Kevin Van Dam Forums

Marine - 27 January 2012 10:56 PM

I’ve got the 7’0 MH Cranking rod at the house now. I’m looking to make this rod my primary shallow cranking & lipless crank bait rod. My question, seeing how I’m very inexpirenced w/shallow cranking/ lipless, what is the suggested reel speed/IPT for this type of application? I’ve heard folks say that you need to use a “burner” type speed & have heard others say to use a slower “power” (5:?:?) speed reel. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Whatever you are comfortable with honestly.  I’ve always used a 6.X:1 reel but am trying a 5.X:1 on my deep diving rig to help me slow down.  It all comes down to whether or not you feel the need to force yourself to slow down or speed up.  It’s hard to go wrong with a 6.X:1 retrieve ratio on any rig other than a buzz bait setup and a 6.X:1 still does the job for that presentation.  If all else fails, go 6.x:1.  It’s hard to screw things up with that ratio.

I agree with TorqueConverter…Its really just like gears on a moutain bike you can go at the same speed for several gears you just have to spin you feet slower or faster.  I have never had a fish so big that I couldn’t reel it in witha 7.3 to 1…In fact you shouldn’t really be reeling a big fish in with the reel you use the pole and reel down.

Once again, I greatly appreciate all the info & help that everyone is giving me! This site is the best fishing forum that I’ve been on…heck, the best outdoors forum! I’ve finally made t out to the water over the past couple of days. I didn’t go to any lakes, just to ol the boy fishing at a few ponds here on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC. I tool out one of my new rigs, KVD Tour Reel (7:3:1 Burner) & my new KVD Tour 6’10” casting rod. I got to say, this is a sweet set up. The tip of the rod is amzing & gives a ton of action to Zoom Mag Finesse & Trick Worms & also some Strike King stick baits…uh, can’t remember the name…basically Strike Kings version of a Yum Dinger (SK’s version has an amazing quivering action). I have the reel set up with 20# Flurocarbon (Berkley Vanish). I know there’s a lot of bad rep about the Vanish, but it’s done “ok” so far. Anyways, I can’t get over just how far I can cast a weightless trick worm with the set up…so far so good. Fishing has been very slow & the bass have been sluggish…basically they just look at all baits & swim away. Hopefully they’ll turn on here in a couple of weeks. See plenty of small bluegill & shore minnows, past couple of days have been sunny and warm, there is a front moving in tomorrow…BUT the fish just aint aggressive yet…ah, no harm in continuing to try!