Crankbait reel part 2. Rick Clunn Reel

[keithdog]

A while back I posted a question about casting reels that would make good crankbait reels to replace the two 25 year old Garcia C3 reels I use now for crankbaits. The BPS David Frittz, the Revo Winch and Shimano Curado E5 were all mentioned as good choices, and indeed they are. With two boys now in college I'm watching my budget carefully and the Revo and Curado are not an option at this time. The Frittz reel is where I am leaning as so many folks who use it love it for cranks. However, I have one reel I'd like to bring up and see what the consensus here would be for using as a crankbait reel. I'm talking about the newly designed BPS Rick Clun casting reel model RCX105D. It has a 5.4:1 ratio and retrieves 23 inches of line with each turn of the handle. Twenty three inches sounds pretty good to me for using crankbaits as the David Frittz is close at 21 inches with the 4.7:1 ratio. The Rick Clunn model has an 8 bearing system, and a new dual breaking system. I have read several reviews of this reel on the BPS website and they were all very favorable exept one guy. I have the older version of this reel in a 7:1 ratio and I really love it. I've never had an issue with it.

[BigBassin144]

My dad has that reel (not the low speed though), and although I haven't fished it much, I didn't think it casted nearly as good as some other reels in that price range. Also, I don't think the brakes perform as well as some other reels. I like the dual brake system in my Johnny morris reel, and have it set at 2 centrifugal on, and the magnetic set to like 1, 2-3 if it's real windy and this is with the spool tension set a bit loose. But with the spool tension set correctly, and 3 or 4 of the 6 centrifugal brakes on and the magnetic set to around 5, it doesn't backlash much, but it doesn't cast nearly as far.

Ergonomically, the reel is nice, it's a bit big (so is the johnny morris though), but it palms fairly nicely. I do think it could sit a bit lower on the reel seat as well.

Of your two choices, I'd definately get the fritts reel. But, I haven't used it so I cannot attest to it's performance. I have heard many more good things about it than the new rick clunns.

BB

[rrw4258]

From my experience, I do not like the new Clunn reels, I have three of the '08 reels and they have changed a lot from last year. I have never really been a fan of the dual brake system. They also changed the reel to a soft touch body and it seems like the material will peel off very easily. I also do not like the 2009 model because of the curved handle. The handle on the new model is very small in comparison to the 08 model.
I have the 5.4:1 gear ratio in the 08 model and it has been fine for cranking from 1 foot down to about 12 feet. I think the ratio is just fine, and I do not believe I need something with a slower ratio because most of my fishing is done on Erie, so if anything is deeper than about 12 feet for smallies and largies I move to a dropshot or tube.
I do not know how deep you plan on cranking, but I am pretty sure that a 5.4:1 reel will do you fine. But hey, if you do go with a new Clunn I would like to know your thoughts on the reel.

Ryan