It’s a fairly regular occurrence in my shop – an inshore angler (saltwater) will drop in and ask for our assistance on purchasing a reel. Many want our guidance on whether to purchase a level wind conventional reel or an open style conventional reel. These products are completely different – the open style conventional reel doesn’t have the level winding features. While both styles of reel have definite benefits, they both also have their unique challenges.

The best answer to this question is simple – take into consideration how you fish, your personal preferences and finally, what kind of line you intend to use most of the time. These factors will help you make an informed decision about which reel type is best for your needs.

Open wind reels have fewer moving parts, while level wind reels use a pawl that runs across a worm shaft on the front of your reel. While the open wind reel requires interaction from the angler to properly rewind a line, the level wind reel accomplishes this through the mechanism that is inherent to this reel type.

While the bottom line is that most anglers will decide which reel to use based almost entirely on their personal preference, you’re likely to find that most inshore saltwater anglers prefer the open wind reel. The reasons for this if you talk to an inshore salt water angler are mainly based on the fact that level wind reels have far more likelihood of breakdown and some anglers feel that the level wind reel also interferes with proper casting. Repairs are nearly impossible to rebuke – level wind reels have more moving parts meaning an increase in failure possibilities. Since inshore saltwater anglers will nearly always wander off on foot to their favorite fishing spot, they likely will carry only a single rod and reel meaning that an equipment breakdown is a major inconvenience and will result in a wasted day of angling. Remember, a level wind reel requires impeccable cleaning since a single grain of sand can cause the reel to fail when you are fighting with a fish and could cost you the catch of the day.

Various types of fishing lines are discussed in another article, but for the purposes of reels, you will want to review the line you use most often. If you’re more likely to use monofilament line, you’re more likely to lean towards a level wind reel. Frankly, a level wind reel is best for monofilament line because of the problems that trying to rewind the line manually using your thumb for a guide. Monofilament line tends to bunch up and will literally pile up near the frame and get high enough to interfere with proper reel functioning. If you’re using braided line you’re unlikely to run into these problems as it simply winds better without a lot of help from the angler.

Monofilament line is the line of choice for many anglers – it offers stretch and it’s cost effective. It does have its downsides however and these downsides make the use of a level wind conventional reel very practical unless you want to spend time learning how to guide your line back onto your reel with your thumb. While this practice is common and not hard to learn, it’s highly unlikely that when you’re reeling in a big fish you are going to be paying all that much attention as to how you’re rewinding your line if you are using an open wind conventional reel.

Anglers can guide monofilament line with their thumb, ensuring an even wind. However, if you’re using a braided line, you’re unlikely to need to learn this trick. Braided Dacron line for some unknown reason rewinds onto the reel nearly perfectly with little interference or help from the angler. This means that you’re not going to have to worry about your line when you’re bringing in a large fish.

The bottom line here is if you’re using monofilament most of the time you’re probably going to want to consider a level wind reel while if you’re angling with braided line most of the time, an open wind conventional reel is probably perfect for you.

Ask any repair shop owner, myself included, and you’ll find that the level wind reel is one of the top items that are repaired annually. It doesn’t matter who made it, each manufacturer is treated equally in this case. Level wind reels are far more susceptible to failure than open reels. This could be in part that when you’re fishing with a 20lb drag, and you land a good sized fish, additional pressure is put on the line guide system. Combine this additional pressure with salt and sand that might be missed during cleaning and insufficient lubrication and you’re no doubt going to have your level wind reel fail. If you use open faced conventional reels, you are not going to have this problem.

Take into consideration your personal preferences and the type of line you’re going to be using and combine this with whether you’re rigging or casting and these factors will help in making your final decision of whether to purchase an open wind reel or a level wind reel and you’ll ultimately make the right choice.

With all the different types of reels out there things can get confusing. Doing your research before hand can save yourself a headache. Some of the most popular reels include: Daiwa Seaborg 300FB, Daiwa Viento, and Shimano Stella FD.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 8:12 am and is filed under Swimming Pools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.