's drop the gear ratio down to 2:1. Leaning back into the harness with the line tied off to a trailer hitch, Ed can now crank the handle with relative ease. When he's hooked up on a fish, he can settle into a harness and crank in line without having to arm wrestle and pump the rod. A 2:1 low gear ratio is the one for him!
So there you have it. The ultimate old fart's reel! A 400 yards 65 pound spectra capacity, a 5:1 high gear ratio, a 2:1 low gear ratio, a massive oversized handle grip, and harness lugs. But there are many small two speed reels no available to choose from and this one might be gear down too low for you. To decide which one is right for you presonally, choose a drag setting and see if you can crank the reel in low. If you can't, plan on having to pump the rod or look for a reel with a lower gear ratio.
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