8:1 might be too fast for some lures, but it's not too fast for bass. Bass will bite a trolled lure at 3+ miles per hour and 8:1 isn't even getting close to that speed.
Well an 8 to 1 picks up 8 revolutions of the spool per one turn of the handle.
If the spool has a diameter of 1" on average over the entirety of the act of reeling in a cast, then multiplying times pi means you are picking up about 3.14" eight times per one revolution of the reel handle, so 180,854 inches per hour if you reel at 2 revolutions per second, a modest speed.
180,854 inches per hour equals 2.85 miles per hour, at 3 revolutions per second, still no considerable effort, it equals 4.28 mph.
The average person walks about 3.1 mph.
We can reel that fast, most of us, even reeling in on lesser reel ratios.
Brad