Favorite Reels

[Gene L 0]

My favorite reel is the Orvis CFO III.  Second is the Battenkill 5/6 click pawl.  I've found both of these reels work well and aren't prohibitively expensive.  Yes, I have other reels.  My other favorites are Hardy JLH.  Can't beat a Hardy with the noisy drag.  I re recently sold a Teton 3.  What are your favorites?

[niveker 0]

The old Pflueger Medalists are just about all I use 1492, 1494, 1495, 1498. Though I'm on the lookout for an old LL Bean branded Ster-Line click pawl reel for an old Double L bamboo rod I have. 

[MuskyFlyGuy 0]

Niveker,

I am with you. Half of my reels are Medialists. They are over 40 years old and still work great. 

[Gene L 0]

I like Pfluegers  too.  They're sturdy and timeless.  I don't use mine very often, maybe I should sell them to someone who would use them more often.

[gadabout 0]

The Orvis CFO III  is my hands down favorite.  I also have an affection for Pflueger Medalists and their Orvis equivalent.  When I’m slumming it, the Martin MC56 is a nice little reel that works well, as long as you don’t abuse it.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Best reel I ever owned in my life was a Galvan. It was the T8. Smoothest real I have ever used. I really wish I never sold that reel years 😔

[flytire 0]

close to 40 years with ross gunnison

[Gene L 0]

You ever wonder why most earlier reels were RH retrieve?  When I started (or attempted) to fly fish, the reel was RHW.  Cheap reel.  Then later to Medalists, which are RH but transferable to LH.  I cast RH and reel RH as God intended so maybe the old time anglers were on to something. 

[johnnyquahog 0]

Don’t know how l never acquired a CFO but I’ve been fortunate enough to have owned a drawer full of favorites including - In 1982 l bought a new 3 3/8ths Hardy Perfect to commemorate the birth of my son. In 89 I picked up a Hardy featherweight for the birth of my daughter.  I learned that you could just pick up the phone and call a fly/tackle shop in the UK, skipping Hardy USA markup, subtract 15% VAT and save a bundle of money. (Got a few xtra spools for the perfect, another Hardy and a Wheatley box.) Have a few 1492, 1494s & 1495.5.  One has been tricked out by the late one-Pfoot guys.  The others have been modded with the one-Pfoot reel feet to better fit modern reel seats.  Oh, I also got a Hardy St George on a UK close out a few years ago that is still in the box. My prize is a bi-metal Kineya 301 loaded with a 4.5 wt synthetic silk line that matches a couple of bamboo rods that haven’t seen the water since moving away from trout rivers.

On the Saltwater side of the house my favorites are a cork disc drag Abel 3n, a danielsson (formerly Loop) medium/large arbor and a couple of Valentines (95 & 101 which look like pfluegers) and a Ross Canyon-4.

I totally agree with Stan Bogdan on trout reels.  Their main purpose is to simply hold the line to and from fishing locations.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

We were taught in the saltwater world - all those years ago, to use our strong hands for working big fish on fly (which pretty much meant reels with right hand drives...).  The illustration of that principle was simple - if handed a brand new large capacity reel and a bulk spool of backing - which hand would you prefer to do that chore, winding 200, 300 yards or more of backing onto that nice, new,  high end reel?    As the years passed and more and more fly anglers who started out in freshwater migrated over to the saltwater side of things - most of them had learned early on to use their "weak hand" for reel winding.  As a result came the rise and pretty much dominance of reels with left hand drives  - so those of us still preferring a right hand reel became the minority, mostly, and "old school " as well...   Early big game fly reels were often only offered in right hand drive models (mostly), like Fin Nor, Billy Pate, etc.  When manufacturing those reels early outfits made available kits that would allow an owner or shop to convert right hand to left hand drives - but that was followed by much better designs that were essentially ambi-dextrous - allowing a few simple adjustments that would allow anyone to convert from right to left or left to right without needing any additional parts at all... They're pretty much the rule today in every up-scale big game fly reel (as well as all of their smaller models.  Some manufacturers require an owner to send the reel to them for a conversion - but most simply need a few parts re-arranged to convert from one side to the other....

Me... as a fishing guide... long ago realized it would be very handy to have two reels for each rod size -one that winds right, the other winds left handed - and if I know in advance an angler's preference that's how the gear will be set up for that trip... Like I said - very handy (but if I ever quit guiding I'll have more than a few left handed reels to sell off...).

[DFoster 0]

As a traditionalist who still wears the Orvis cotton vest while casting winged wets with a bamboo rod to small wild trout.. For me it's my click and pawl Battenkill II and a close second is my Hardy Cascapedia.  Is there a better sound in the world than a fish running on a quality click and pawl?

[flyflinger 0]

Concur with Capt Bob, as a (retired) guide, I always had both left and right-handed retrieve reels available for clients.  The other discussion relates to whether each of us is more comfortable using our dominant hand for holding the rod or cranking the spool - folks may see that differently.  Also, the type of fishing may change preference - salt water power fights require very different techniques than fighting a small trout on a tiny stream.  

The subject of my "favorite" reel is a whole different rabbit hole to go down!  The first decision is whether you need or want a drag - for small fish, click and pawl has a nice organic feel, but my clients (and myself) needed a smooth drag (including startup) that was required to fight larger trout on a large western rivers, frequently with light tippets. 

I agree that the Orvis CFO is an outstanding reel.  However, I used the Battenkill Disc for guiding because it is a terrific reel, and (some) clients can do amazing damage to a reel (and the Battenkill was cheaper to repair/replace).  For freshwater I have used and loved many reels over the years: Orvis, Ross, Lamson, Abel, Redington, Sage, Hardy, etc. - my favorites being Orvis and Ross (when owned by Ross Hauck - the original San Miguel was just amazing when introduced).  

For saltwater, as Bob will attest, its a whole different game: bonefish, permit, tarpon et al require "strong and smooth".  I love the old Charlton, Billy Pate, and Fin Nor reels, and the Ross Big Game/Canyon are great.  I think my all around favorite for salt is the good ol' cork drag Abel with the offset foot adapter.  I've only "burned up" a few reels in my time, and they were all on salt water . . . and promptly repaired by the manufacturers.  

Regards,                      

[Mark Knapp 0]

Wow, we are back to RH or LH reel again, why?  My favorites have been Sages, But now it goes Tibor, Able then Sage.

[MfishP 0]

Have a Teton Tioga that has never been used 5 weight and an Abel also 5 weight and a J. Ryall 5 weight.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Years ago, when my fishing gear budget was very tight, I was turned on to some very nice, inexpensive reels that were manufactured in Korea and sold in the U.S. under the name "Elite". I had two -- the Deerfield, which was a sweet little featherweight click-and-pawl for my 3wt., and the Housatonic, which was slightly larger and had a simple disc drag. I still have both of them, although I only use the Deerfield - I liked it so much that I actually hunted high and low online and found two spare spools for it. 

Probably my all-time favorite reel is the original Ross Cimarron. At one time I had 3 or 4, all with extra spools. I have only one left now, and it's just as bomb-proof and reliable as the day I unboxed it almost 20 years ago. 

I also treated myself to a Lamson Litespeed in a sweet burnt orange color a couple of years ago. It falls into the category that I call "jewelry for fly rods"--that is, much prettier and more sophisticated than I need-- but it is a very nice reel that I intend to hang on to.