I've been fly fishing many years, but I don't understand what rim control on a fly reel is and means?
Thanks
Rim Control
I've been fly fishing many years, but I don't understand what rim control on a fly reel is and means?
Thanks
The simple answer is that it is a reel with an exposed spool rim that allows you add drag while the spool is spinning with a finger or thumb...
... without getting your fingers clobbered by the spinning reel handle.
Rim control is what you get when using a reel built so that part of the outer circumference edge of the spool is exposed. The rim, if you will. This allows the angler to use the palm of his hand as a friction against this rim like a drag when playing a fish. These reels are also sometimes called "palm control" reels.....................ModocDan
Rim control......uh, um, uh.........well..............nevermind
Good fishing technique trumps all.....wish I had it.
The 1500 series reel on the right has the exposed rim
The 1400 series reel on the left does not
The simpler the outfit, the more skill it takes to manage it, and the more pleasure one gets in his achievements.
--- Horace Kephart
Oh, I see
I guess the reason I didn't know was because I was always taught, if I had a fish big enough, to play it off the reel (drag). I guess the reason is because hand pressure can too easily snap a tippet?
Thanks
Id does come in handy sometimes
I usually set the drag on my salmon reels pretty light. With the extra drag of the ine going up through the guides on a 10 ft rod, ... there's usually plenty of resistance.
Every now and again, I will have to palm the reel to try to slow down a big fish in the current. I prefer palming (on the rim) over fiddling with the drag control during a fight.
Christopher Chin
I see
That makes sense. Most of the fish I catch are trout from 8 to 18 inches. I don't get many into the backing.
Lastchance -Originally Posted by lastchance
Unless you are using VERY light tippet, the odds of breaking it because of "hand pressure" are almost nonexistent. Considering your post regarding your quary - 8" to 18" trout - there is no NEED to put fish on the reel. If you WANT to do so, as a personal preference, that's great, but no need to feel compelled to.
My personal preference is to land fish by stripping line in. Just seems a lot more tactile to me than putting them on the reel. And it's easier and quicker to get back to fishing when you don't have to strip line off to get started again.
Bigger fish will most likely get themselves on the reel. When they do, it makes sense to keep them on it because changing to the line-stripping approach increases the chance you will lose pressure on the fish, and lose the fish. The opposite is also true, fiddling around trying to get a fish on the reel can result in losing fish by losing pressure on it.
John
P.S. You didn't specifically bring it up, but I wonder if someone also suggested that you use very ( unnecessarily ) light tippet ?? I would suggest that you use the heaviest tippet you can get away with, and that is usually pretty heavy.
Last Saturday, in a fly tying demo, a very competent guide on the South Fork of the Snake, while tying a size 18 pheasant tail nymph, mentioned fishing it off a 3X tippet. Might not work on some streams / rivers, but will on most.
The fish are always right.
A lot of different people fish with my gear every year under very demanding conditions. I always tell everyone to put every fish on the reel. The main reason is because they drag my fly lines across the rocks, stepping on them and doing lots of damage. I had over a dozen fly lines fail to survive this season... That gets expensive...
art
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