Suitable Fly Reel

[sporty1]

After extensive research where I looked at Loomis, Temple Fork, Black Diamond and Strudwick rods. I have deceided to buy a DBT 7WT Strudwick. I am now looking at a suitable reel to use, keeping in mind for my estuary and freswater use I doubt the backing will ever be exposed. Is the Fenwick "Techna" model 685014 F68 a suitable choice or are there other options in the $200 -$300 price bracket?

[DavidW]

Hi Sporty,

Good choice on the rod mate. I would have gone the 8 weight, but 7 will do just nicely for most of what you are likely to get in the estuaries. :)

As far as reels go, The Techna is a good choice, but the Fenwick River Runner RRF78 has a better drag and is lighter in my opinion. I have the RRF910 and it is a great reel with a smooth cork drag and is lighter than a lot of reels in it's class. :)

Make sure you get a reel that you are happy to be casting with for long periods...i.e. if it's too heavy your arm'll be dropping off by the end of the day.

Also, never say you'll never get down the the backing. You may well be surprised what you can hook in some of our estuary / freshwater systems. A good example... I got a good sized GT when fishing for bream and lizards in northern NSW. Carp in freshwater grow pretty big and they can really give you a thrill when they run, especially in shallow stuff. ;)

Anyway, enuff BS from me......

Have Fun

DavidW

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Sporty,
I'm pretty new to the wand waving thing, but looked at a few of the Fenwick range last week. I liked the nice smooth drags and generally overal finish.

[dudley]

Sporty,
i just purchased a hardy marquis 7/9 wt for pretty much what you are doing. I bought it in melb for $210 which i recon is a great deal on a high quality product. Still has the click and pawl drag, but is craftman stuff. I got 8wff+250 mt of 20kg braid backing.It is no a wide arbour reel, but this site has had a discussion recently, and not many fly fishos embrace the "wide arbour" concept.As my budget was the same as yours,200-300, i was able to get high quality line as well within the budget.
Good luck,
Dudley

[sporty1]

Thanks for the replies guys, more deliberation is still necessary. What are the befefits of wide arbour, is it necessary for my choice of fishing?

[Paul_C]

Guys,

I'm new to this BB, I fish mainly deep fly for bass, and i've just upgraded from a small arbour Diawa Lochmor, to a large arbour Scientific Anglers reel, can't tell you the model #, as I don't have it handy, and I have noticed a signifigant improvement in the amount of knots and tangles that I get from peeling line of onto the casting deck in the boat, due I believe to the fact thats it's not coming of in tight little coils.

Regards
Paul Cade http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm44.gif

[sporty1]

Thanks Paul,
As I too fish from a boat in Estuary and dam, The advice is welcome I hadn't considered the smaller tight loops peeling of the small arbor.But it does make sense.

[Stuie_02]

Hey sporty

have a look at the newish Scienfic Anglers 7/8 large arbour around 200 mark . There are some good models out there just make sure you dont get a heavy reel that destros at the nice action in your rod.

Its a pendulium thing a heavy reel will counter and nice loading and action in the rod.

For example i test drove a Gloomis rod a #7 just for a bit of fun. I thought this is really great so light. But i saw the reel a 5/6 dodgy thing and the line im not sure what it was sure loaded quickly. There was no backing just flyline and reel. Not a true indication of rods true capacity.

Most people are caught up in the Large arour thing but i think you should have a look at the weight difference of the reels.

Stu

[Maxg]

All of this LA thing is esoteric really, unless of course you are after a very high retrieve rate with a very large capacity and a very low spool inertia and a wopping big drag system with fairly constant drag settings. If the reel is 4" or under there is no real advantage even with wide spools simply because as the arbor size increases backing capacity usually decreases and the retrieve is no faster than a narrow arbor reel. You do get a constant drag response but with light outfits a drag is really a fantasy, if the reel has a good palming rim.
With small reels and full lines so much space is taken up by the line that the backing capacity is small in real terms, unless of course the spool gets very wide, which creates other problems relating to bearing wear and line management.
I don't give a dam who makes it, a LA reel under 4 inches is a myth and just tom foolery.
It stands to reason that the LA technology was designed for large diameter wide spool reels, the larger the diameter the better and it is for large fast fish. But there is even a limit where the LA system runs out of puff and reels become over sized and very wide to accomodate extremly long backing lengths, in the thousands of yards. But then a very high retrieve rate is necessary.
Its just common sense really. Max

[sporty1]

Thanks Maxg for the reply, obviously you have strong views on the LA reel debate. In your opinion what reel in the standaed design should I look at in the $200-$300 range for the 7wt strudwick

[UNCLEBARRY]

Good evening Max.
Your views on LA Fly Reels sound like they come from a guy who hasn't tried a well engineered reel.


When a fish is hooked up and makes the big run, and down into the backing, I then rely on the drag system, this remains almost constant because of the LA, wide A design. You simply cannot 'get' this with standard size width spools.

Your statement, "If the reel is 4" or under there is no real advantage even with wide spools simply because as the arbor size increases backing capacity usually decreases and the retrieve is no faster than a narrow arbor reel. You do get a constant drag response but with light outfits a drag is really a fantasy, if the reel has a good palming rim."

This is incorrect, because:-
pure maths - #the larger the spool the faster the line is returned, and the more stable the drag pressure.

However, if my reel's spool is 34mm wide and 75mm in dia, it must have more working backing line available at a more constant pressure than a reel with a spool half this width.

Drag:- #you can escape most problems of drags when you are using 20lb tippets,and use your hand but this is not the case for sportsmen who use tippet sizes down to 1kg, as most humans cannot judge the perfect pressure to apply because they don't have your years of fishing experience. A super smooth drag is paramount to most fly fishers. #

"With light outfits a drag is really a fantasy, if the reel has a good palming rim."

Our range of TRD Reels has both a palming rim and smooth drag. Now to be totally fair, do you use a 9w or less? No?

Bearing wear? We are covered by a life time warranty, therefore the manafucturer is confident in their product's life.

"I don't give a dam who makes it, a LA reel under 4 inches is a myth and just tom foolery."

Again, this is incorrect, the smaller the reel/line size the more advantages of a LA/WA Reel are portrayed in line management and drag adjustments.

"reels become over sized and very wide to accommodate extremly long backing lengths, in the thousands of yards. But then a very high retrieve rate is necessary."

Please try and be fair - #there may be only a couple of people who want a 1000 yard backing in this country and the value of this length is very debatable because of the effects of water pressure.

The 1000yard spool reels are a very specialised product, with a price to match.

Now who has a reel with a backing capacity of 1000's of yards?

No one as far as I know!

Please try one in the field and become a believer!

Kind regards
Barry Ryan

[Maxg]

Yeah Barry I know but I own one of the best LA reels ever made, a Steelfin XFR and it is 4.6 inches in diameter and doesn't hold much line at all. It does have a fast retrieve, XFR means extra fast retrieve, it has not much drag but a measured zero spool inertia, it also is designed for GsP braid, no holes in the spool and is German engineering. And I'll still say that LA with 4 inch diameter reels is a gimmick simply because the technology is designed for large diameter wide spool reels.
I also have three Old Florida reels, and they are ALL over 4" in diameter, The LA77 is 4.25, the Model 8SA is 4.5 and so is the LA88.
I'm not going to get into arguments about this thing but a Tibor Pacific will hold about 1500 yards of 50lb GSP and a Pate Bluefin holds much the same. My LA88 Old Florida holds a hell of a lot, about 750 yards of 45 Gudebrod SST, plus a running line and a LC15 head. For the record an Orvis Odessy+4 is a narrow arbor wide spool 4" reel and it holds 500 yards of 30BB, on top of 150 yards of 30 dacron, and the running line and head. it has the best drag on a fly reel, probably the best kept secret in the business, and there is NO LA style 4" reel on the market that matches that capacity.
Its all a matter of choice and ones likes and dislikes, but LA really means large diameter, and 4" reels are not large diameter.
Don't knock off too many mullet leave a few for the others. http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm35.gifcheers Max

[lordy]

Sport like Max says, compare outside diameter, if the LA isn't much bigger it won't help the loops from tangling. If you don't expect to see backing you can get by with a $10 reel, I've got one. No drag what so ever (click drag that not worth much). Hardly a quality reel but it holds the line and thats all. Tiny large arbours are better with lines looping of the reel, but they aren't that good and you still have to stretch and straighten the line. Large arbour needs to have a larger diameter to be a more useful tool.
In the large Arbour I liked the Fenwick River Runner.

[Maxg]

Well its all a matter of design theory, any fly reel is basically designed to hold a fly line, a full fly line and they are bulky. So the larger the arbor and the smaller the diameter the less the line plug area becomes. So they widen the spool but the backing line capacity is still minimal and after the fly line goes the active diameter is small, retrieve rate is low and inertia increases.
This means that to get a high retrieve rate the diamater has to increase, as does the spool width such that the line plug area will provide a reasonable backing capacity after the line ???? leaves the spool and a high retrieve rate with drag consistency and low inertia. No matter what you use, a head and running line or a full line, it occupies a hunk of line plug area. Its all in the mind really, fly reels are about as technical as cotton reels, and cheap reels are cheap, period.
The shooting head/running line system has advantages because it occupies less of the line plug area than full lines, LC13's/stuffed line systems chew up even less. Max

[lordy]

Anyone tried a small alvey sidecast reel? They have some very cheap plastic ones. They should hold enough line and backing, don't weigh much, have an adequate drag. They also would have a bigger arbour than any fly reel in that size..

[Maxg]

Yes, tried an Alvey boat reel a 6 inch one, with the back removed and the spool machined down to 5 inches and stuffed into a worked over aluminium saucepan. Probably the first 5 inch fly reel in Oz. Bloody awful. tried a smaller boat reel but the fly line got caught under those wire line guides.
They still have those things, but some people have used sidecasts with some sort of success, if you call it that. Max

[lordy]

Some of the new ones look pretty clean as regards places to snag line.

5" $64

http://www.ausfish.com.au/alvey/images/500bcxl.jpg



4.5" $40
http://www.ausfish.com.au/alvey/images/45b.jpg

[lordy]

Try finding a fly reel for $20 with these features, star drag, 4" wide.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/alvey/images/40bxl.jpg

[Maxg]

Look Alveys reels have their place in the sun, there isn't another reel in their class that competes, but fly reels use large diameter lines which are effectively loose on the spool during casting, and that is why fly reels have frames, which prevent that line falling off in loops. Which is why side cast reels don't do much for SWF. Because a fly line, nominally a lead core head, or any shooting head, is a elongated sinker you could probably cast it off a side cast, without having any running line off the reel. It would introduce twist but might be the answer to very long fly rods line management problems, Maybe. Cheers Max

[lordy]

You are probably on the money Max. Fly lines would likely coil and start falling off since they are not contained within a frame.

[Steve_Ooi]

Max what did become of that piece of history the saucepan, I bet it's a real talking point ,Aussie ingenuity .


Steve (Poony) Ooi

[Rosso]

If you don't expect to see backing you can get by with a $10 reel, I've got one.

Interesting...where did you get this $10 reel from? :)

[Maxg]

Ah! the Alveysaus, rather a Dinosaurus really. Was much too heavy, cumbersome and overloaded the 12# Femwick. I ditched it, dunno where it might be, probably buried somewhere in the Carnarvon rubbish dump. I got a Feurer FB480 Taurus a/r
History, ah dunno, inginuity, rather more foolishness born from inexperience and a desire to have a reel.
Ron was more practical, he got a Hardy Marquis Salmon No 2 which was what I should have had.
Still it was fun, and a caught, and lost, a lot of fish. Max

[lordy]

Interesting...where did you get this $10 reel from? :)

It an Eagle Claw. Click drag only. Got mine for $9.95 at one of the fishing tackle shows. Really is a cheap reel. Made of mostly of a hard plastic not a metal. At least it won't rust! ;D ;D

A friend saw one go toe to toe with some longtail tuna. Manage to nail 2 good ones before it started melting and warping! ;D ;D ;D ;D For $10 you could catch 300 tuna for the price of a flash reel, and thats not including interest etc. ;)

If you just want something to hold line for estuary and dam, get a cheapy and spend the $ on a rod and line. Then when you feel the need get something like the Fenwick River Runner, which would be a nice reel for smaller tunas and other fish that need a drag.