The best baitcasting reels for bass: pick the retrieve rate for the lure

One reel published in three speeds is what makes this the bass answer rather than a general one. Bass fishing is a set of techniques that want different retrieve rates, and buying the same reel three times in three ratios gives you identical handling across every rod.

The published 22 in per turn version is genuinely slow, and slow is hard to find. A deep crankbait like our crankbaits page covers has to be worked at a speed that lets the bill dig, and a fast reel makes fishing one properly nearly impossible.

At the other end, 30 in per turn is what a jig or a frog needs: when a fish eats and swims at you through cover, the hookset does not start until the slack is gone.

7.3 oz published across every model and a C6 carbon frame is light for this price bracket, and the 7+1 stainless bearing count is above the Max5 X. Line capacity is published at 135 yd of 10 lb, which is more than any bass fight needs and enough to re-tie all season.

Left and right-hand versions are published for each ratio, which matters more than it sounds — the reel you can crank without swapping hands is the one you fish.

28 in per turn is the middle of the bass range, and if you own one baitcaster this is where it should sit. It is fast enough for a bladed jig and a Texas rig, slow enough not to ruin a squarebill.

The published 15 lb maximum drag is the figure the Revo does not give you, and on a bass reel it is the one worth having. 15 lb is well beyond anything a largemouth applies; what matters is that the number is stated at all.

Duragear brass gearing and a Power Disk drag are published rather than described. Brass gears are what keep a reel feeling smooth into a second season, and this is the least glamorous specification on the page.

At 7.2 oz it is the lightest reel here by a tenth of an ounce, which is a rounding error, and it holds the same 130 yd of 12 lb. Our baitcasters under $150 page compares it directly against its own cheaper sibling.

Every figure that matters is the same as the SX: 6.8:1, 28 in per turn, 15 lb of drag, 7.2 oz, 130 yd of 12 lb, MagTrax braking. Two fewer bearings is the entire published difference.

That difference shows at the start of a cast with a light lure, and effectively nowhere else. If most of what you throw is 1/2 oz and up — which describes most bass fishing — you will struggle to find it.

Which makes this the reel to buy when the goal is two rods rigged rather than one nicer reel. Having a jig rod and a crankbait rod both ready saves more fishing time than two bearings ever will.