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A New Wave In Spinning Reels

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

If you own a trolling motor, you own a propeller originally designed by Doug Hannon of Odessa. Some two decades ago, Hannon shaped the first weedless prop out of scrap metal in his garage and tested it in the weeds of Lake Keystone, behind his home. A short time later, he sold it to Motor Guide. Millions of the props have been sold.

Hannon was an innovator long before he was named "The Bass Professor" in a 1980 article in Outdoor Life magazine. (The writer of that story was a young scribe from Clermont by the name of Frank Sargeant.) At that time, Hannon's claim to fame was that he had caught and released about 500 bass of more than 10 pounds. That expertise led not only to fame but to authorship of several books and countless magazine articles, and a long career in outdoors television.

Now, Hannon has come up with another innovation he thinks might have the same sort of long-term impact on fishing as his weedless prop.

"There hasn't been anything really new in spinning reels since the original reels came to America," Hannon said. "But the whole concept of spinning continues to have one big issue, and that's line looping off the spool and making snarls and knots."

He said the problem seems to have become more pronounced with the widespread popularity of microfiber line, a very thin but highly flexible line that frequently forms knots that require cutting away many yards of the expensive material.

"The idea that the spool was the problem, and was also cutting casting distance because of friction on the lip, came to me one night when I was prowling around the house about 3 a.m.," he recalled. "The solution, as I visualized it, was to cut notches in the spool so there was less contact, and also to help any loops lie down in the notches and not get pulled off the spool to make a snarl."

New Look, New Results

Hannon took a file to an old spinning reel he had, and by daylight he had come up with what would become the Wave Spin spool, with a sort of ratchet-gear-shaped lip that looked totally different from the standard round spool lip.

"People look at this new design and think it would catch the line and stop the cast short, but what actually happens is that the line spins off and barely touches the tips of the metal ridges, so there's less friction," he said.

Probably most important is the reduction in the number of loops and snarls. Virtually all spinning reels get these, particularly when used with the vigorous rod action common in working saltwater lures. But when Hannon and I took a couple of the reels out for an afternoon on the Little Manatee River last week, neither of us got a single loop while fishing various weights of Power-Pro and Stren Super Braid.

And, Hannon said, the spool design makes it possible to fill the spool to the limit without the risk of loops falling off, as they do in conventional spinning reels when overfilled.

"The more line you get on the spool and the closer you fill it to the lip, the more casting distance you get," he said, "and that's what helps to give this reel a distance advantage."

Working Up In Size

Currently, the company that licensed the nine-ball-bearing reel makes them only in a size suitable for flats and bass fishing. The spool holds 260 yards of 20-pound-test microfiber. Hannon said two larger reels are in the works, aimed at the tarpon/kingfish/sailfish market.

Another feature is a plus for wading anglers: The reel's gear case is completely watertight. Hannon said the reel can be dunked repeatedly and water won't get inside to ruin the gears and bearings, though the external parts (including the bail and spool) must be washed after saltwater exposure.

Hannon's reel includes silicone tape on the spool so microfiber line can be wound on without slipping. The line is so slippery that most anglers add several yards of more sticky monofilament line before tying on the microfiber in most reels. It's also possible to unscrew the lip of the spool so used line can be pulled off at once, rather than unspooling it yard by yard as on most reels.

The reel also boasts an exceptionally smooth drag.

"Most reels this size can hold about 4 to 5 pounds of drag before they start to stick," Hannon said. "This reel can do a measured 23 pounds before it hits that point, so you can handle some really big fish, even bottom fish, with a relatively small, light reel."

Hannon said the reel will sell for about $80 and include a two-year warranty. For more information, visit www.wavespinreel.com.

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