Why oscillation Speed is perhaps the single biggest performance difference between different spinning reels. Too bad reel manufacturers don’t tell you about it.
Why oscillation Speed is perhaps the single biggest performance difference between different spinning reels. Too bad reel manufacturers don’t tell you about it.
In the carp fishing world slow oscillation is a very large selling point, the casting performance is very noticeable.
Uptons_BJs on
When you buy a spinning reel, the single most important performance feature that determines if you catch more fish is instant anti-reverse. But that’s really not worth mentioning anymore – Even the $10 reel that comes in the Ugly Stik GX2 combo has instant anti-reverse. The vast majority of features that reel manufacturers love to brag about, like bearing count and lightness, doesn’t actually have anything to do with how many fish you catch.
In reality, for freshwater fishermen, really the only other feature other than instant anti-reverse that determines how many fish you will catch is oscillation speed, the slower the better. Why? Because slower oscillation means longer casts. Here’s why:
When you cast a lure on a spinning reel, we know that momentum you imparted into the lure is being lost by due to friction. This friction is in part caused by your line rubbing on the spool lip, and the energy required to pull the line straight.
Fast oscillation means that the line is being put on your spool at a larger angle, meaning that for each oscillation (up and down of the spool), there are less wraps of the line. Meaning that there’s less line per “layer”, and thus, you will have to go through more “layers” of line for the same length of line. This results in the line angle between the point the line leaves your spool increasing much faster. The slower the oscillation, the more wraps per “layer”, and thus, the slower the angle between the point the line leaves your spool increases.
In my experience, with the same line, lure and rod, a slow oscillation reel can increase your casting distances by up to ~20%. This is perhaps the only noticeable actual performance difference between different reels that has a tangible difference on the amount of fish you will catch.
If you want to visualize what I mean, look at how slow the oscillation on a dedicated long cast reel is, and how many wraps there are per layer of line: [https://youtu.be/9zP5SIjt9oA?t=410](https://youtu.be/9zP5SIjt9oA?t=410)
Problem is, reel companies will never put oscillation speed on the box or their website, so you can’t easily compare the oscillation performance of two different reels. So what should you do? When you go to the tackle store, count the number of wraps per oscillation.
Take the reel and start turning the handle and look at how many times the rotor rotates around the spool the in a full oscillation (top -> bottom -> top or vice versa). The higher this number is, the better.
5uper5kunk on
I love few things as much as an MSPaint diagram.
You are correct and it is odd that it’s never really a selling point for bass reels. I would guess it’s due to braid being so common and the necessary casting distance being a lot less compared to other types of fishing.
3 Comments
In the carp fishing world slow oscillation is a very large selling point, the casting performance is very noticeable.
When you buy a spinning reel, the single most important performance feature that determines if you catch more fish is instant anti-reverse. But that’s really not worth mentioning anymore – Even the $10 reel that comes in the Ugly Stik GX2 combo has instant anti-reverse. The vast majority of features that reel manufacturers love to brag about, like bearing count and lightness, doesn’t actually have anything to do with how many fish you catch.
In reality, for freshwater fishermen, really the only other feature other than instant anti-reverse that determines how many fish you will catch is oscillation speed, the slower the better. Why? Because slower oscillation means longer casts. Here’s why:
When you cast a lure on a spinning reel, we know that momentum you imparted into the lure is being lost by due to friction. This friction is in part caused by your line rubbing on the spool lip, and the energy required to pull the line straight.
Fast oscillation means that the line is being put on your spool at a larger angle, meaning that for each oscillation (up and down of the spool), there are less wraps of the line. Meaning that there’s less line per “layer”, and thus, you will have to go through more “layers” of line for the same length of line. This results in the line angle between the point the line leaves your spool increasing much faster. The slower the oscillation, the more wraps per “layer”, and thus, the slower the angle between the point the line leaves your spool increases.
In my experience, with the same line, lure and rod, a slow oscillation reel can increase your casting distances by up to ~20%. This is perhaps the only noticeable actual performance difference between different reels that has a tangible difference on the amount of fish you will catch.
If you want to visualize what I mean, look at how slow the oscillation on a dedicated long cast reel is, and how many wraps there are per layer of line: [https://youtu.be/9zP5SIjt9oA?t=410](https://youtu.be/9zP5SIjt9oA?t=410)
Problem is, reel companies will never put oscillation speed on the box or their website, so you can’t easily compare the oscillation performance of two different reels. So what should you do? When you go to the tackle store, count the number of wraps per oscillation.
Take the reel and start turning the handle and look at how many times the rotor rotates around the spool the in a full oscillation (top -> bottom -> top or vice versa). The higher this number is, the better.
I love few things as much as an MSPaint diagram.
You are correct and it is odd that it’s never really a selling point for bass reels. I would guess it’s due to braid being so common and the necessary casting distance being a lot less compared to other types of fishing.