ebay fly reels

[762x39 0]

Hey guys, I keep seeing these aluminum fly reels on ebay for around 20 to 40 bucks, no namers as far as I can tell.

 

Whats the story on these?

[tidewaterfly 0]

Asian made imports I believe, some perhaps even being produced by the same folks making them for name brand players. I've not bought any, but from the pic's, many appear to be similar to reels such as Okuma Integrity's or Albright's GP or GPX series. I own a couple of Integrity reels, and for the price cannot say anything negative about them. Whether or not those no name reels, given the selling prices are of at least similar quality who knows.

 

There's a couple of online retailers too (not on Ebay) that have reels that also look identical. Actually, there is a one reel that has a cool camo finish I liked the look of. However, I'm not in the market for a new reel right now, but if I was, I think I would give them a serious look based on the prices. For the fishing I do, I have little need for a high end, expensive reel, so would consider purchasing one of those reels.

 

If you have the need for a higher quality reel, then those are probably not something to consider. At least that's my take on them!

[btrout 0]

I purchased one of these reels ( Canadian address ) to fish the beaches for Cutthroats. The first reel I received was suppose to be for a 6wt. line but was too small. It was described as a 5-6wt but was more like a 4wt. The 7-8wt which the original was replaced with was fine. The drag is ok and for the price if it lasts for a couple of seasons I will be happy. I have been using it for the last 6 months or so in the salt and it has been quite adequate. The reel is rinsed and lubed after each outing and is not showing any corrosion problems. As I see it for the price it's ok.

Hope this of some help.

[Steeldrifter 0]

I bought one of them for one of my own personal rods I built back in the spring. Used the hell out of it all summer battling 4-5lbs smallmouth which REALLY put the test to the drag and it preformed perfectly without a flaw. You can't beat these reels. The comapny that makes them overseas is the same company that makes them for the "USA big name" companies just with a different milling on the spool&frame an about 1/3 the price. Get one you won't regret it one bit you have my word.

 

here is the one I bought back in the spring for a new rod I made myself....

 

 

[flytire 0]

i'd be concerned about the warranty. where do you send it to for repair? where do you get spare parts?

 

heres one that says "CNC" but lower on the page it says "1.Aluminum alloy die-casting body, line wheel" well which is it??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fly-Fishing-CNC-Anodized-Aluminum-Fly-Reel-5-6-Silver-R05-/251071659575?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a75097e37

 

i guess youll get what you paid for @ $19.91

[Steeldrifter 0]

i'd be concerned about the warranty. where do you send it to for repair? where do you get spare parts?

 

Honestly those are not really concerns IMO. I own 18 different fly reels from brands such as Harris, pflueger, Lamson, Okuma, the ebay ones mentioned, and a number of other brands and in the 22 yrs I have been fly fishing I have never had to replace any part in any reel. 95% of the time your not going to ever need to use a warranty when it comes to a reel no matter whom the maker is. But if the day ever does come where something does fail in a reel....then just buying a new one is no problem because the ebay ones are so affordable.

[flytire 0]

it appears you have been very careful in taking care of your reels and equipment but there are folks out there that just dont bother.

 

its always nice to have disposable money to throw away at things but in todays economy not everybody is as fortunate. i dont believe in pissing away my money just because ebay makes it easy to do.

 

the major reel manufactures have price points for all incomes and come with a warranty they stand by.

 

i too take care of my equipment and sometimes do stupid things to them. i have only used a manufactures warranty once in 30+ years of fly fishing (broken rod, my fault, no questions asked, me being stupid trying to lift a 5lb bass to the bank for releasing) and the manufacturer fixed it to brand new condition.

 

i'm more comfortable with a company who stands by their product.

 

just my opinion

[Steeldrifter 0]

I don't baby my reels at all, I use them pretty hard. It's just that it is a very rare thing to have a reel malfunction. And I by no means have "disposable money" at all. Point is that these ebay reels are actually built on the same assembly line as some of the big name reels so they are of the EXACT same quality. They just don't carry the big price tag that the big names have. So I don't think people should be discouraged from buying them based on the a warranty that chances are they will probabably never need anyway.

 

If you are the type of person that feels you have to stick with a certain name brand (and I don't mean that offensively ) then there is nothing wrong with that, that's your choice. But my point is having owned and currently own the ebay reels, as well as many bigger name brand reels, I can say from experience with both types that these reels are an excellent value and people should not be worried about the warranty with a reel like this because 9 times out of 10 they will never need to use the warranty. And if that occasion does come up, then the fact that they paid only 30% of what the warrantied reel cost means they could buy a new ebay reel and still have paid less than a big name reel

[Goduster 0]

This is about half of what I have, all but the gold pflueger are imports, and not a one of them has given me any problems. Some are ebay purchases some are direct from the manufacturer.

 

[mikechell 0]

I am going to do my best not to offend anyone, but this thread has moved into an area I have to comment on.

I don't really "take care" of my equipment. I do take precautions like washing them if I use them in salt water ... maybe lubing them once every few years ... whatever.

I don't think paying 200+ dollars for a reel makes it a better purchase just because it comes with a warranty. I've fished with bargain brand, used and medium brand rods and reels all my life. I have never lost a fish because I was using "inferior" equipment. The only time I've ever broken anything was when I made stupid mistakes. When that happened, I bought a new rod (reel, line, float tube) to replace the broken one.

 

If you by something at $50 and replace it every year with a BRAND NEW one at another $50 ... then you get to fish with new stuff every year for four years. If you buy the same type piece for $200 dollars, then you need to take really good care of it for the same four years to get the same value. I am all about saving money ... and IMHO, the value is in bargain stuff.

 

Having said that ... one day, I will buy one of those sweet rods Steve builds ... but that's art !!!

[netabrookie 0]

I was looking at some of the reels mentioned and wondering if they were any good or not and am convinced to go ahead and order one or two (when I start back working). I usually just read and try to keep my comments and opinion to myself, but have to totally agree with everyone about the cheaper reels. I just can't see dropping hundreds of dollars on something when you can get a comparable product at a fraction of the price. I have broke 3 rods in the last few years, 1 was stupidity- I tried to lay the reel on a rock in the middle of a stream to get a tangle loose and held the rod too far up when I reached back and SNAP! 2-I was working my way up and around a waterfall and lost my footing and almost slid to my death and all the while trying to keep my rod out of harms way and watched the top 1/3 get took off by a limb. 3- A bead-head bugger at light-speed on a long cast snapped about 8 inches off the top. As far as reels, I trashed 1 Scienticic Anglers plastic reel on a huge smallmouth. The pin that holds the gear in the drag system actually elongated the hole and made the reel worthless. The second reel that I trashed was a Hobbs Creek that I really liked but I decided to slip on a rock and crash and the reel was between the rock and my 200 plus pounds. I like to go up in the higher mountains and fish the hard to get to places. I am currently using a Yellowstone Pro Series vest and the poor thing looks like it has seen combat from all the climbing over rocks and the rugged terrain but it only cost about 79 dollars. The rods I mentioned before were Silver Tip rods that cost me about 50 dollars each. The SA reel was about 29 dollars and the Hobbs Creek reel was around 35 or 40 dollars. I have two Orvis rods but they usually stay at home in their tubes and out of any danger. If I break something I am a little upset but my whole world hasn't crashed because I just destroyed a 700 dollar rod or banged a 400 dollar reel on a rock. I know a lot of fly fishing is a status thing- if you got it, flaunt it- but Im not rich and I like to have fun instead of a day of worry that I might scratch or Heaven forbid, break something. I guess my point to all this is that you could add up everything mentioned here and it still wouldn't add up to the cost of one high-end reel, and if that high-end reel ever did need warranted then you also have the hassle of finding the original warranty and the cost of shipping it to the manufacturer ( mailing tube, postage and insurance) and the cost of driving to your local post office. I am sure that on a couple streams that I fish that the other fly fishermen have laughed or joked about my "cheaper" stuff, but when I have netted 30 or 40 fish and they have netted 10 or 15 then that RL Winston rod and that Abel reel didn't seem to do them a damn bit of good.

[netabrookie 0]

afterthought, I didn't in no way mean to critize or leave a bad comment about an Able reel or a Winston rod. If I could afford them I would more than likely own them, but would leave them at home on my mountain trips because thats just too much money to be banging on rocks and breaking on tree limbs. I used to have Ferrari taste on a Chevy budget, but finally realized that if I am to have any fun in life that I have to run with what I can afford and forget about what everyone else thinks about it. And besides, if you could put the Ferrari money into a Camaro then it would stomp the crap out of the Enzo in a drag race.....

[Horseshoes 0]

My 2 cents....

 

I buy from eBay. $5 or $300. They are 90

Years old or brand new. No name or labeled. Rusty or spic and span. I just want what I like and there is something fine about a used reel from around the world. I have picked up a $20 new no name thinking it was my pfleuger.

 

I love the feeling of the craftsmanship of each one and to be honest, when I have a fish ( or turtle) on line I have no idea what reel is on my rod. I am focused on the fish and my line.

 

Buy what you want and hopefully you have the $ when it comes available. Besides we know it is the fly that we notice that other people are using not their reel.

 

Sorry, that was about 25 cents worth.

[Goduster 0]

This is a 7# Carp (Koi) that was landed by my wife on a 6' 2wt rod and an ebay reel, and I can assure you she was on the reel for over 15 or 20 minutes landing it. The Reel performed flawlessly and did it intended job very well. This is just one of the reasons that I will continue to purchase the import reels witha note of confidence.

 

[Horseshoes 0]

Wow. Never knew they grew that big. We have to purchase them for our ponds. Great catch.