Duck,
I was using the Phlueger with the palmable edge. I had the drag set at the lightest setting, ie basically off and adjusted the tension by palming the reel edge. Worked great. Reel didn’t explode, spool didn’t fall off and tippet didn’t pop. Thanks for asking. 8T
8Thumbs,
How long did it take you to land the fish? C&R or C&K?
Folks, ya’ll are sounding like children, who are debating over who’s Dad can beat up there’s…
A reels a reel, and all mine are good, untill I don’t like’em, then they ain’t, that’s it, nothin else about it. And if you don’t like mine, fine, I didn’t want you to use it anyway!
Spelling and Grammar not subject to judgement… 
SW Lady,
I was casting off the courtesy dock at a local boat ramp with a #9 weight rod and a full sinking line. I had a 12 pound tippet and had successfully played in two Christmas trees and an expensive pair of sun glasses before I tangled with the striper. I would estimate it was a 10-12 minute fight. As an old spin fisherman and bait caster, I am constantly amazed at how effective a 9 foot fly rod can be at playing large fish. I had to lay down on the dock and grab the fish’s lower lip since I had no net. Held him just long enough to extract the hook and have my wife take a very bad picture with her cell phone. Definitely C & R. Walked into water at the boat ramp (50 degrees) in pants and street shoes, revived the fish and it swam off. Once again, thanks for asking. I’ve been dying to do a little bragging about that fish. 8T
Almost every time I go fishing I end up having to fight a fish off the reel and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I can play the fish faster and more comfortably with a drag. Many of us could do it with no reel at all, but I choose to put the best reels I can on all my rods. I’ve seen plenty of cheapo reels break and my main concern is that a reel will break when I drop it on some rocks or something so I get reels made to take abuse and I don’t think it’s overkill.
RW- Seems we have to disagree on this one. I have seen 4 different reels that were torn up by fish that were hooked in Saltwater. Three the drags were fried and one the gears went south and in each case they were owned by people that thought they would work just fine in the Salt. None of the reels were over $150.00 in price.
The finish and what a good reel is made of will also make a big difference when used in saltwater. As I am sure you know saltwater can be very tough on reels. Better reels hold up better. That is a fact.
I to used to use the old Phlueger reels many years ago. I found that I could get a better reel that was lighter and stayed together better. (Screws used to come out of them all the time unless you glued them in) I landed some very nice fish with those old reels. But there are just to many good reels on todays market that weigh less and work just as well or better. This type of reel is great if you are fishing for stocked fish or on small streams. But I like the idea of having a better reel on the larger rivers out here were I live and like Benjo said I have seen a lot of people into there backing out here over the years. I guess it just matters were you fish and what you fish for.
What ever the case it is no sweat off of me if people like cheap reels. I don’t and won’t have one on my rod. I am not rich and I do not care one lick if people think I am showing off by having good reels. I know that if I hook a large fish on the Madison or the Yellowstone that I do not have to worry about my equipment. That means something to me. Try hooking a 5 or 6 pound brown or rainbow on the Madison and playing it by hand. I will get a big kick out of watching that one. 
Ron
I would like to make the observation that a great many “high end” reels now cost more than a quality Ruger or Smith and Wesson Revolver! I would have to argue that the materials, quality control and machining needed to make the revolvers is superior to that needed in manufacturing quality Fly Reels. If your reel fails, your life and limbs and eyesight are not put to any great risk!
There are good reels and then there are sucker reels. Sucker reels are the best reels industry can offer though they are not cost competive, they are marketed for that 10% or so of the population who make money faster then they can spend it and don’t blink at the price or people who like quality but never take them out of the box.
Another example of sucker products are tying vices. I have a rinkey dink vise that cost $20 that barely holds a hook. A quality vice sells for around $100, a sucker vice sells for $600-800 and usually comes with a $1000 tying bench. Now I know these make great gifts for the man who has everything but I doubt they tie a fly any better then the cheap vise.
Buying quality always pays you back many times more than the origional cost but there is a fine line between quality and being suckered…FB.
Ok, ok, I confess. I am an anti-snob. I’m someone who looks at a $300 reel and says, “No one needs that, it’s just a status thing.”
I am trying to overcome this reaction. Not because I want a $300 reel, but because it is unfair and judgemental. Who am I to judge YOU for spending YOUR money on what YOU want?
So please forgive me my past. I’ll try to get past my anti-snobbery. But I still refuse to spend more than $50 on a reel. It isn’t necessary for my wants. (I can’t bring myself to say a fly reel is a need. Food is a need, fishing is a want. )
Just to weigh in…if you are going to use a $39 martin, you’re gonna have trouble. that said, there’s no reel in the world worth five bills–a $500 reel cost the shop $250 which means it cost the tackle company $125. I caught close to 500 striped bass last year on reels that cost less than $200. The were bar stock, had a good drag, they didn’t explode and the drag never fried and i didn’t lose one fish to reel failure.
RW here,
Well said Farmer Bob. I agree. Something can only be made just so good. Beyond that it is only bells and whistles.
RW
“We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours.” -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
D. Micus, you are deep into SW flyfishing, and probably it’s history. I’m wondering if you know what types of reels (and rods for that matter) SW flyfishers used 90-100 years ago? Did they have good success, or did they lose most of their hookups?
Jim
Jim, from what i can see they just used wooden spools. Of course the spools were made by abel and cost $300 .
Seriously, not sure about 100 years ago, but old photos i see of lefty kreh and joe brooks show them using pflugers. That said, I wouldn’t fish for stripers with a $35 plueger (though if i were a better fisherman i would!), but i also don’t see the need for a $650 reel unless i’m fishing the blue water. I’ve been using Regington RS2s that retail for $140 but I got for $40, and though I’ve had some slight problems (to be detailed in an upcoming article) I’ve not lost a fish because of drag inertia or the gears locking, or any of the other problems mentioned above.
Less see now? Because you people are not willing to put out more money for a reel anyone that does is a jerk? I do not understand how anyone can tell another what to do with the money “They” earned. But that is what you people are trying to say. If I make a lot of money (Or even if I do not make a lot of money) and want to buy the best reels then I am some kind of a jerk? Nice.
What about the guy that wants to go and catch a big tuna on fly gear? You think he is better off to use a $150.00 reel or a $500.00 reel. Oh that is right he dosen’t have the right to fish for tuna with fly gear because it is stupid. HMMMMMM lot’s of those Tuna in the record book on fly gear. Must be a lot of jerks out there using that dam expensive gear. Oh! that’s right there are a few of those guys that just saved a long time to do what they did to get in the book. Not all were rich.
Need we talk about Billfish? or some other types of saltwater fish? Naw all those people are jerks to. They don’t have the right to use expensive reels because I don’t use them so why should they?
For you that have not caught any fish but a striper on fly gear. I suggest catching a #30 pound Yellowfin on the same fly gear you use for stripers. Not saying it won’t hold up now. But pray that Tuna dosen’t turn into a #50 pounder. Heck that #30 pounder would pull a striper of the same size backwards.
You can’t use one fish to say how a reel will work on “ALL” fish. They do not fight the same. And that is just what most of you people are doing. It dosen’t work that way. I know several guides here that fish saltwater each year and they all use better than avrage reels. Must be a reason?
By the way there is no 50 percent mark up on fly reels that I have ever herd of. More like 40 percent unless you buy a heck of a lot of them at one time.
analogbob- Are expensive fly reels over priced? Probablly But I worked for a very good gun smith for a lot of years in the off season when not guiding. What I can tell you on your little talk on firearms compared to Fly reels is this. The only difference between making either one is the steel used
and one is heat treated. Other wise that $250.000,00 dolor CNC machine setting it that shop turning out those reels or firearms cost the same to buy and to run as well as for the company to pay a person to run it. The reel company may sell 400 expensive reels in a year. Smith and Wession sells thousands of Pistols in a years time. They also have a larger advertisement budget than the reel company does. Do you have any idea what it costs to have a half page add in say Fly Fisherman magazine trying to sell your reels? I can tell you this, it would scare most people on this board. I know a number of years ago it cost $600.00 for a business card sized add in the back of that mag for one issue. I also know that a half page will cost you about the price of 10 of your top of the line reels per issue.
Get the point. Again not saying that those reels may not be a little high in price. A big company can sell for less than a smaller company. They produce more, sell more,thus a lower price. Just a heads up on that end of it.
Nope I will use the better reels and feel dam good about it. You use your reels and I wish all of you the very best while using them. Just remember that everyone has a right to buy and own what they wish in this
country without others belittling them for it. That is what makes this country different than a lot of other’s in this world. Thank the good Lord. Ron
[This message has been edited by RonMT (edited 25 April 2005).]
Ron, read my post. I said I wouldn’t use a $650 reel EXCEPT in BLUE WATER. And it seem to me that you started the knocking with the “just wait till the drag on your cheap reel fries” etc. etc. Lastly, I’m fortunate enough to get a professional discount from quite a few tackle companies, and most of them are 50%, which I assume is the dealer’s cost.
And how many tuna do you catch in Montana?
[This message has been edited by D. Micus (edited 26 April 2005).]
RonMT, Your comment on my post is well taken. I posted it to stimulate discussion, not that much stimulation was needed! My point is that it is possible to make a “bulletproof” reel at a price that will not “shock” the more practical minded anglers in out midst. Expensive reels are bought for many reasons. The purchaser may be a collector looking at investment potential which is increased when the number of reels manufactured are limited. One of the best ways to do this is by having the Artisan/Machinist charge what the market will bear while still making a profit and a living off his or her endeavours. There is also the pleasure factor to consider. Many people like to hunt and carry a rare, custom made hunting knife with them. It gives them pleasure to own it, look at it, handle it and use it. The same goes with a finely manufactured Fly Reel. People go fly fishing for pleasure first, or they waste the day. Anything that adds to that pleasure and does not result in the disapproval of reasonable sportsmen is a plus. I take inordinate pleasure in fishing with my old Hardy’s and also my first Pflueger 1494 and my father’s very old, cheap, unnamed open frame click drag, fly
reel. Life is too short to be snooty.
D. Micus- The only part of my post directed at you was the wholesale price. You get the guides discount not what the reel manufacture gives a noraml shop or store. They give guides a better price as a form of advertisement. That is why the price a little lower.
As for me being in Montana my son lives Down in Texas and we visit them once a year and have for many years. Usually for two weeks. They have a house on the coast out of Rockport were we stay. I fish the coast the whole time I am there and have caught many types of saltwater fish while down there. I have also went off shore many times with a close friend I have down there. I have caught stripers along the coast of New Jersey some years back so I know how they fight as well.
We have a lot of guides up here that fish the salt each and every year. Some of them guide here in the summer and down in Florida in the winter. Just because a guy or gal lives in the far north does not mean they don’t know a bit about the salt. Carlie Waterman use to live just around the corner from me up here and in Florida in the winter. He wrote for many saltwaer magazines and had the back page of one of the saltwater fly fishing magazines until he passed away. Good man and I miss him. So being in Montana hasn’t much to do with a person being able to fish the salt or knowing about saltwater fishing. We just don’t get to do it at the drop of a hat is all.
analogbob- Agreed. My point is that no one has the right to belittle anyone for buying a high priced reel or rod for any reason. It is there right to do so and many do because if they didn’t then company’s wouldn’t make those reels or rods. And I also say that even though they are high priced they “Are” better made and will handle tougher use than a cheaper reel will. Not saying that a cheaper reel will not handle something. Just that an expensive reel will do so more times and a little better. I also believe that if you fish in the salt you will hook fish that you were not fishing for and a cheaper reel may have held up for the fish that you were going for but will not handle the fish you hooked by mistake. It happens more in the salt than in fishwater.
I don’t know for sure but I think some people are jealous if another has expensive gear? I don’t understand that because not all people that buy better gear are rich. They work hard and save there money so they can have the good gear. Heck I have good gear and I drive a 1979 Ford pick-up. I don’t need a fancy new truck to do what I need to do with one. And I sure could care less what the other guy thinks about what I drive. It runs good and I take care of it. Same with my gear. I bought some of my Hardy reels back in the 60’s and they are going strong. I paid I think if I remember right $15.00 for one of them used back then. Still works great.
Having good gear has nothing to do for the most part with the guy behind it. Yes there are some that buy expensive gear just to say “Look at what I have”. But I believe that there are many more that buy it so that they have the best to use for many years. I bought my Pate reels when they first came out many years ago. I saved my guide tips to buy them and it took some time but they were well worth the time it took to save up the money. I had them two years before I got to use them at all. But I knew that I would be using them so that is why I bought them in the first place. They have severed me very well for many years now. I think they were a good buy. Ron
I would just like to clear up a point on this discussion (as I feel my post is somewhat resposible for this), although I said I play my fish from hand, this is in stillwater, not running, so the fight is not as strong. Also I am not berating better quality reels, I personally use an Orvis Rocky Mountain for all my still water fishing. The point of my original post was for no other reason than to find out if people thought the silky drag was a gimmick or a worthwhile addition to their trout fishing.
Work is a means for people to afford their fishing.
now, i’m not sure if this is true, but i’m just putting it out there…i read that a cheap reel can just spontaneously combust! doesn’t even take a big fish!
Dave
I always carry a cheap inexpensive reel for that very purpose. In the event I’m sranded and need to build a fire. Now I have to admit that sometimes I could not get them to spontaneously combust. So I just stripped off some line by hand. You know pretended I had a big fish on and boom! Instant fire. Of course the reel practically melted in my hand. But hey that’s the chance you take.