Fishing Q&A

What kind of fly fishing reel should i buy.?

Public Comments

1. Way to open a question. If you are fishing Halibut in the Ocean near the shore I recommend a TLD 15 and a Saber Rod. TLD 15 is $129 and nice rod approx.$180 ish Or go to West Marine and get a good starter combo of Rod and Reel for under $100. All you bass guys are laughing at us saltwater guys. I hear a bunch of you going "No way man... Head to Walmart with $30 and get a... " ... edit ... Ooops I just saw the word "fly" Never mind. Smarter fly fishermen can answer this for you.
2. If you're new to fly fishing I suggest buying a cheap rig at Walmart or some other discount store. This way you can get the feel for fly fishing without incurring large costs.
3. Pfluger pureist. reasonalbe price. My dad is a fishing fanatic. so i would trust him.
4. What do you plan to fish for? Whay line weight are you using? How much can you afford? There's really no way of answering this correctly unless you can give some more details. There are a few tips I can give you though. Always keep yor out fit balanced - If you have a 6 weight line and a rod made to cast a 6 weight line, you should buy a reel meant to spool a 6 weight line. Another pointer - The reel is the least important part to your fly fishing outfit (some even suggest that is just a line holder). Get the best fly rod and line you can afford. Last tip for now - buy an extra spool when you buy your reel. Many times on the water you are going to want to switch from a floating line to a sinking one. Use your extra spool to make the quick switch. Manufacturers are always improving there products. If you don't buy the extra spool soon enough the reel could become obsolete and a spare spool will not be available.
5. with no more information than you gave, i would suggest a reel, that will carry the same weight of line, as your rod is rated for.
6. orvis
7. pfluger, orvis and okuma all make a quality reel. remember the reel is just a place to store line when you are talking about any thing under a seven weight. the three manufacturers i mentioned make a good quality reel at "reasonable" price. whatever reel you decide on make sure it has a quick change feature and you can get an extra spool (to change from a dry to a sinking line). personally i use an okuma for my two weight, a orvis batenkill for my five weight and whatever someone will lend me for anything bigger. tight lines!!!
8. OK then since your probably new to this i will split it up into the types then the uses then the models i suggest you look at. arbour/large arbour= good for fly fishing for salmon and steel head as well as tarpon which require lots of backing on them cassette reels= these have an interchangeable spool like the arbour but only the spool is removed and the handle replaced unlike on an arbour where the spool and handle goes to be replaced by another. Some models hold allot of line and backing others don't, i suggest these for river fishing for brown trout and grayling, they are light and not as big as the arbour reels. For makes i really like sage, but they can be expensive especially if your just starting out, many of them are in large arbour design only as well. okuma makes a good fly reel that is made from graphite/magnesium that is cheap but efficient at what it does also cabelas has their own brand which can also be reasonable fly reels. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20431-cat400002&rid=&indexId=cat400002&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat400002&id=0013543
9. Take a look at the Teton fly reels. Made in USA and very reasonable price. Interchangeable spools, excellent balance and you can purchase them in standard or large arbour. I have fished with the Teton Tioga for the last 10 years and found them bullet proof but you can purchas the Teton Standard or the Magnum if you prefer. They are all excellent reels. They are also salt water rated as the bearings are all enclosed. Check out their web site below.
10. I love my more expensive reels but I have to say the first cheap Okuma I bought still works well despite being dropped in many rivers, laid upon many sandy banks and going on a lot of rough back-country trips. It looks like a boxer that found himself in a knife fight but it still works. I'm not saying there's not better smother setups out there but for the price you cant really beat it.