Fishing reels come in three designs, and the choice between them is the first tackle decision most anglers make. A spinning reel hangs under the rod with a fixed spool and a bail; a baitcasting reel sits on top with a spool that turns; a spincast reel hides a fixed spool inside a nose cone behind a push button. Each has a job. Pick the design for the job, then read the two numbers on the box, size and gear ratio, and the model names below start to mean something.
A 2500 spinning reel holds 30 lb braid in the same yardage it holds 8 lb mono. The size question and the braid question have the same answer.
Start here
- Fishing gear — the five gear decisions.
- Fishing rods — a spinning reel needs a spinning rod; the guides and reel seat differ.
- Fishing line — capacity is quoted in yards of a given test; braid changes the maths.
- Lures — the gear ratio each lure wants is listed on its hub.
Which reel
| Reel | How it works | Best for | Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spinning | Fixed spool; the bail wraps line on as the rotor turns; line comes off over the lip on the cast | Lures from 1/16 to about 1 oz (28 g), 4–12 lb line, finesse, beginners, most saltwater | Line twist; less cranking power; heavy lures overrun the spool lip |
| Baitcasting | Rotating spool driven by the lure’s momentum; brakes and thumb stop it | Lures from 3/8 oz (11 g) up, 10–25 lb line, flipping, pitching, heavy cover, big fish | Backlash until the brakes and thumb are learned |
| Spincast | Fixed spool inside a cone; a button releases the line | Children, beginners, light bait fishing | Low capacity, weak drag, short casts |
Bass Pro’s rule for the baitcaster: choose it if you plan to flip, pitch, work heavy cover, chase large gamefish or throw heavy lures. The spincast’s story is worth a line. R. D. Hull’s backlash-free reel was built by the Zero Hour Bomb Company of Tulsa, a maker of oil-well time bombs, as the Standard in May 1949; the Model 33 followed in 1954, and in 1956 the firm renamed itself Zebco after a reel sent to President Eisenhower set off a bomb scare.
What the size number means
Shimano and Daiwa number spinning reels in thousands, Penn and others in tens, and neither is a standard, so the table is a convention.
| Size | Mono | Braid | Lure weight | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | 4–6 lb | 6–10 lb | 1/32–1/8 oz (1–4 g) | Panfish, trout, ultralight |
| 2000 | 6–8 lb | 10 lb | 1/16–1/4 oz (2–7 g) | Trout, crappie, light bass |
| 2500 | 6–10 lb | 10–15 lb | 1/8–3/8 oz (4–11 g) | The all-purpose freshwater size |
| 3000 | 8–12 lb | 15–20 lb | 1/4–3/4 oz (7–21 g) | Bass, walleye, pike, light inshore |
| 4000 | 10–17 lb | 20–30 lb | 3/8–1½ oz (11–43 g) | Pike, salmon, stripers, redfish, snook |
| 5000–6000 | 17–20 lb | 30–50 lb | 1 oz (28 g)+ | Catfish, surf, heavy inshore |
Two questions come up more than any other: whether a 2500 or a 3000 is right, and whether 30 lb braid fits a 2500. The answer to both is on the spool: braid is a third to half the diameter of mono of the same test, so a 2500 holds 30 lb braid in the yardage it would hold 8 lb mono.
Gear ratio and inches per turn
The ratio is how many times the spool turns for one turn of the handle; 6.4:1 means 6.4 spool turns per crank. What the lure feels is inches per turn, which depends on the spool’s diameter and how full it is. Lew’s and Abu Garcia give the bands: low, 5.1–5.4:1 and about 20–24 in per turn, for deep crankbaits, big swimbaits and slow-rolled spinnerbaits; medium, 6.1–6.5:1, for squarebills, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits; high, 7.1–8.1:1, for jigs, Texas rigs, topwater and frogs; and 9–10:1 reels that pick up 34 in or more per turn for fast topwater and taking up slack. A baitcaster’s brakes, centrifugal shoes that push out with spool speed or magnets set by a dial, are what tame the backlash; the set-up procedure is on the baitcaster page.
Brands and saltwater
Shimano’s spinning ladder runs Sienna and Sedona at the entry, Sahara, Nasci and Ultegra in the middle, Stradic and Vanford as the performance tier, Twin Power, Vanquish and Stella at the top, from about $35 to $895 at September 2026 retail prices. Daiwa’s runs Crossfire, Revros, Legalis and Fuego up through the BG, Tatula, Certate and Saltiga. Saltwater reels add what the buyer’s guides all name: a sealed carbon drag, sealed or shielded bearings, an anodised aluminium body and, increasingly, an IPX5 to IPX8 water-ingress rating.
Where to go next
The pages under this hub explain the baitcaster in full, the spinning-reel size table by species, the spincast, saltwater spinning reels, the Shimano and Daiwa ladders and how to spool a reel without twist. The hooks hub and the fish finder hub complete the gear section.