12-15-2006, 02:59 PM
Great question trollboy. Like Tubn2 was saying, the level wind is more of a convienience thing than anything else.
There is a big reason that all reels don't have a levelwind. Certain fish, like a Wahoo for instance, have the capability of huge bursts of speed. Though the gearing in a reel itself is pretty much infoulable, if the right fish jumps on the line, the level wind can actually get "out run." In other words, it is possible for a fish to strip line off a reel faster than the gearing on the level wind can keep up. Usually the paw goes first, but sometimes the small gear on the inside of the face plate croaks. This is a big reason you'll never see an experianced angler chunking a hook to a speedy fish with a levelwind reel. Think its a bunch of crap? Think again. I've had atleast a half dozen levelwinds fall apart on me before I decided to go to non-levelwind reels for larger, faster, game fish.
As far as a technique for cranking in a fish on a reel with no level wind, there isn't one. I've seen people, and did in the past, try to "guide" the line back on the reel with thier finder as they cranked. BAD IDEA For one thing, it takes away from your grip on the rod, and two, it's not neccesary. A Penn 114HLW, which I own a couple of, has plenty of "air space" from the cross brace to the top of a filled spool. I never guide the line back on unless a fish has pretty much stripped the line down to the spool. And if that's the case, then you've waited way too long to chase down the fish. LOL Alot of times, the line will fall into place on it's own, so I would say just moniter it as you crank on it. It the line bulks up in the center, no biggie. If it's not rubbing on the cross brace, it's not hurting a thing.
However, for most applications, a level wind reel is just fine.
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There is a big reason that all reels don't have a levelwind. Certain fish, like a Wahoo for instance, have the capability of huge bursts of speed. Though the gearing in a reel itself is pretty much infoulable, if the right fish jumps on the line, the level wind can actually get "out run." In other words, it is possible for a fish to strip line off a reel faster than the gearing on the level wind can keep up. Usually the paw goes first, but sometimes the small gear on the inside of the face plate croaks. This is a big reason you'll never see an experianced angler chunking a hook to a speedy fish with a levelwind reel. Think its a bunch of crap? Think again. I've had atleast a half dozen levelwinds fall apart on me before I decided to go to non-levelwind reels for larger, faster, game fish.
As far as a technique for cranking in a fish on a reel with no level wind, there isn't one. I've seen people, and did in the past, try to "guide" the line back on the reel with thier finder as they cranked. BAD IDEA For one thing, it takes away from your grip on the rod, and two, it's not neccesary. A Penn 114HLW, which I own a couple of, has plenty of "air space" from the cross brace to the top of a filled spool. I never guide the line back on unless a fish has pretty much stripped the line down to the spool. And if that's the case, then you've waited way too long to chase down the fish. LOL Alot of times, the line will fall into place on it's own, so I would say just moniter it as you crank on it. It the line bulks up in the center, no biggie. If it's not rubbing on the cross brace, it's not hurting a thing.
However, for most applications, a level wind reel is just fine.
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