What's the deal on fly reels?

[Bryon Anderson 0]

As one of those who recommended to the OP that he go with die-cast and/or click-pawl reels, speaking strictly for myself, that was as much in deference to the fact that he clearly stated that he was on a limited fixed income as it was to the type of fishing he said he was going to be doing.

[FlaFly 0]

I have no experience to discuss die-castness or not, but I have stuck with old reels like the Medalist and avoided getting anything new because as far as I can see, ALL of the new reels have a spool that only attaches to the rest of the reel on one side, instead of being contained inside a frame on all sides. I understand the use of the palm ring but that is useless to me. Somebody convince me as to why I'm wrong. The Okuma Cascade that Jack posted above is cheap enough to tempt me to give it a try.

[Dave G. 0]

Fluoro can and does break.

 

In my experience, it's typically been more abrasion resistant than mono, but also more prone to failure due to abrasion (meaning that it'll shrug off abrasion that'd chew up a mono tippet, but the mono can absorb that damage and still maintain a good bit of it's integrity, where a fluoro of similar diameter will take more punishment, but once you do start to get significant wear, it's performance drops off sharply).

 

#18 dry fly hooks are very fine wire. At that size, I'd imagine it's a simple matter of the break strength of the tippet (the actual, not the listed) being greater than the energy required to deform a fine wire. It's not magic, just plain and simple physics.

 

That being said, I tend to use fluoro where I feel it will benefit me compared to mono, mostly in clear water subsurface presentations. It's more dense than mono so it tends to sink more readily than mono, and once underwater, it's much closer to "invisible" than a comparable diameter of mono. It's also got better tensile strength at a given diameter, which may let you get away with using lighter tippet (though you still need to be able to turn over your rig). Ultimately, it's not an either/or situation for me...I use mono because it's cheaper and just as good for most fishing situations, but in the situations where the advantages of fluoro become a factor, I switch to it without hesitation.

What you're saying has pretty much been my impression as well. I do find it surprising that the hook got straightened, pretty sure my Climax Mono would have broken in that same condition. But too, I was using the guides rig, had I had one of my own 5 wt rods on I might have known the feel of the fish a bit better. This thing looked like an 8 wt, I didn't ask just fished it but too much rod for what we were doing IMO. Then again, the fish did come out of his pocket and right into faster water below him, it was right on the edge of spillage into the next pool and he ran right into it so something was probably going to give anyway since there also was a bridge right there and couldn't drift either.. It is what it is.

[mikechell 0]

 

There is no disadvantage to having a good reel. (1)

 

Here is Gary Borger chasing a trout downstream when we fished the Madison together in 2012. Gary landed the fish 700 yards downstream from where he hooked it well below the green roofed home you see on the far bank. In this photo he is already over 100 yards below where he hooked the fish. (2)

Gary uses a disk drag reel. Could he have landed the fish with a cheapo click pawl? Maybe. But he did land it with a quality disk drag reel with a low start inertal and a smooth drag. (3)

 

Silver ... you know I don't usually argue with you. You've always been an inspiration on this site, for me. However ...

 

(1) There is a disadvantage if buying that reel means not paying something else that is essential. This has been discussed before, but it needs to be addressed often. You can enjoy the sport of fly fishing with sub $100 combos and sub $50 reels. And you can catch even large fish on them.

 

(2) Case in point ... I read his blog article. I don't accept that as a reference FOR a high priced reel. If he'd lost that fish, he could've boasted all along that, "There's a huge fish in there !!! I had it on, but it broke off!!"

Instead, all his fighting, and running and the whole story boiled down to a foul hook fish that wasn't even a noteworthy size.

 

(3) Since he was so far into the backing while wading for the shore, I am thinking it didn't matter what kind of drag he'd have. He had it set so light that it probably was equal to a $15 dollar plastic click pawl reel.

 

Sorry, but his story and your picture don't match. He's standing on the shore when you take the picture where you claim, "... he hooked the fish in his story." But in the story, he had a 25 foot wade to GET to the bank. Some discrepancy there.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

FlaFly, I wouldn't say you're wrong--there is no right or wrong on this issue that I can see--but I think the reason why the modern type fly reel that you described, with the spool enclosed by the frame on only one side, has stuck around is because they seem to work okay, they're lighter, and they do offer the option of palming the reel. Not trying to be a smartass at all, just my thought on your question.

[Cold 0]

 

 

(1) There is a disadvantage if buying that reel means not paying something else that is essential. This has been discussed before, but it needs to be addressed often. You can enjoy the sport of fly fishing with sub $100 combos and sub $50 reels. And you can catch even large fish on them.

That's sort of a nonsense counterpoint to what he's saying, though.

 

By that rationale, the *only* viable option is to never buy a reel. Just keep your line coiled up in an empty butter container and hand line every fish. Ultimately, big picture, the only course of action that would be beyond that criticism is to just not fish at all unless you're fishing for food to support a subsistence living condition (and at that point, angling is a needless waste of time resources, and you're better served by using fish traps or poisoning them), because the act of sport fishing itself is non-essential.

 

If you want to argue in favor of the absolute cheapest reel you can find, that's fine, but basing that justification on opportunity cost and non-essential luxury isn't the way to do it, since a sport fishing reel (any sport fishing reel) is, by the basic definition, a luxury item...so if you're going to criticize an alternative for being a non-essential luxury expense, your own alternative should not suffer from the same flaw.

 

Simply put, unless you're suggesting a totally free reel alternative, an argument that a reel costs money that could be spent on something else simply doesn't hold water.

[Dave G. 0]

I'm not into debunking anyone's story. I will say that there is equipment available for just about anyone's budget these days and some of the lesser expensive stuff is probably better than what I started out with LOL ( in fact I know it is but that's a story in itself ). On the topic of reels specifically, someone can get a very decent fresh water disk drag reel today for $40-$50, if it happens to be on sale then all the better ! I saw one at the cabela's site this morning for $38, regularly $50 if I read it right.

 

I also keep going back to Okuma as an option. I own several Okuma reels ( not fly) and they work well, are durable and so far have lasted me 10 years in the capacity they fill.

[FlaFly 0]

Cold... a lot of people NEED a car to get to work, but that doesn't mean they can or should buy a Ferrari.

[Cold 0]

Cold... a lot of people NEED a car to get to work, but that doesn't mean they can or should buy a Ferrari.

Absolutely, but that's again a misrepresentation of the situation. Silvercreek isn't saying you should buy an $800 reel or nothing at all.

 

A more appropriate vehicle analogy would be like suggesting that someone who lives in an area that is prone to getting heavy snowfall and lives on a dirt road should consider getting an SUV or other vehicle with 4WD or AWD. Is it possible to make your commute every day in a Smart car or Mini? The vast majority of the time it probably is, but to argue that it's unreasonable to recommend an SUV for a person in that situation because it isn't an absolute necessity seems a little disingenuous.

[FlaFly 0]

OOOOOOH! out come the claws!

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

I have one word for you all.....Tenkara

[Cold 0]

OOOOOOH! out come the claws!

Oooo-kay?

 

Just pointing out an analogy that more accurately represents the discussion, didn't mean to upset you.

[josephcsylvia 0]

The question the original poster should answer since he's not new to fly fishing is how often does a fish get him on the reel? If the answer is almost never yhan any reel will be more than adequate. Now if he catches a bunch of carp and he's on the real every trip I'd suggest stepping up a little and get something with a decent drag.

[Dave G. 0]

The question the original poster should answer since he's not new to fly fishing is how often does a fish get him on the reel? If the answer is almost never yhan any reel will be more than adequate. Now if he catches a bunch of carp and he's on the real every trip I'd suggest stepping up a little and get something with a decent drag.

Last I knew he was headed to Cabela's, He liked the sound of something back a page or two ago.

[josephcsylvia 0]

I must have missed that, wonder what he bought.