I just finished building a 6’6" 2wt rod on a Cabela’s PT+ blank. I was wondering what you all would suggest for a 2wt reel to match it?
The blank is gloss brown in color, the wraps are roughly the same color brown. It has a down locking reel seat. I know not beautiful(brown on brown) but I am more of a function over looks kind of guy.
I just picked up a 3/4 Hobbs Creek reel, but I think I will use it on my 4wt I built last summer.
I’m leaning towards the Orvis BBS1 in titanium, but I’m looking for other input before I make up my mind.
BC,
I had a guy build me a 2 wt on the Batson Forecast blank. (I don’t need another addiction!) The reel I put on it is the Orvis Clearwater II.
The balance is just about perfect. It holds a 3wt WFF line and a bunch of backing.
I know it’s “plastic”, but I have not had any problems with it in the year I’ve been fishing it. I had a chance to learn quite a bit about composite materials at my last job, and was well impressed with the capabilities of these materials. I haven’t had a chance to test the adjustable drag, but it’s on a 2 wt. what’s it going to matter? It’s only about $50, and weighs in at 4.2 ounces, about an ounce heavier than than the BBI.
I can only echo what John just said. You’ve chosen wisely by putting the “BBS I” on your list of reels to consider. I believe ORVIS is currently offering a free spare spool on the purchase of any BBS reel. That should make the decision even easier for you.
Lamson makes some excellent small reels. I’ve got a Velocity 1 that balances very nicely with all my 2 and 3 wt rods.
If you wanted a high-tech look, you might go with a Purist. That reel has no drag other than the little bit that’s built in to keep the thing from free spooling. If you’re fishing with a 3 wt, do you really need a drag?
My favorite, though, is an old Lamson LP1. It’s probably a tad heavier than the the V1, but it’s old school and classic. I found a Sage RPL+ 2wt blank that I built around that reel. Niether the rod nor reel are in perfect shape, but both have collected character and mojo over the years – not to mention thousands of little cutthroats.
And honestly, a 3wt should have character. If you don’t think of it as a magic wand, it’s not set up correctly.
Black co,
you made a good choice classy reel, smooth drag and the spindeless design just has as my wife said “sex apeal”. I have one on order as the shop sold last one. let me know what you think when you do get it.
You might consider a J Austin Forbes magnesium. It’s probably the only reel I would consider other than the Orvis BBSI for a similar dollar range. It’s very good quality, classic style, and ridiculously light. Perfect for a 2 wt. Not really sexy, though. You can get them cheap if you look around.
Finally got to get the rod out on the water. Caught 3 bluegill in about 1hr. The water around here is still really cold, but with a sunny 70deg day I couldn’t resist getting the 2wt wet.
The PT+ blank handled really well. Partnered with the BBS1 reel it was light and responsive, even with my rusty\sub par casting.
All in all I am very pleased with the blank, reel combo. I hope it will handle trout as well as it did the bluegill…
I’d recommend a Ross Rhythm 0. Sierra Trading Post (.com) had them on sale for about $99 recently, not sure if they still are. I also had a 25% off code and started to buy one myself for around $75
I’ve got a Ross Colorado on my 2wt. They don’t make them anymore but you can usually chase down a good used one on E-bay or some such. The Lamson reels in the small size all all nice lightweight dependable reels as well (the Konic is a steel at $119).
MikelC-- The 7ft 3wt PT+ is a sweetheart of a rod. As is the 6’6" 2wt as well.
I use the BBS1 on my TFO One weight. It’s a sweet sweet little reel for the money, or for any money for that matter. Very smooth and Orvis Quality. I asked around a bit as well and just settled on this reel. I got it back when they were having the extra reel promotion. Due to an error on their online catalog I got a little price break as well which helped. Also the reel case and the spare spool bag came with it.
A couple of thoughts on small reels: Many smaller reels which would seem ideal for such a light rod as a 2-weight (the Ross Colorado 0, the J. Austin Forbes Magnesium and the Hardy Flyweight come to mind) have such small diameters that lines kept on them for any length of time come off the spool looking like a clock spring. In addition, winding any length of line back onto the reel becomes an exercise in tedium. I do not currently own a 2-weight, having decided that, for my fishing at least, anything smaller than a 3-weight is simply an impractical toy but I do have a couple of 3-weights and one of the best reels I’ve found for these rods is the smallest (size 0) of the Cabela’s Super Large Arbor model. It’s an attractive, inexpensive, extremely lightweight, large-arbor reel with an effective (and unnecessary) disc drag.
what’s it going to matter?
It’s only about $50, and weighs in at 4.2 ounces, about an ounce heavier than than the BBI.
