About forty yrs ago I had a Automatic Fly Reel on my fly rod. It made sense to me at the time because it would be easier to keep the slack line off my feet.
After a time I learned that the reel was too heavy and it was uncomfortable on my rod.
I cannot remember what brand it was, Perrine comes to mind but I’m not sure.
I would like to hear your experiences with a Auto Reel.
Thanks,
Doug
Laughter.
I have heard baaaaaaaaaaad things about automatic reels!
JZ
Gramps,
Could you elaborate??
Gramps,
Could you elaborate??[/quote]
You’re forgetting i’m a traditional elitist fly fisherman. 
Automatic reel? Ha Ha bahaahahh…snort…
Sorry. You were saying?
You better start cooperating!!! :twisted:
You want us to ok you using an automatic reel?
Not going to happen. :lol:
We still find one sort of useful for pond fishing. It fits with our lazyness and not cranking in string so much. Usually when we are in a hurry to “git”, ours becomes difficult to locate :roll: , so it doesn’t get as much use as it might. 
…lee s.
You want us to ok you using an automatic reel?
Not going to happen. :lol:[/quote]
Gramps,
I am NOT looking for your approval!
I just want to hear about people’s experiences with the STUPID REEL!!! :oops:
Lee, You must be from SOUTHERN Cal, I’ve heerd about you guys! :roll:
I fish with a guy who uses nothing but the Pflueger Automatics from Cabelas. He lands even the biggest fish with the hand retrieve. Instant feedback on how high or low to set the “drag”. Almost never has slack line in the water. He is very adept at hand retriving and feathering the trigger, while fishing. Of course there are no bonefish or tarpon in the St Regis River.
You want us to ok you using an automatic reel?
Not going to happen. :lol:[/quote]
Gramps,
I am NOT looking for your approval!
I just want to hear about people’s experiences with the STUPID REEL!!! :oops:[/quote]
I don’t have any…
Thanks!
My brother in law and his dad used them for years on small streams fishing for native brook trout. I would consider his dad an old timer and he is an old timer in the making 
although i would NOT call them elitist since they used garden worms for all thier fishing even though they used fly rods.
Automatic fly reels were popular in the 40’s and 50’s. Maybe a little later. Problem with them is that they wind up when the line goes out and you hit the end of the wind up long before you get very much line out. So they are useful only for small fish and short casts. Backing on an auto is an oxymoron. They are also very heavy. Normally small fish and short casts mean 3 and 4 weight outfits(or lighter if you are one of those southern bream guys like Jim Hatch). These reels will turn a 4 wt into a divining rod. You could turn it around and beat a bear to death with it though. The springs tended to break a lot too. I have 2 in my antique reel collection and both have broken springs. But on the other hand - some people just loved them. Go figure.
Hi Doug,
I may have one someplace in the basement but it hasn’t seen daylight in many years. Seems to me it’s a Shakespeare but I’m not sure.
Yes, they’re very heavy. Back in the 50s and 60s there just weren’t 3-4 wt rods. I used it for fishing from a canoe for bass and panfish on an Eagle Claw 4 pc 7 wt (Trailmster?)or an old white Shakespeare fiberglass Howald process (or was it Wonderod?)of about 6 wt. By todays standards it’s awful. However it DID keep the flyline off the bottom of the canoe and protected it from being walked on.
My really super good fly reel of the time was the Pflogger 1494. When I found a 6" blank for fishing the tiny “cricks” I bought a 1492. Still have them with a few spare spools for the 1494. I exercise it annually - about once! They’re still too heavy. Battenkill’s got 'em beat by miles.
Hope this helps.
Bill
I see a niche for them in small stream fishing.
Good line management where the reel is just for line storage. Keeps the line on the reel and out of the water so it won’t tangle as much in your feet/laces/stuff in the water.
Would nicely balance a cane rod.
Might have to pick one up for my 3 wt. boo rod that I use for brookies…
Good Luck!
Buddy
They actually had a prominent place in fly fishing. Several companies produced them during the great rise in ‘guiding.’ For a one-handed operation they proved sufficient. A guide, poling a river boat, could cast and manage a rod with one hand, whether he was guiding or running the river himself.
They seemed to have been popular just after WWII and on into the 50’s - Or at least it seemed so, every other fly rod fisherman had one!
Besides being heavy and upsetting the balance of the rod, making it feel awkward, there was a BIG risk in winding the line in too fast and coming to the end of the line where it caught on the rod’s tip that it could pop or break it.
Dale
My experience with Automatic Reels,I was 12 years old, I bought or begged one from my Grandfather at a Garage Sale he was having. I played with it for a couple of hours, pulled the line out and pushed the lever to reel it in. thought it was great. Took a screw Driver to it to see what made it work, the Spring sprung out never to be put back and it went in the trash.
on the other hand after reading this post I might have to get one for my six weight for fishing warm water from the canoe.
Eric