All of mine are 6:1 and 7:1. Do y’all use the higher speeds like 8:1 for anything, and if so, what for?

All my flipping pitching setups are 8:1 or higher. Everything else is 7:1 with the exception of my a-rig rod and deep cranking which are 6:1

I like 8:1 for topwater, pitching and dragging - any bait technique where you want to recover line quickly. A 7:1 is good all around. I only use 6:1 for spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

as said above, 8:1 are great for bottom contact baits where you may have to pick up line quick. Most of mine are 7:1. My deeper cranking setups are 5:1

7.5 and 8-1 for drop shot. 8-1 for weightless flukes and senkos and hollow frogs.

I use 8.1 and 8.5 for flipping, pitching, weightless plastics, flukes and most any bottom technique.

I use 5.0 to 8.3 depending on the application. 5.0 for big deep CBs, 6.1-6.4 for all other CBs, spinnerbait & chattertbait, 7.3 for topwater & lipless CBs, and 8.3 for all baits that I move with the rod.

This. I also like to make most of my deep water rigs 8.1 as well like C-rigs, TX rigs, football jigs, flutter spoons etc.

I'm about to get everything 8.1 with the exception of crank baits and big spinner baits

bottom contact, flipping - just faster to get your bait back to make another cast to the "juice"

I use an 8.1:1 when fishing any bait I move using the rod only. Like dragging a jig, T-rig, etc. I have tremors (shakey hands) that gets worse when I hold my hands out in front of me. It annoys the hell out of me, so I usually just hold the reel in my left hand closer to my side and flick the reel handle with my fingers under the reel when I need to take up line. Just drag and flick. Lol. Once I feel a bite I will use my other hand to reel. The higher speed makes that easier. Plus if my rod is pointed straight up at the end of a drag when I get a bite, I can reel down much faster to set the hook.
A little bit bigger reel handle helps get back some of the torque lost with the higher ratio. But I don't catch fish big enough for that to matter.

I pay more attention to the reel speed when I fish baits that are moved through the water using the reel. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.

I've got them from 7:1 all the way down to 3.8:1. I use the 3.8 for monster size ultra deep diving crankbaits. You can throw aq big crankbait with the 3.8 reel all day long and never get tired. Wish they still made that ratio.