Interested in people from the Cal Delta or other West Coast punchers and their thoughts on gear ratio's in their "punching reels" there was/is a trend to the ultra high speed reels to increase efficiency( increasing the number of pitches one can make in a certain amount of time) as well as to keep the bait from hitting the mat as often when you reel it in and I get that BUT their now seems to be a trend back to a slightly slower gear ratio. Like a 7.1 something not the real low ones like a 6.2, although I sometimes hear that, or less but the happy medium which many guys like Ish Monroe and Bub Tosh really promoted as being the best for a combo in speed and power.

I believe that most of your power comes from the rod not the reel, one certainly doesn't pin the fish under a mat and try to use the reel's winching power to wind them through and the argument has been made that the new reels with more efficient gearing have much more power than earlier fast gear ration reels. So what are your thoughts and "why" specifically ?

By the way, I personally believe powerful but parabolic rods not extra fast broom sticks are best in increasing your hook to land ratios in the mats and hooks that are strong but not as thick in diameter as a rail road spike. About 1.62 to 1.74 mm in diameter is about my max I would use.

Thanks for any feedback you guys who are always on the cutting edge of trends have to offer.