Reels are mainly divided into 2 main groups, multipliers and fixed spools.
MULTIPLIERS
Beach multipliers tend to be smaller than their boat counterparts, and come with or without level winds, the main makes are Abu penn shimano daiwa though there others on the market, you need to decide what one suits you and you pocket,all have their fans and their reels have their plus and minus factors.
Beach casting reels are controlled by a combination of oils (or different grades or viscosities) and either or a combination of brake blocks and magnets.You can use your thumb mid cast to fine tune it if required. Magnets,as their name suggests magnetically control the speed that the spool revolves, they are relatively new and are increasingly popular due to their ease of use and the ability to alter the settings even mid cast.Also there are the traditional reels braked by a series of brake blocks attached to pins on the spool, these use centrifugal force on the spool to slow it down, they can be fine tuned by the number of and hardness of the blocks fitted .Though they do work as well as magnets for braking they are much harder to adjust as you need to partially dismantle the reel to do so, not something you want to be doing on a cold dark and sand swept beach.
brake block and magnetic controls
They are needed in order to try and prevent the spool over running when the rig slows down, usually when entering the water.If this happens you get what is called a "bird nest", a bird nest is a tangle of line around the reel, sometime they are that bad that you will need to swap reels in order to carry on fishing and strip the old line off when at home.
The clutch or drag is used to control a fighting fish, it is set to slip before the line breaks if a fish makes a run or sudden lunge during the fight. Beach reels all tend to have the traditional "star drag", situated between the handle and the reel itself they allow ease of adjustability mid fight.
a traditional star drag
All multipliers sit on top of the rod when casting , this allows the angler to lock down the spool with his thumb for casting. Some come with level winds(cs), this is a line guide that travels the breadth of the spool in a controlled rate left and right as the angler reels in, all the angler has to do is keep some tension in the line to prevent snagging the line.The downside of this is that it will cut down slightly on your casting distance.For reels without a level wind(ct) you have to guide the line back and forwards with your thumb so that there is an even distribution of line across the whole breadth of the spool .A lot of anglers initially find this quite difficult to do (especially at night) when first starting but it is quite easy to do with practice.Level winds can and do get in the way of your thumb when casting, especially if giving it a good thump, you can not wrap your thumb right round the spool to lock it down Make sure that when casting the leader knot is right at the side of the spool when casting, if you dont you may end up with a nasty cut on your thumb
a level wind
some multipliers are easier/better at casting than others whilst some have more power when playing fish, you again have to think what/where/why you will be using the reel for and like rods you may find you need a couple to cope with different conditions. Again the best place to look for impartial advise is one of the forums but don't forget the reviews in mags as well
FIXED SPOOL
fixed spool reels do the same job as multipliers but are totally different in how they work, the line comes off the fixed spool at right angles and a rotor arm revolves round it to retrieve the line back onto the spool. They are much easier to cast and birds nests are all but unheard of when using one.The gearing is greater than on on multi's so the speed of retrieval is consequentially much faster.
The downside to this ease of use and high speed retrieval is that they don't seem to have as much "back bone " on the retrieval and can struggle with big fish.
They are mainly used for shore fishing though i do know of one angler who uses them from a boat
BOAT REELS
Boat reels tend to be much larger than beach reels, they have much bigger,stronger gears and this combined with bigger handles gives them far greater winching power.As casting is less of an issue this is less important, but the clutch has to be beefed up to cope with the extra pressures endured.Many boat reels have lever drags fitted, these tend to be bigger , stronger than star drag reels and have the ability to be fully locked at the flick of your thumb. More boat reels have level winds fitted as casting is less of an issue and as your generally fishing in much deeper water and bringing up potentially bigger fish your thumb would soon suffer (especially when fishing with braid)
a lever drag
REEL CARE
Reels require much more regular care and attention to ensure that they stay working in peak condition. When finished fishing it is a good idea to have a couple of extra casts with a plain lead so that you can put the line back on the spool in "cotton reel" fashion but more importantly will take out any bedding in of the line on itself especially if you have had a good session and caught a few good fish.
After fishing you should always store your reel with the drag fully off, this will help prevent the plates sticking together
Due to the ravages of salt water you should ALWAYS gently rinse your reel out under warm running water when you get home to help prevent oxidization of the aluminum. The bearings will require a regular oil (rocket fuel is the current favorite) to keep them spinning, but every so often depending on how frequently you go fishing then you should give your reel a proper service, where you take them out , inspect them for any damage and if putting them back in, a good soak in a little jar with some petrol to get rid of the old oils( give it a good stir with a small screw driver to mkae sure the oil penetrates right in) take them out and let them sit on some kitchen roll to draw the petrol out, the rest will evaporate, submerge them back in oil, again giving it a little stir to make sure it gets right into the bearings,put them back in, replace clips and check they are spinning right.
A tiny smear of oil (3 in 1) on the other metal bits should keep everything running without any problems, i always store my reels in a quality reel case, this will help to prevent any accidental damage to the reel, another little tip i like is to loop a small elastic band over the foot of the reel and connect the line clip on the end of the leader, this helps prevent the line going all over the place in the reel case.
securing the leader to the reel seat with an elastic band