Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Fly reels

When I learned to fly fish from my dad over 60 years ago, he told me the reel had no function but to store line.
Later as an Orvis store owner, and avid fly fisher, I ran into a lot of people who insisted on having very expensing reels.
I used Hardy’s & Orvis reels for many years. 5 years ago, I noticed a Hardy reel on one of my rods was getting ratty looking, corroded, and beat up. Though it still worked.
I’d seen a lot of cheap, but machined and nice looking reels for a while & decided, what the heck for 40 bucks and bought a Chinese Piscifun reel. That thing was/is as good and smooth as any reel I’ve ever used. Still is and I have them on several of my rods now. They all work fantastic. Light smooth & flawless.
I put that beat up old Hardy on eBay and it brought enough to buy 6 of those reels.
Is this blaspheme? 🙄

For the large majority of trout fishing, a reel is indeed just a line holder and often nothing more. Most trout fishing doesn't require any drag. Most of my trout reels are click/pawl style Abel TRs or Ross Colorados. I have a couple disc drag trout reels on my streamer rods where I have a better chance of tangling into a fish that may need drag, but largely not needed. Click/pawl reels also sound the best to me.

In the salt, a reel is often more important than the rod. Having a quality drag to stop hot running fish is important. Sealed drags seem common, but the gold standard is the old draw bar cork style drags ala Abel, Tibor, etc.

Nope its not. Its up to everyone what they want to fish with or what they are happy with. Just like with rifles and scopes. Some guys arent happy unless they are shooting a top of the line setup for $3500. Other guys are happy as a pig in the mud with a $500 setup. Everyone has different things that satisfy them. Whatever I spend I want to be satisfied with the money spent. Tight lines…

There are alot of low cost serviceable reels on the market. I have 4 ross gunnison on my 4 5 and 6 weight trout rods. I recently bought a hardy salmon 1 for my athos 6/7 switch rod for 80 bucks from FFO in spirit lake. Bought a medalist 7/8 bar stock for 30 bucks including a serviceable 8 weight line and backing

I have more piscifun reels than any other, to include TFO BVKs and Reddings. They are beautifully machined and work fine for my fishing. They have sealed drags and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them on big fish. I have them from 5-10weights.
They are a little heavier than other reels but for the price difference I can deal with it.

Blasphemous? No. They're just reels and your father wasn't wrong about trout reels.

That being said, I work really hard at buying my hunting and fishing (and woodworking etc) stuff that is built in the US or at least friendly countries.

I've never asked but I wonder if Hardy would have rebuilt that reel for a modest cost?

I was in our local fly shop recently. Owner was telling someone who wants to get into fly fishing he needs to drop at least $150 on a decent real. My late stepdad who taught me to fly fish used nothing but a Pflueger reel. He caught a lot of fish in his time.

To each there own as long as you enjoy it. Keep a tight line.

I might add I bought the gunnison on ebay. Look like new for less than 100 bucks.

Bought on ebay a Shakespeare automatic years ago that was new in the box, even had line on ii.....for $25 bucks. Made like the Martins that go back to the 50's I believe. Use it for bream fishing local ponds with poppers, crickets, etc. Smooth, quite, and perfect for way I use it.

https://i.postimg.cc/15bgkMmY/A1-B6-AC36-DF81-426-C-9630-4-C66-A9956481.jpg

I’m also a buy American guy too, all things being even close to equal. It’s getting tougher though.

Ah, the old automatic reels. Dad loved those things. They did balance those old heavy glass rods. And fishing in places where your line was often tangled in weeds, they were nice.

Are any fly reels even made in the US anymore?

I think one or two is assemble here with Korean or Chinese parts.

Abel, Aspen, Nautilus, Tibor, Ross, Galvan, Lamson but in a lot of cases it's only the high end ones that are and I suspect that you're often right about the parts and they are really just assembled here.

I had an Orvis CFO-III break a decade or so ago and sent it back to them. They replaced it and I was shocked to find a made in China sticker on it when the new reel returned. I contacted the fly-shop to express my dismay. The manager was apologetic and said he understood and they sent me one of their limited edition English made one's on the original design. Looking at the Orvis site now I see "made in USA" engraved on the CFO-III so perhaps a change occurred.

It probably depends on what you fish.

My fly fishing is 100% steelhead and browns on Great Lakes tributaries. I need a drag for those steelhead so a reel has some value beyond holding line for me.

I happen to like the Lamson Konic series for such work.

Keep in mind I am at very best a novice to fly fishing but I recently went to Cherokee with some coworkers who are far more experienced with fly fishing than I. I have a maximumcatch (which is the same thing as the piscifun) and one of my coworkers had an orvis battenkill. I used his for a little while because I wanted to see what the difference would be and I honestly didnt notice hardly any difference.

Of course like anything else on this site, pride of ownership does play a role. As far as function goes, I think any reel can get the job done to some degree, but you arent going to wow anybody with the amazon reels.

Yep, as an Orvis store owner, I loved the fly fishing snobs who wouldn’t be caught in a stream with anything less than a Hardy or Orvis high end reel on a high end Winston or Orvis rod. Those guys paid the rent. 😂

As for drags, I’ve rarely used them and I fish salt water and bass here in FL. But the few times I’ve used one, the piscifun drag worked fine.
Tarpon and long fast running redfish put a bunch of stress on a drag, and they worked as good as any high end reel I ever used.

Yes to all of the above. The only fly reels I have ever been disappointed in were the Scientific Angler SA 2 series. Bought two of them in 7-8 size with two spare spools for my first Alaska salmon trip for silvers in the 90's. The drags on those reels were like a disc brake, with cork pads clamped on either side of the disc. Worked really well when dry. If you got them wet, Katie bar the door--they would grab and slip and grab again. Luckily, I was fishing a 10 lb tippet so the grab didnt matter much. The slip was bad, however, and more than once I had to try to palm the rim to slow the fish down. Still have them--never fished them again, but would feel bad about selling them to someone who didnt know their faults.

I’ve got an old Ross Gunnison I bought out of the Sidney, Nebraska Cabela’s Bargain Cave about 25 years ago. Think I paid $40 bucks.
Use it mostly for Bass fishing. It’s been one tough SOB.

For Rainbows and Browns in CO & NM I prefer the Ross Evolution series on most of my Sage Fly Rods

Piscifun, working in Alaska, last summer..

Buy one that balances your rod! and check for warranty.

I like to fish with the old stuff, or gear built like the old stuff. That means, to me a small pile of Hardy reels (the newest one being 40 years old now) to go on the vintage bamboo (and some new bamboo). Even when I took to the stream recently with a delightful 2-wt graphite travel rod that a good friend gifted me, it wore a 60 year old Hardy reel.

Is that snobbish, no because I gain comfort in using them and can't care what other people think. Not being a man of means, I have often "gone without" so as to afford such tackle. (Don't even get me started on the guns in my life.) When I bought my Hardy Perfect back in the 80's, I couldn't afford it but I bought it anyway. Since then I've used it hard, a lot, and it's as good as the day it was made. Aside from it now being worth more than I paid for it, after countless hours on the water, it's a prime example of getting what you pay for. Quality lasts.

Sorry, but I avoid knowingly buying anything made in China. I don't care if it's the best thing ever and comes with a cute Chinese hooker to tie my flies.

I would be interested in any reel that had that feature

Put me on that list as well. 😎👍🏼

Buying American is nice when it works, but it’s very tough. I bought a Dodge truck to stay American, opened the hood & it said “made in Mexico”. Had to buy a Toyota to get an American truck 😂

Another reel I have on my light saltwater rod that impresses me is an Okuma. I think this one was made in Korea, but I think they can be made in several countries. Not fancy finish, but very smooth and smooth drag.

All sorts of good stuff available. It doesn’t have to be expensive to work, a reel only holds the line and it doesn’t take much to do that.

As far as drag goes, you really don’t need it on trout rivers. Applying pressure on the fish with the rod and guides, will give you most of the drag you will need.

Abel makes a fantastic click pawl l reel, although they’re expensive.

Agreed. I’ve fished from s. FL to Alaska for many years & can count the times I’ve needed a drag on my fingers. On tarpon & redfish & once a big bass.
I want a reel to be light, smooth & look good. And there are tons of reels meeting those specs for good prices.

I might at the very least try one once……LOL.

If one wants to put a complicated reel to a true test, take it out steelheading on an icy 15° morning. Lots of drag systems totally lock up if any moisture works its way in.

Or tarpon fishing. A fight can last over an hour, and salt water does funny things to equipment.

I use Tibors down here in the saltwater but If I ever got into trout I wouldn't need anything like those. I bought quite a few of them when I was setting up back in 2003-2006. Still using them and they will likely last me my lifetime unless I run over one with my truck. Redfish , snook ,Tarpon and big Jacks will test your reel but seatrout aren't bad. Bluefish down here are smaller. I dont get into many Bonita where I am at.
Biggest detriment to your equipment here is the salt , sun and ceiling fans……

For big fish I have a Fin Nor that was my Grandfathers. He used it up in Alaska for Kings and I've used it for Stripers a couple times but doubt unless I go to Alaska again I have much use for it.

Hatch reels. Made in Vista, CA. Never had a issue while using them.

A nice fly reel is kind of like engraving on a shotgun. It doesn't do much functionally but sure is nice to look at.

yep. I have 2 lamsons over 20 years old I fish a lot in salt water

A lot of reel for the money

Nice drag on a fly reel isn't necessary, until it is.

Lots of lightly used reels like Ross and Galvan still perform at a much lower price point.

Yes, a line holder for our typical trout. When things get up to a dozen lbs or so in big rivers, a drag can come into play.

Down side: A wet drag in freezing temps may lock up and the big one gets away.

A huge number of posters here have fished with my gear here in AK... We need drags.

Sealed drags are absolutely needed in salt... a real good idea everywhere.

Very few upper end reels are not to be found in my kit. Riley thought it was child abuse to be forced to fish with a Hardy reel. Too loud, tough on knuckles, and uncool

Ross, including the newest are jokes, IME&O. Burned out drags on the first run on a lightly used reel.

TFO has been a huge, positive surprise. The BVK series (four examples) has been beaten brutally and came out grinning.

Sage, SA, some Hardy are good.

Lamson reels use the same drag, top to bottom models, and they work!

Bauer is a proven reel, period! Hatch is also a solid choice.

And then there was Lee Wulff who cast a fly to, and boated, a game fish (Marlin I think) - without a reel, or a rod. Silenced a lot of sceptics.

I agree...buy the one that balances your rod. I've rarely picked up someone's rod that was balanced properly, with the reel usually being too light. I fish mostly 5-7 wt rods with Ross Gunnisons on them, and typically use a G-4 on the 6 and 7 weights for balance, not line capacity. The 5 weights have G-3 reels. I've been happy with the drag on Gunnison reels and they are used regularly where I fish, with browns and rainbows into the 20 inch plus range on a meadow stream with lots of willows where they can run and disappear if they aren't slowed down. Tippets are in the 1-3x fluoro range depending on fly size.

As usual, it has now frozen over until April.

I like collecting orvis, hardy and older reels but never thought for trout fishing it was all that important.still have the Pluger and martin reels from 50 years ago when I started and yes they still work fine.

Have to agree with others that fishing for a smaller fish a drag is not needed but. Catching something over 10lbs you really need that drag unless you just want to play tug of war.

I got Martins, Bronson, Plueger, as well, had some for 60 years, (american made) still working K's of trout later.I also have expensive reels , as well as a cheap chinese reel , for trout fishing it just don't matter.

I use a Lamson 8-9 for saltwater in Arnhem Land, a cheap graphite or two for a 5-6 saltwater local estuary rod, a 1980s ABU magnesium and a Hardy Featherweight for a 4-5 freshwater. They serve me well.

My favorite Atlantic Salmon fly fishing reel is a Bogdan, made by hand by Stanley Bogdan himself. Considered as one of the best fly fishing reels in the world.

Second favorite is an Orvis Mach VI

KB

I started fly fishing in about 1980... with the Martin "outfit" from the local "got a little bit of everything" store. Cheap was an understatement... That reel (and subsequent replacements of the same contraption) was an adequate place to store line, but it would occasionally catch the fly line in the gap between the spool and the frame. Extremely irritating, and because of the damage to the fly line, and my pre-pubescent line to tippet tying skills, it sometimes looked like I had a green bird's nest as a strike indicator.

I've had several versions of "affordable" reels since, and the tolerances seem much better, but I must strip pretty hard, because I've eaten several plastic clickers in my casting experience. That's a factor that may make me lean towards the more expensive.

I've bought every single clockspring reel I've found at yard sales... for under $5, and I love those old things... although I did blow one out recently by getting a little too far out there without relieving the spring. (But I was WAY out there!) I have a dozen of them at least.

I'm not sure how it happened, they certainly didn't get it from me... but my two outdoorsie sons are hoidy toidy brand name brand name snobs! Not just in outdoor gear, but in many other things. They can't afford the $300 reels, but they are buying the 70-100 units. (I just scored a floor model off ebay for half price, just to rub it in on them!) But I must admit, they've got some gear that's a pleasure to play with!

My opinion... Cheap = $30-50 retail, and entirely adequate. Expensive... well, if I can get it for almost nothing to half its value from an estate sale... hey!

No yard sale left uncombed!

I have.a St Croix Pro-Graphite flyrod (8.5 foot, 6-7 wt, 2-piece) with a USA-made Pflueger 1495 Medalist as my smallmouth rig.

I sometimes think about "moving up" from my bought-used $10 reel, but then I ask, " Why? What hasn't it done that I have asked it to do? ". Ok, it's not the lightest but it keeps on going. I even bought an external rim spool for it 20 years ago to palm drag- if needed. A determined 3 lb+ smallie will take out some line with it. The original factory drag system has helped (and worked just fine) on many runs for over 25 years.. (tidbit: my most effective smallmouth fly/streamer? White /Polar Muddler Minnor)

All in all, my 1495 Medalistis like the Energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going, and doing its job.

I might try a newer reel if my 1495 Medalist ever wears out...in 30+ years???

Just bought a TFO NXT Black Label 1 reel for the 7 1/2 ft 3 wt cheesy got me for Chrismas. The more I think about it the more I think I'll play musical chairs with my old St Croix Imperial 4 wt. It has carried a small spool Cabelas Drake 1 reel for the 20 years I've had it and I'm thinking the NXT would be a better fit on that rod. It's doubtful the little 3 wt will need the drag used much if at all since it will be used for local panfish and hopefully western small stream trout.

Some good points

Thanks for posting that ^^^.

Nice to hear his thoughts, without a sales pitch.

I like high end equipment as well, and if I had an extra $5G's laying around, I'd have a Bogdan! Bogdan died several years ago and his son took over the business. Quite a few years ago, there was an awesome sporting goods company called Hunter's Supply. I believe they were in New York. I placed an order, hoping they could fill it in a year or 2. It never happened and I cancelled my order a few years later, just before they started shipping! I believe, at the time, they were like $695. Which was a lot of money at the time.

Here is my big reel that I fish Steelhead and Salmon with. The same company that makes the high quality Regal Vises! These were originally sold through T&T, and used both names on them...





Quite rare today!

Here's what I catch the smaller stuff on...





Then, for you Hardy fans...



And then the minnows on these...







Hope I didn't bore anyone!

Thanx,
Robert

Spring creek/lake trout rods a good click an Pawl is plenty.

Been looking for an old style ross colorado 0 for a couple years

Really cool ol reels Dirty_Harry
Thanks for posting pics of them

My son considered being forced to fish a Hardy was child abuse... he grew to dislike the noise and the knuckle bangs! I have about 30-35 of them and kinda enjoy the noise.

Thank you, Suh!

For the conditions I fish, a click and pawl is often too much. I like the light weight but the drag is too much for the 1#, sometimes even too much for 2#, tippet I wind up using in late summer. I haven't found a good, comparably light friction drag reel though.

Bray I originally used Okuma fly reels for bone fishing. The finish flakes off and the magnesium reel started corroding. The reel seat is attached by screws into the magnesium body. The screws stripped out unless you remove the screws before using them and Locktite the screws. That is why I switched to TFO. According to Dick Brown in "Fly Fishing for Bonefish" page 202 he favors draw-bar cork drags over synthetic drags. I agree but just remember to back off the the drag when storing the TFO reels.

Just received a TFO BVK SD III reel. It is machined exceptionally well. Sealed drag that seems very smooth. Hope to use it on salmon soon in Alaska.
I'll give both this reel and my Ross a workout then render an opinion.

Extraordinary.

Overall, good advice here ^^^

The TFO BVK reels are the steal of the day right now with a great drag with good startup characteristics.

The Sage Spectrum series is too light on drag to be considered viable, IMHO; the new Enforcer is OK.

Never had any problems with the better Ross reels with salmon or steelhead................CLA's, Gunnison's & Momentums; haven't tried any of their new, current stuff, so maybe they are lacking.

Add Galvan to the list of great reels, especially the Torque series; Lamson is also very good for the money & better than it should be.

Bauer & Hatch are solid as is Nautilus , Tibor & Abel if you can afford them............best real I've ever had was an Abel, 2nd best a Tibor.

Talking about Bogdan is a flat out joke as a practical matter.............next to laughable, really.

A good drag on big fish is just a must if you really intend to land fish.

MM

Me too!

Start with Lamson...

TFO is S Korean made in a factory owned and operated by TFO.

Bauer is 100% USA made.

Ross is made in Colorado.

Sage is made in S Korea and I have heard TFO now makes them. They have been sourced from several countries over the years. I was not able to find the source in a quick search. Lots of non-Chinese reel choices out there.

I use the cheap bass pro shops one White river I believe they are called to total satisfaction , I do have an old Shakespeare on one rod , because it was my dad's not because of any greatness of the the real. Small stream trout rarely require a reel that is the "Best"

That's far from the case with most big game fish....................you really do need a reliable & smooth drag.

If not, you're going to likely lose a lot of fish because of it & I don't want even hear about palming the reel................might work, now & again, but that will also cost you fish over time compared to a reel with a good drag.

MM

I dunno man…. From first hand experience, let me tell you





































Those young Chinese gals have some darn good hand-eye coordination.

Of course you realize that "Made In America" & "Made In USA" signifies only that the final assembly took place here.

Bought a cheap 99 dollar combo from bass pro about 10 years ago. It's a 2 piece 7 foot dogwood canyon. I have literally casted a million flies with that rod/reel. Great little rig. Bought my 10 year old boy one last week. A 3/4 reel and a 4 piece 7.5 foot rod. Quality has only went up. Love orvis stuff, but for a good, reliable, and packable rod if hiking is needed, check out dog wood canyon stuff.

This is gospel but for trout not,put your money in the rod

While not to exotic in the last year I've bought 2 Pflueger Medalist 1494's a DA and a CJ the DA has backing and a flyline 7 maybe a 8 wt. From Ebay you would think they are gold plated but I got 30 bucks in both of them. Got to get them out. Mb

Decided to get a new reel today. Wanted to give a new brand
(to me) a try. It's a Zero made by Redington. Big ol sticker on it says made in Korea. Thought it was a pretty slick setup. I mean after backing and line your at 175 bucks probably. Anyways, waded for about 5 hours today and caught a few here and there and I'll tell ya, I'm impressed with this reel. It does not have a drag feature, which the small brownies under 15 inches I really don't think require it. Anyways, if your gonna go for a new reel, these aren't a bad 100 dollar deal.