Selecting A Fly Reel.

Fishing for halibut. In the old days, reels held the line, your spare hand was the drag, and that was it. First, lets start off with the function of the reel.

The ultra inexpensive models, have plenty of defects that cause the line to get wrapped up in the housing of the reel, and with a fish on a light tippet you may finish up being annoyed in no time. The drag is the fly reel's system for applying pressure to the fly line, so when you get that enormous fish, the fish has to work to tug the line out. A good drag will do just that, provide even tension the entire time. There are 2 kinds of drag out there, 'spring and pawl', and 'disc drag. Even those folks you only went fishing with once.

But other days when all things are equal, the fisherman with the most confidence regularly catches the most fish. 3 quick stories are evoked illustrate this. First off let me say there were lots of times when I have been on both sides of the confidence equation. As the day wore on more steelies were caught. I am doubtful that two oz of weight from the fly reel will make that much difference to your fatigue factor. Though I agree, the 'feel' should be correct, and if feasible try out your fly reel on your rod before buying. But it does not hurt to try it out before buying, and also check to see how much spare spools are, whilst you are at it. You can also spend a tasty sum, to embellish your fly fishing ensemble too. The bigger names will be around, and the additional spools should be available for plenty of years to come. Though their mid-range reels are just some of my tops.