Reels

[Zach Matthews]

Hey guys –

I am currently researching my next products article for American Angler, which will run in the May issue – it is on reels.

[scot]

zach,

[malcolm robertson]

1.

[Joel Thompson]

I use only Ross reels. No other reason than that was the reel I went with when I decided to get serious about fly fishing. I never saw any reason to change since they are a great reel. As far as drag goes I believe the Ross’s I have are all radial pawl. My understanding of the different types of drag are vague at best.

I usually pay between $100-$200 for reels, but that is with a pro deal. If I was not getting that kind of deal I would probably try to stay in that range by picking something up used.

I always test my drag by feel. And since I upgraded to Ross reels I can’t recall breaking off a fish because the drag was too tight. The old junky reels I use to have didn’t have good drag systems and I broke fish off all the time. It has been so long since I have had those reels I can’t remembe what they were, but I gaurentee you that I probably only spent $25 on them. You get what you pay for.

I am more on the traditional side. But if someone gave me something fancy I would use it!

Most of my stuff is dinged up and it doesn’t bother me at all. Nature of the game I guess. As long it doesn’t affect the proformance of the reel dings don’t matter much. I don’t think I would pay the extra cash for a the harder stuff.

Cork or synthetic….hmmm….good question! I guess I will look forward to seeing that one answered in your article! 🙂

Moosedog

[massbass]

I use click pawl for 5wt and lower

I use draw bar for everything 6wt and above.

[david king]

I use the Abel Click and Pawl Creek reel on my 4 and 6 weight rods they balance well and pick up line fast and are very attractive and simple to use. I have some Sage reels for 5 weight and lighter rods they are click and pawl also. For my 8 weight I went with the Lamson Hard Allox Litespeed its some kind of sealed disc I believe. I would of loved to put a Tibor reel on but they just are way to expensive for me considering how much I will probably use the 8 weight. The thing I really like About my Abel reels is the simplicity and ease of use. If you want to change a spool you just press the lever or button and it comes off easy. The other reels use a O ring and the spool pops off which can be kind of abrupt.
I’ve got over 200 bucks in each reel but a didn’t buy but 2 of them retail. The rest came via ebay.

As far as nicks and dings go they bug me! thats probably because I am a advertising photographer and I can spot a scratch or piece of dust or hair out of place at 50 paces.
I have seen some older reel like Hardy Perfects they have a gorgeous patina from many years of use that is beautiful, kind of like old guns. I wonder if modern gear will age as well.
I love the sound of a outgoing click drag! I set drag by feel, just enough to keep the spool from backlashing. I like modern and classic reels good design is timeless.

[Billy Belsom]

OK, here goes:

1)

[Ian Crabtree]

I’d say my responses to these questions would be pretty predictable, but I’ll do it anyway.

1) For trout I’m not really too concerned with the reel, so long as it stores the line and a reasonable amount of backing. If I were fishing for big trout on 5 and 6 weights I’d go for something like the Tibor Freestone (which they discontinued – sad…).
I doubt many trout fishermen would like having a heavy reel on their trout rod. Sort of like your question last year to Taylor about having that Tibor Backcountry on his trout rod. I’ve fished with enough heavy reels that I don’t mind the extra weight. I don’t expect many would feel the same way though.
For 6 weights and up I use draw-bars, but not for any particular reason other than I like the reels that use them.

2) Buy it once and be done with it. I’m not going to play the upgrade game for the rest of my life on reels. So I’ll pay the up-front cost to cover a reel that will last. You get what you pay for.

3) All by feel. I’ve never had a break off that was related to the drag pressure, but I’ve seen it happen with clients who changed it during the fight. I’m not sure how you would go about setting the drag to a specific level of resistance. This is even further complicated by decreasing diameter and increased resistance as line goes out.

4) I was surprised when you called the Tibor and Abels traditional, as I’d never thought of them as such, but in comparison with Lamson, Ross, and Nautilus, traditional is probably an accurate description of Tibors and Abels. Call me a traditionalist I suppose, although I’ll go with large arbor every time.

5) It’s a piece of equipment, it’s going to be scratched and dinged, I’ve accepted that. I’m not too interested in a more durable coating, especially if it adds to the cost.
I know Taylor bought his Rhythm instead of an Evolution because he was worried about bending the frame of the evolution if he fell, making it unusable. I hadn’t thought about this until he mentioned it, but it’s a good point in highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of the weight of a reel.

6) For the average person I’d recommend synthetic because they’re zero maintenance, and there’s no worry about compressing the cork by leaving the drag tightened down. I prefer cork, but I don’t mind the care required.

If I were to add some questions to your list:

1) How important is the weight of the reel?
2) How important are maintenance requirements?
3) How important is drag range on the reel?
4) Does the reel need to be saltwater safe? Even in lower line weights?

[upstream]

On the questions posed:
1) This may be the first time I’ve seen the terms “gear-driven-disc” vs. “bar-draw-disc.”

[Zach Matthews]

These are all extremely helpful comments — more than you guys probably realize — and I want to thank you all very much.

Zach

[anonymous]

1) I have and use all three types. Use gear driven the most. Prefer the sealed bearing clutch type for smoothness. Is the last what you mean by draw-bar?

2) Most about $200 retail. $100 reels have not proved to be reliable enough for my guide use.

3) I usually set the drag for my customers unless they are fairly experienced. Less than a pound. Clients have broken off large fish on too tight a drag.

4) Appearance is not a critical as drag design and machined tolerances. Use more traditional reel designs but try something new every now and then. SA large arbor, Orvis large arbor, Galvan OBs.

5) Rarely but still hurts when it happens. I prefer the darker satin finishes. I expect durable finishes according to the price.

6) cork or synthetic? I would not hesitate to use Able or Bauer except for the cost factor. Older, cheaper cork or rulon disc drags I steer clear of. Would have a couple of 8-10 weight Van Staals if they ever get into serious production, Zebco didn’t downgrade the product, and I could afford them.

My .02
Scott

[grant schofield]

I only use one reel at this point, but I have never had the chance to play in the salt. I get away with one reel because I use a Waterworks ULA Force 2LT/2xLT and can move in between my 4wt and 6wt very easily with just a spool. I will be purchasing something quite soon for a 2/3wt I plan to build, but I haven’t decided what is going to be the best reel for that setup at this point.

1) Drag doesn’t seem to matter in most of my fishing situations, but I have had a few nice bass take a 30 or 40ft run on me and I was glad it was there. It seems like any of the drag systems is appropriate for my fishing situations, but I must say I like the conical drag on the Waterworks when compared to my older click and pawl reel. The Waterworks is just as smooth feeling as any click and pawl reel unlike some disc drag reels I have toyed with.

2) I will fully admit to buying much more reel in my Waterworks than I probably need. Lets just say I got a hell of a deal on it and when you combine it with the fact I can change spools and move between a 4/5 or a 5/6 setup its almost like having 2 reels in once.

[Jack Cummings]

1) First, what type of reels do you use for most of your fishing?  The best way to characterize these is by drag type, so available answers are click-and-pawl, gear-driven-disc, and draw-bar disc?  As a sub-question, do you think you have a good grasp of what those terms mean (subjectively)?

I use all sorts of reels but mainly click & pawl for the light stuff and a variety pack for the heavier weight rods. Having done a bit of salt water fishing, I can’t really say I could tell a rat’s behind in difference between how the conical drag of the Lamsons, the draw bar of the Bauers or the other type from Ross behaved. They all performed well.

2) Second, what price range are most of your reels in?  

$50.00 for my most-used composite CompOReel super large arbor line holders to a priceless (to me) Charlton trout reel.

3) Do you try to keep a particular pound test drag setting, or do you simply set the drag where it “feels right?”  Have you ever broken off a fish due to having it come tight against a reel that was set too tight?

I set the drag using the seat-of-the-pants method! I always tend towards the too light setting which, when you introduce the parasitic drag of the line through the guides and water seems about right. If needed, further tweaking is just a knob twist away.

4) Do you find yourself drawn to the more creative reel designs like the Lamson/Waterworks and Nautilus reels, or are you more likely to spend money on a more traditional Orvis Battenkill/Abel/Tibor?

My reel collection looks like an orphanage though I must say when the Litespeed reels first came out I returned it strictly due to the Peterbilt hub cap look. It later grew on me and I’ve since bought and used another.

5) How often do you ding your reels and how important is it to you that they remain un-dinged?  Several new reels are using an anodization process called “hard anodizing” or Type III that makes a much tougher surface on the reel than the old Type II, which was closer to paint.  Would you pay a premium for the harder coating?  What if it meant you could only have shades of gray or black?

My Charlton has the tough coating. Though I use it a lot and bought it well before SA/3M owned them, I’ve yet to see even a nick on it and it’s use is mainly in the boulder strewn mountains of NC.
As for the older Hardy and Orvis click & pawls I use, each ding brings a smile.
As for paying a premium, I don’t really think so. I consider them tools.

6) Last, based on your subjective knowledge of the market, which is better: cork or synthetic?

The only reel I had to return to the manufacturer was because the cork delaminated from the frame. I would have to say I like synthetics better, they need less maintenance.

Though I appreciate tradition and use traditional reels frequently, I’m not locked into it. What I’m waiting for is some enterprising company to come out with a woven graphite reel using technology like the OCLV stuff that Trek uses on their ultralight bicycle frames.
I’ll take one in a certain green color to match a certain reel seat, thanks!  😉

[mike b.]

My workhorse reels are two Ross Cimarrons with a spare spool for each.

[steve154]

Zach, Don’t forget the sealed clutch/synthetic disc reels that are so popular today. With the caliper disk drag going the way of the DoDo, I think you can bust it all down to 4 general classes of drag. I would have click and pawl, offset gear driven disk, draw bar disk and in-line sealed synthetic disk/clutch drags.

I have always really liked draw bar cork drags and have three of them. Cork is smooth, powerful and proven durable. Steve Abel said that if he could find a better drag material he would be using it. With that said, I am really starting to like some of the sealed synthetic disc reels. I have several that fall into this category, the best being my Danielsson LW. Flawless drag and just as smooth as any cork. How it will hold up is another question that only time and use on big fish will answer. I know my cork drag reels will be around for my kids to have some day. Cork is still king.

I really enjoy my reels and like to keep them ding and scratch free. I long ago developed the habit of putting my hat down and laying the reel on it whenever I need to put the reel on the ground. I would pay for a more durable finish. I am still waiting for a Glock reel finish.

Steve

[Carter Simcoe]

Zach, Don’t forget the sealed clutch/synthetic disc reels that are so popular today.

Steve, I’ve been talking to Zach about this via PM.

[lestrout]

Zach – even with all the fine input from the last 2 days, can I assume you are still exploring and widening the scope of your investigation, prior to hunkering down and producing a manageable article?

If so, here are a few ponderables:

– extra spools vs another reel, when buying another line;

[anonymous]

Reels-

Redington AS/AL series from 5/6 to 13/14 (for the Spey stuff). Disc. Simple straight ahead well built machined from stockreels

4 reel bodies

[Zach Matthews]

Les, Carter –

Part of what I am doing by asking you guys these questions is determining what further questions I need to ask.

[Carter Simcoe]

No don’t worry, I know your just getting started on this and are trying to figure out the lay of the land.

[Author]

Posts