Spinning reels are essential for different fishing forms like fishing with dead bait, rigs, bobber fishing, or ice fishing. Havingthe proper size of your spinning reel will be essential to achieve the best results and produce top-notch casting performance. Therefore, before selecting your new spinning feel, it’ll be necessary to check the appropriate size that suits all your needs and preferences. Having a suitable reel size and appropriate model will be very important to help add an extra level of complexity to your casting and fishing experience.
When choosing the suitable reel size for your fishing activities, it’s important to consider: the type of fish, the weight of the fishing line, how it fits with your rod and your hands. Most individuals view it as a tiresome and time-consuming process, but it’s worth your time and value to choose the perfect reel size. This article provides perfect guidelines for checking the right spinning reel size and the suitable spinning reel chart to help you select the ideal size for your fishing needs.
The Appropriate Size of the Spinning Reel for your Activities
Numerous factors, such as the type of fishing and the weight of your fishing lines, are vital in determining the right size of your spinning reel. Additionally, you can also consider the type of water (saltwater or freshwater), the size of the fish, and the strength of the line you want to use for the fishing activity. The differences in the right size of the reels may be attributed to the type of water you want to have your fishing exercise.
Generally, you’ll need larger reels for saltwater spinning than freshwater spinning. The larger reels help to provide appropriate capacity to handle the bigger fish and stronger lines. In addition, they need to have a greater line capacity, which is essential to sustain the fish’s long runs as the strong saltwater species usually makes long runs after you’ve hooked them.
More so, it’s essential to consider a large spinning reel if you’re going for larger fish like the bluegill or crappie. A spinning reel with 1000 reels will make the best choice for all fishing activities involving large fish species. You can select a larger reel size, like approximately having 10,000 spins for much larger fish species such as the tuna, as this reel will have the capacity to handle the larger fishing rods and heavy lines. The fishing reel size chart will be the essential tool you can use to determine the proper size of your fishing reels.
Different Sizes of Fishing Reels
Most individuals, especially beginners in fishing, find it confusing to get the proper size of the spinning reels because the experts recommend two different classifications for the fishing activities. Most manufacturers use figures like 10, 20, or 30 to classify these fishing tools, whereas others like the Pflueger classify the fishing reel sizes as either 1000, 2000, or 3000. It becomes challenging when choosing the right size due to the different ways the companies classify these sizes. Nonetheless, it’s essential to understand that these classification systems don’t have significant differences, as 10 corresponds to 1000, while 20 to 2000, and so on. Therefore, it’s vital to consider checking for the first two numbers on the figures and ignoring the zeros. After getting the numbers, compare them across the brands or models to determine the appropriate size of the reel.
The Spinning Reel Size Charts
Manufacturers categorize the spinning reel similarly to the clothing, where we’ve got small, medium, large, and big or extra-large sizes. For a proper classification, there are spinning reel charts that guide every category of size. Below are the appropriate spinning reel size charts you should consider when choosing a proper spinning reel size.
Spinning Reel Sizes | Recommended Line (Mono) | Recommended Line (Braid) |
1000 | 2-4lb (1-2kg) | 4-8lb (2-4kg) |
2000 | 4-6lb (2-3kg) | 5-10lb (2-5kg) |
2500 | 5-8lb (2-4kg) | 5-12lb (2-6kg) |
3000 | 6-10lb (2.5-5kg) | 6-15lb (2.5-7kg) |
3500 | 6-10lb (2.5-5kg) | 6-15lb (2.5-7kg) |
4000 | 8-12lb (4-6kg) | 8-20lb (3.5-9kg) |
5000 | 10-15lb (4.5-7kg) | 10-25lb (4.5-11kg) |
6000 | 12-18lb (5.5-8kg) | 12-30lb (5.5-13.5kg) |
7000 | 14-20lb (6.5-9kg) | 15-40lb (7-18kg) |
8000 | 15-25lb (7-11.5kg) | 20-50lb (9-22.5kg) |
9000 | 20-25lb (9-11.5kg) | 20lb-60lb (9-27kg) |
10.000 | 20-30lb (9-13.5kg) | 25-70lb (11.5-32kg) |
14.000 | 40lb+ (18kg+) | 30-80lb (13.5-36kg) |
20.000 | 50lb+ (22.5kg+) | 60lb+ (27kg+) |
30.000 | 60lb+ (27kg+) | 80lb+ (36kg) |
Small spinning reels
The sizes of these spinning reels range from 1000 to 3500 reels and are ideal for lightweight rods having a range of 6-7 feet. A spinning reel with 1000 spins is the smallest on the market, and it’s perfect if you’re seeking to fish pan or trout fish or the perch and crappie. Ideally, you can use them for slow-moving rivers, streams, lakes, and backwaters of bays.
Those with 2000 spins provide the best option for a little heavier line, thus making most anglers use it for light rods between six and seven feet. It’s the perfect size for soft-hitting species such as walleyes. The 2500 size reels become essential for fishing trout in lakes and rivers. Lastly, those with 3000 series are imperative for rods with heavier lines and ideal for catching catfish, bass, and other small saltwater fish species. The chart below offers the appropriate information on the small-sized spinning reels.
Medium spinning reels
These are spinning reels with spins ranging from 4000 to 5500, and they can hold between eight to twelve-pound braided lines. They are the best option for rods that are 7 to 8 feet. When seeking mid-size fish species, they are the appropriate options. Anglers use the spinning reels with 4000 spins to catch the mid-size fishes like walleyes, catfish, and the most aggressive largemouth bass.
The 5000 series comes with a lot of power, versatility, and adaptability to different rod lengths, from six to 10 feet, to enhance optimal performance. Their adaptability and power make them appropriate for fishing in large rivers, lakes, and harbors or docks in saltwater. The charts below provide a proper outline of the medium-sized spinning reels.
Large spinning reels
When you’re looking for fishing activities like surfcasting, rock fishing, or offshore boat fishing, you might need heavy-sized spinning reels. These reels have spins ranging from 6000 to 30000, making them ideal for your heavy surf fishing needs. You can use them on rods ranging from eight to twelve feet and the 20-pound mono line to enhance longer casts due to their large line capacity.
If you have them for your fishing activities, you can use them for targeting most of the large species, coming with a weight of up to 150+ pounds. These properties make most anglers prefer them for heavy saltwater applications and fishing large pelagic fish species like the sailfish. The chart below provides the appropriate information on these spinning reels.
Matching the Spinning Reel with the Right Rod
Matching the spinning reel with the rod is usually confusing, as most anglers don’t understand the proper procedures. Before matching the spinning reel with the rod, it’s vital to select an appropriate reel that matches its length and action. When having the process, it’ll be good to check the suitable spinning rods by looking at the number manufacturers lists above the rod’s grip.
The numbers provide details on the rod’s length and the right line strength you can use with it. After identifying the suitable rod strength, the spinning reel size chart can guide you on the proper spinning reel that works well with the same line strength. After getting this information, you can easily pair the rod to the appropriate reel, and you’re ready for your fishing activities.
When matching the spinning reels, it’s vital to understand that small reels with between 1000 and 2500 spins work well with ultra-light rods. In contrast, you’ll require surfcasting rods for most larger reels having spins ranging from 5000 to 7000.
The Best Size Spinning Reel’s Size for Bass Fishing
Catching the smallmouth and largemouth bass fish species is one of the popular reasons the angler uses the spinning reels. However, to achieve a proper casting activity, it’ll be essential to consider the right fishing reel size. The correct sizes of these spinning reels for bass fishing come in different ranges, where the reel with a small size of 2000 spins works best with a braid line strength of 5 – 10 lb. Alternatively, reels with up to 3500 spins work better, which braid’s line strength of 6 to 14 lb.
When choosing the right fishing reel size for bass, it’ll be essential to consider the technique you’ll be using. For example, suppose you’re seeking finessed fishing. In that case, the proper size of reels will be 2000 spins as they work well in combination with ultra-light lures to enhance your finesses fishing experience. Nonetheless, it’ll be good to go for a larger reel like 3000 if you’re looking to use larger lures like crankbait.
Experts advise that you should go for a 2500 or 3000 fishing reel size if you aren’t sure of the proper size of reel to go for. This option provides a square or balanced result that’s in the middle range of the reel sizes.
The Appropriate Reel Size for Surf Fishing
When choosing the appropriate size of your fishing reel, there are numerous things you should need to consider. Consider the size of your fishing rod, the length of the surf fishing rod you intend to use, and the locations you want to use your reels. These factors make choosing a specific size of the reel challenging.
Thus, when choosing a suitable size, it’s essential to understand the best sizes range from 5000 to 8000 spins. The common choice among most anglers is a 6000 spinning reel; it enhances the surf fishing experience, providing the best results. You can quickly put casting reels at the transition, immediately from medium size to a large spinning reel when having this reel. It’s vital to consider having a large surfcasting reel because these tools require a large spool. The large spool provides a large line capacity, allowing for a greater casting distance.
The Suitable Fishing Line for Your Spinning Reels
Having an appropriate fishing line is very important to enhance your casting experience; thus, picking the best fishing line will be necessary. When choosing the best fishing line, it’s essential to consider the type of fish you’re seeking, the type of water, and under-surface water to get the appropriate fishing line. After identifying these factors, there are numerous options you can pick from; alternatively, you can use the monofilament, an all-purpose fishing line.
If you’ve got an ultra-light rod with 1000 or 2000 spins, choosing a two-pound test will be the most appropriate option. The fishing line will be vital in providing the proper sensitivity important when seeking bluegill or sunfish. Most anglers fishing walleye prefer the chlorofluorocarbon line as they consider it invisible to the fish, making it easy to catch them. Lastly, you can also consider the braided line, which provides the best option for your surf fishing or offshore fishing for salmon or other large fighting fish.
Things to Check When Selecting the Suitable Size of a Spinning Reel
Before buying your spinning reel for different purposes, it’ll be important to consider selecting the right fishing reel size. A proper fishing reel size will be vital to ensure that you have the best casting experience and achieve optimal results. So, how do you know the size you want to buy?
When looking for the right size of the spinning reels, it’ll be essential to check if it fits the rod you’re using. The proper fitting of the spinning reel to your rod will make matching the two tools easy and achieve great results. You can also check if the size fits in your hands to ensure comfortability while handling and using it.
In addition, you can also check for the reel’s weight, ensure the weight of this reel can easily help you catch the fish you intend to. It’ll also be imperative to consider the weight of your fishing line; the reel’s size should be able to integrate well with the fishing line weight you’ve chosen.
Lastly, to enhance comfortability while using the fishing reels, it’ll be essential to check the configuration for switching between the left and right hand. This property will be necessary for all the users who don’t have right-hand dominance. If you consider these features, you’ll get the most appropriate size of spinning reels that suits your needs and preferences.
Bottom line
If you’re seeking to enhance your fishing experience and achieve optimal results, choosing the right spinning reel size will be essential. The proper size ensures a smooth and appropriate casting process that helps streamline the casting process and gets the best experience from your fishing process. This guide provides all the necessary guidelines and spinning reel size charts you need to know when choosing the right size of your spinning reels.