Low profile baitcasting reel recomendations

[bassnblues]

I'm looking to get a low profile baitcaster to put on a St. Croix Premier rod I've had for a while. I've been using it for light saltwater with a round Daiwa but I want to re-purpose it for throwing spinner-baits and crank-baits.

I'd like to get a nice low profile reel. It's a 6 1/2' rod rated for 10-17lb line. I'll want to load 10lb braid on it.

Looking to spend around $100.00. Any recommendations?

[gnuisance]

Daiwa lexa is a really nice reel in that price range. You can find them cheap on amazon. The Revo S and Revo SX are also great reels.

[bunker dunker]

daiwa millionaire,great reel for the buck.

[Matt A.]

quantum accurist, 16 lb of drag and a flipping switch. $99 at cabelas, i got mine for $64 on ebay new

[MikeNJ]

Lews Speed Spool. Great reel for the money.

[AndrewT]

Lews are phenomenal reels

[ScowardNJ]

If you are looking to keep it as a dual purpose fresh/salt water set up, the Lexa is awesome. I have a Lexa 300h on a musky stick and I've used for snag n drop, plugging and jigging stripers to 35 lbs, togging, and dead sticking fluke. It's def to heavy for freshwater bassing but it's ready for my first musky also. They make a 100 that I'm curious about. My buddy got me the 300 for $100 brand new off ebay.

[bassnblues]

Thanks for the info.

The lexa looks nice but I think it's just a little bigger thAn I'm looking for. Ill definitely take as look at one.

[Matt A.]

i own a lexa 100 and its okay, but the drag feels very weak
compared to my accurist. the lexa did handle steelhead up to 10lb this year tho

[briansnat]

For around $100 its hard to beat the Lews Speed Spool

[bassnblues]

Lew's speed spool looks like a good contender. It's on sale at Cabela's and I have a gift card.

Next question, what are the advantages of a faster gear ratio?

[UglyStick]

Speaking about general freshwater fishing with gear such as one would use for bass, most low profile casting reels come as either a 6.x or 7.x ratio.

A higher ratio reel (i.e. a 7.x) will bring in more inches of line per turn of the handle so it's desirable if you want to burn baits at high speed, such as some crankbaits, spinner / buzz baits, etc. What you lose is cranking power for large/heavy baits or baits with a lot of drag (such as big double 8 and 10 bucktails) or the ability to effectively fish slowly as one would do in cold water such as early spring and late fall. Unless you're fishing for musky or other very large fish and throwing monster baits the cranking power isn't much of a concern here compared to being able to fish other baits slowly.

Personally, I recommend sticking with a 6.1 - 6.3 ratio reel for your purpose. It's a good compromise and you should be able to work most baits at the desired speed.