Let’s Get Reel
It’s been said many times that in fly fishing for trout, the reel is merely a convenient place to store line while you are not casting. There is some truth to this. In many areas, trout are not large enough, strong enough, or fast enough to require a highly engineered piece of hardware.
However, it can also be said that on your daily commute, the car you drive is not important. Whether you drive a ’79 Ford Granada or a BMW M3, you will likely arrive at work in roughly the same time. You likely don’t drive on the Autobahn.
However, like a fine reel, a nice ride is something you can derive enjoyment from whether you are idling through a playground zone or even stopped in traffic. The way it feels in your hands is something of value.
Most top-quality trout reels are over-engineered for their purpose. If you want a basic, inexpensive reel that will meet or exceed most of your trout-fishing needs, consider the Ross Flyrise, Flycast, or Flystart ($50-$95); Orvis Clearwater; Scientific Anglers Concept II ($34); Cabela’s Three Forks ($40); or similar. These are adequate, inexpensive reels you don’t need to read about in any gear guide.
If you want a trout (or saltwater) reel that is better than “good enough”—something with a drag system built like the brakes on an Indy car, more backing capacity than you’ll ever use, and a machined, anodized chassis that will withstand every kind of abuse you can throw at it—then continue reading. The following pages are filled with “dream” reels you can actually own for much less than a BMW.
What’s the difference between a budget reel and a dream reel? Low-priced reels are cast from molten aluminum. Better reels are machined from solid blocks of aircraft-grade aluminum and have much more exacting tolerances (each piece fits together more closely). Machined components are harder, and can withstand more abuse.
The best reels are anodized, an electrolytic process that further hardens the metal by increasing the depth of the oxide layer on the surface of the aluminum. Anodized reels are more difficult to scratch and more corrosion resistant. [All the reels covered this 2010 Gear Guide are machined from aerospace-grade aluminum (frame and spool) and anodized. The Editor.]
You’ll probably need several trout reels At least one for your small 2- and 3-weight dry-fly rods and a couple of others for 5- and 6-weight general-purpose rods. You want reels loaded with different lines one with a sinking-tip line, one with a floating streamer or nymphing line, and another with a multipurpose or possibly a dry-fly specific line. To save cash you can get just one reel with multiple spools, but then you can’t have three rods in your drift boat ready to fish at all times. If you want multiple rods available, you’ll need multiple reels, not just extra spools.
Your reel needs to be sized correctly for the rod weight. A reel that is too large is heavy and awkward to cast. A reel that is too small makes the rod tip feel heavy because it is an inadequate counterbalance, and it also may not hold enough line and backing. Manufacturers size reels to specific line/rod weights so get one that matches your rod as closely as possibly.
Arbor Size
The arbor is the spindle at the center of the reel. When reels are labeled “large arbor” it hopefully means the manufacturer has increased the reel circumference, the spool width, and the arbor diameter to help you pick up line faster while reeling, get more cranking power, and to store the line in looser coils. (There are also some advantages when the line is outgoing but they are not significant unless a fish runs deep into the backing.)
If a manufacturer merely increases the arbor size and leaves the reel diameter and width the same, it only serves to reduce the reel capacity. On the other hand if the reel spool is too wide you’ll have to take care to weave the line back and forth with your finger as you reel in a fish. If you don’t carefully spool the line this way, it can pile in one spot, then fall over on itself and jam.
When large-arbor reels were first introduced to the market, some manufacturers made mistakes at both ends of the spectrum (too wide or too little capacity) but most large-arbor reels today are a smart compromise between width and diameter. Some are even called “mid-arbor” reels.
All fly reels have a drag of some sort. Drag is the mechanical friction that controls and slows the line as it comes off the reel. This prevents backlash or overrun that would happen if you hooked a large, long-running fish, or merely pulled the line from a reel without drag.
A smooth, functional drag can protect fine tippets and keep small flies engaged when you are trout fishing. With heavy-hitting fish like tarpon or tuna, drag is even more essential to slow and tire the fish, and to keep from breaking the line.
The simplest drag mechanism is click-and-pawl, where a spring-loaded “clicker” bounces along teeth set on the spool to slow the reel. Click-and-pawl drags have been used successfully on trout and salmon reels for more than 100 years. They are easy to maintain and have a classic sound that many anglers love.
Disc drags are more sophisticated and work more like the brakes on a car where a pad rubs against a smooth metal surface to create friction. The surfaces can be aluminum, stainless steel, cork, Rulon, Teflon, carbon fiber, or combinations of different materials. Because of the larger and continuous contact area, disc drag systems are smoother, and infinitely more variable than click drags in terms of tension. And in the world of disc drags, the larger the disk surface area, the smoother and more variable it is likely to be.
Saltwater reels. When you enter the saltwater arena, your reel becomes a much more important tackle component. In fact, because you may stand hours waiting for that one shot at a bonefish, permit, or tarpon, everything becomes more critically important. If you miss a cast at a trout, the trout will probably continue to rise, and you will keep casting until you either spook it or catch it. If you break off a trout, you can just “get another one.” You rarely hear a permit angler say these words.
If you hook a permit, you want the very best reel you can afford, loaded with as much backing as possible, and you want a stout yet smooth drag to slow the fish down as it screams toward the reef. Get a reel with the capacity to handle both the line and the backing you need for the species.
Steelhead/salmon reels. Steelhead and salmon are among the world’s finest gamefish, and it’s helpful to have a good disc drag to deal with them. Drag isn’t your most important consideration though. The long-belly lines normally used for this fishing eat up a huge amount of space on your reel, and with long-belly Spey lines this is an even bigger factor. With two-handed rods, the weight of the reel is less of an issue, and a heavier reel can actually better balance a 15-foot rod.
In addition to the size, weight, capacity, and type of drag, reels allow an almost limitless opportunity to personalize your tackle. There was a day when most reels were colorless (black or gray). Today you can get almost any color or design artistic finishes, fish graphics, national flags, psychedelic, camouflage, or skull and crossbones. And custom engraving allows you to personalize your reel even more. A great reel—like a tattoo—will last a lifetime, so make sure it looks good and better yet, says something about you, so choose carefully.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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