Fitting your fishing rod with a suitable reel is important. Outfitting with the perfect reel is important because every fishing reel requires different skills and functions. There are many fishing reels, but four fishing reel types can be seen everywhere.
This article will explain all the types of fishing reels, their skill level, their functions and how to use them. Fishing reels have lot types. Each reel has its own time, place and technique to use it.
What Are Four Types of Different Reels
Taking in account of reels Many of us have the question in our minds that what are fishing reel types and does it really matter for casting?
The Ans is a big yes because every reel type have some specified features which makes it purposeful in different type of fishing environment. As we can’t use baitcaster for light weight lures but it has the capability to catch large and heavier lures.
Basically there are four types of fishing reels but it is further divided into subcategories.
The main four type are:
- Spinning reel
- Baitcasting reel
- Spincast reel
- Fly fishing reels
Comparing Different Types of Fishing Reels
Let’s dive in the details of every reel type.
Spinning Reel
The spinning reel is undoubtedly the most popular fishing reel of that time. It is highly efficient, durable and accurate. It not only helped the beginners, but many experienced anglers cannot fish without using the spinning reels. The uniqueness of spinning reels provides a perfect balance when casting with a natural holding position.
The spinning reel has its superior open-faced design, which makes it the most popular reel among anglers of different levels. It provides exceptional accuracy and functions due to its versatile design. In contrast, this reel is not used for heavier lines. The open-faced design enables it to exchange lines easily when needed and provides excellent line capacity.
To get more detail about the design and structure of spinning reel you must check our another article on Spinning reel. Somehow the spinning reels are not suitable for heavier loads and lines. Once you start loading with heavier lines, their performance drops to a noticeable point.
Baitcasting Reel
There’s a famous proverb saying practice makes a man perfect, and I hope this proverb is perfectly suitable for baitcasting reels. Their design is somehow made suitable for accuracy but not for easy casting. It is said that baitcasters are extremely difficult to use because of their design. Still, it is unmatched in its power and accuracy and is used by many experienced anglers and fishermen. Learning and mastering the baitcasting reel will take your fishing game to the next level.
Unlike spinning reels, baitcasting reels are highly customizable. They produce a lot of pulling power and easily hand-heavy lines and levers. It helps you to stop your line whenever it is needed.
The only two drawbacks of the baitcasting reel are its price as it ranges from Under $100 to $500 and it’s said to be the most expensive fishing reel. The other drawback is that it always needs a different set of spool tension and braking system for different weights of lures and lines. If you are a beginner to fishing or a new angler, then the baitcasting reels are not for you as they take time to get mastery over it, and they are not the best option if you are starting your fishing career.
Benefits of Bait Caster:
- Having high pulling power.
- best suitable for higher lures and weights
- Works well on the longest and most precise cast
- Perfectly built and durable design
- Highly customizable
- A great option for casting larger fish
Spin Cast Reel
A spin cast reel is one of the easiest and most suitable for children. These reels have covers that protect their essential parts. It has the most basic design and is ideal for novice anglers on a budget. These reels are not common these days, but a few years ago, they used to be all the rage.
The spin cast reel has a drag adjustment mechanism. It allows you to adjust the resistance of fish fields due to its mechanism. Casting is not easier with these reels.
The basic advantage of spin cast reels is that they are simple to operate. They are set to be the cheapest fishing reel out in the market, starting from $20. These wheels are best suited for middle age anglers to start their career. To know more about them have a look on spincast reel under 20$ Despite the lowest price and simplicity of operation, they have some downsides. Their compact press design will cause damage to it over time. Another one is that these reels have to limit casting range and are not as accurate and precise as other different fishing reel types.
Fly Fishing Reel
A fly fishing reel is a whole different game, and they usually come with an ultralight spinning reel. Fly fishing or center pin reels are designed for accuracy and precision, but their basic work is storing and backing the line. They are basic, lightweight and very affordable in price. They are designed with different fishing reel materials to produce the reel with much resistance to Stew scratches and damages. Only a small scratch or damage will make this reel unusable
Trolling Reel
These wheels are designed with heavy-duty graphite and machined aluminum. Another name also uses them, conventional reels. Let’s talk these reels are best suitable for offshore fishing, and nothing can compare to their power and line capacity. They’re happy to cast larger fishes like tuna Marlin due to its semi-open design and over sized handle.
Conventional or trolling reels are considered essential for deep sea angling because of their drag system that allows you to control your line during the retrieval by the audible clicker. This audible clicker will let you know how quickly the big lure is swimming.
Everything that has a lot of benefits always comes with downsides or drawbacks. Like all other reels, conventional reels also have some flaws. Backwashing is a swear issue with conventional reels as it does not give you the same level of forgiveness as a baitcaster does. If you are stuck into the worst backlash, you will lose your lure, and deep-sea lures or baits are not cheap. If you want to buy a conventional reels then check our detailed review on conventional reels
Surf Casting Reel
A surfcasting or saltwater casting reel may be a spinning or baitcaster modifier with a large distance casting performance. Their designs are based on baitcaster design, having a round spool that can handle many lines. Once you know it, you can easily achieve highly recorded distances with the round baitcaster. These reels are designed to battle the extremely harsh conditions of salt water. Surfcasting reels provide you with heavy line capacity and large casting ability.
You get the Best performance with saltwater reels when they are attached to the specifically designed rods for surfcasting.
Which Type of Fishing Reel Is Best?
After getting knowledge about every type of fishing reel here, a question arises which of them is the best?
As we all know, different types of fishing reels have different kinds of advantages and drawbacks. All of these reels are designed for highly specific purposes.
To select the best reel, you must have a clear idea of what kind of fishing you want to plan or what kind of fishing you want to do. For example: If you want to battle with heavier lures, baitcasting reels are the finest for them, but if you want to cast with lighter lures, no doubt spin cast or spinning reels are best for that purpose.
To choose the best-suited model for your casting, you must clearly know the strengths needed to cast your lure and select the perfect line capacity.
Baitcaster versus spinning reel comparison
As we all know, every type of reel has weaknesses and strengths.
- Baitcaster reels are lighter, more accurate and precise, and best suited for greater casting distances.
- On the other hand, spinning wheels are more versatile, available at accessible prices, and easier to use.
Saltwater Fishing Reel Types
Most common saltwater reels are of three types.
- trolling or conventional reels
- offshore reels
- surfcasting reels
Trolling wheels are somehow large round baitcasters, while offshore reels I and the type of large spinning reels. These reels have could I end resisting features that allow them to work perfectly in a saltwater environment. We can easily use any reel type for saltwater fishing, including spincast reels spinning reels or baitcasters. We must take great care of them as they are not specific to this environment.
While selecting a saltwater fishing reel, it is important to notice that it must have a corrosion-resistant feature. Its design must be of stainless steel and sealed ball bearings. These designs help them tackle the saltwater environment instead; if a regular fish reel is used in salt water, it would immediately seize up due to corrosion.
Conclusion
This article encompasses almost every type of fishing reel. If you intend to buy a new fishing reel, you must have a clear idea of what type of fish casting you intend to do, as it is most important to get the best suitable model that increases your success rate and experience.