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Best Bass Spinning Reel

Best Bass Spinning Reel

​For most anglers a casting setup is the preferred choice when throwing larger lures or heavier bait rigs but sometimes a spinning reel for bass is the better setup.

Spinning reels excel when you need to use lighter gear. For a lot of fishermen their first reel will be a spinning reel and they may well never use a baitcaster regardless of what setup they are using.

​As a good all rounder the best bass spinning reel will be a size 3000 paired with a medium power spinning rod with a fast action.

This type of rig should be usable for a lot of different techniques.

More specialist lures may need something lighter than can be used on a medium/light power spinning rod for bass

So throwing small lures when up close to cover would need a 2000 or a 2500 sized reel.

If you need a medium/heavy power option then a 3000 or 3500 size spinning reel for bass is best, the only argument to use a 4000 or larger is the greater line capacity which is rarely an issue when bass fishing.

​Best Bass Spinning Reel

1. Abu Garcia Revo 2

​2. ​Shimano Stratic BG

​3. Pflueger Supreme XT

4. Shimano Stracic Ci4+

​5. Okuma Trio

​6. Daiwa Fuego

​7. ​Penn Battle

​Spinning Reels for Bass

​When choosing the ​best spinning reel for bass matching the size to your setup is normally the first decision you need to make.

​After that the quality of the components is when differentiates a good reel from a poor one.

Big brands like Shimano, Abu Garcia, Penn and Pflueger have been refining the design and materials in their spinning reels for decades.

​A cheap bass spinning reel might be a good purchase for a child who is just starting out but of you are in any way serious about your fishing then a high quality reel for bass is a must.

​Rods break all of the time particularly the tip section and line guides. There is not a whole lot you can do about that.

But a high quality reel if properly cared for and serviced regularly should last at least a decade.

The following list of components are the most important things to get right on a reel.

Materials

​Modern day reels of a higher quality will use little or no graphite in them. There was a time when most reels had the reel casing made entirely from graphite.

​The problem with graphite is that it can flex under load, if your reel housing is warping or flexing when a large bass is putting it under pressure then there is a high probability of the internal gears being damaged.

Gears need to mesh together and be perfectly aligned to work correctly. This is why most modern spinning reels will be made from metal. 

Drag

The drag rating on a spinning reel will describe how much pressure it can apply to the spool to restrict how quickly a bass is capable of taking line off of the spool.

Once hooked a large bass can run for cover and bury it’s head in a thick weed bed. You need a very strong drag system to stop a fish from striping line off of your reel.

The best spinning reels for bass will have a high quality drag washers that will not overheat when put under pressure.

Spool 

​Spinning reels unlike baitcasters have a pool that is mounted in such a way that the line falls off the top of the spool and through the line guides. It is stationary unlike the spool on a baitcaster that spins when the line is paid out from it.

Because the line runs over the lip of the spool, spools need to have a super smooth curved lip that not only helps to reduce friction on the line but also reduces the chances of damaging the line as it runs over it.

Gearing

​The internal gears of a spinning reel are the heart and soul of the reel. Every turn of the handle results in engaging the internal gears that eventually turn the bail arm around the spool which is how the line is retrieved.