Hi Steve,
I have a Midge reel. It is my go-to reel for small rods. It is very light…so I usually storage it in my vest pocket… Several advantages and disvantages about it…
1) It is a very light reel with relative big spool diameter, this reel pick up line pretty fast. (this is the main character that attracted me…) I put a sage DT3 line on it without backing… (no room for backing…Zach know that :'() but for trout fishing, I never get fish into my backing… so it is ok…
2) This reel was designed about 20 years ago, it is very basic and simple mechanic… six wheels support the tapered spool… This open frame design make it become”easy dirty and easy maintain”. Bascially, you screwed tight the right arm with 3 wheels and the spool get more friction because of the tension… (please see Dannielson’s website for detail diagram). Also this is Not a “drag system”, they called it “overrun prevent”. If you like palmming, this is the reel need a lot of palmming…
3) The light weight might not balance your rod well… so you might want to try it first… to me, this is less important…because I like everything as light as possible in my hiking trip…
4) The open frame design will collect debris eventually and the debris or dust will scratch the spool…but it won’t influence the main funtion.
Overall, I love this reel… no problem in trout fishing, light weight and I really like the original designer’s simple idea. 😉 Sincerely, Mark
