Keith Majarro and his guy's at Phos Precision Fly Reels have
put together a bag of jewels when they developed the Phos line
of reels. The reels come in two series, the Yukon and the PH
series, both series have large arbor and standard arbor spools
available. The Yukon also has a "big game" reel and spool, this
one is a little wider then the standard Yukon to enable it to hold
the heavier line. I personally believe that the standard Yukon
will handle the big game fish, salmon, steel head and some
of the salt water species just fine.
Although I haven't had the opportunity to
use the PH series yet, I have claimed the Phos Yukon as my reel
of choice for most fishing situations. The first models seemed to
be a little large, but they balanced out my Powell 5W just fine.
Keith has recently come out with a smaller
reel which maintains the same interesting qualities as it's bigger
brother. The standard Yukon model has three different spools
available. The standard arbor for 7,8 and 9 line, mid arbor for 4,
5, and 6 and then the large arbor for 2, 3 and 4 weight. Take you
choice, one frame, three spools for all situations.
My initial initiation to the Yukon was done
on the Green River, "A" section at Little Hole. I have fished this
area on a quite regular basis and knew that it held some trophy
size browns and rainbows. I had caught a bunch but I had also
lost a lot more then I landed. I hoped that this trip would be just
as much fun. It was. The first cast of the day was with a zonker
which was immediately taken by a brown that tipped the scale at
about 7 pounds. Take that much fish, mix it with some deep and
fast water, throw in 50 pounds of adrenalin and you're in for an
exciting time.
As this brown stripped off line and backing,
I found that I could really fine tune the drag on the Phos, right
down to the adjustment that's needed. The Phos got a work out,
the Powell stayed in one piece and the brown came in to the net.
A great start for a great day.
Was I impressed with the reel? You bet, and
so were several other guy's who were watching the whole episode.
The Phos has fast become the top selling reel in my shop.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE PHOS
The spool, frame, foot and dial are all aero space grade aluminum bar stock.
The gears, pawl, shaft and counter balance are 303/304 stainless steel.
The drag system is is a caliper disk drag with aramid (kelvar) pads.
Springs and screws are type 302 stainless, the only stainless steel
springs available.
Removing the spool and reversing the drag
is simple. The spool is removed by depressing the center button
and turning it to the left. This feature insures positive locking of the
spool to the shaft. To reverse the retrieve simply remove the screw
from the pawl and turn the pawl over so either the "L" or the "R" is
up, replace the screw and then remove the three screws on the cog
pawl and turn it so the "L" or "R" is up. Done, it's reversed.
Price. Last but not least we come to that all
important question. How much? Now I would like to say that a
reel like this would retail for about $250.00. I can't tho. I mean,
after all, this has got to be one of the strongest reels on the market
with the exception of some of the big, bad and ugly's used for whales.
Actually, the surprise is the Yukon retails for
around $159.00. The big game model goes for about $185.00 with
the PH Series, checking in at $285.00 and the PH-6 large arbor
peaking out at $539.00. Extra spools start at $65.00 for the Yukon,
$85.00 for the big game series and from $135.00 - 295.00 for the
various reels in the PH series.
Not bad for a quality reel that's hard to beat for
strength and durability. Take a look for yourself at the Phos
website.
~ Ed Dayton
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