Bozeman flyworks reel review

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

I posted this on another site also

Bozeman flyworks reel

I ordered one in a 5/6 weight from Amazon, blue and silver. It shipped from Belgrade Mt., and with Amazon?s return policy, you can?t go wrong.

The reel arrived yesterday, shipped and packaged very nicely. At first glance, the reel looks great. It is almost certainly CNC machine cut out of aluminum. The fit and finish is good to very good. The spool spins as smooth as any I have had in my hands. The drag adjustment is precise with nice little ?clicks? as you tighten or loosen the drag. With about a two full turns of adjustment from almost no drag to way too much drag. The drag seems to stay where you put it when line is stripped out. Very very smooth.

I measured the run out on the spool with a dial indicator, it was as close to .000 as I have seen on anything I have ever measured. And I have checked thousands of parts. Also I checked how true the spool runs, it was true within .002?, which is really nothing. These measurements tell me the the machine workmanship during manufacturing is very fine. As a precision machinist tool and die maker in the business for 35+ years, I appreciate the close tolerance machine work of this reel.

The spool unscrews and the cap (nut) that holds it on STAYS with the spool, no need to worry about dropping and losing It.

I have not confirmed the country of manufacture, still checking on that, Not that it matters all that much to me, as a lot of fishing gear today comes from overseas, rods, hooks, flys?.etc

For 130$ shipped from Amazon, it looks and feels like a very fine reel. I can?t wait to take it out and fight a fish with It. I may order one more in a different size.

I used this reel on a trip to the Yellowstone area, about 8 fishing days. It preformed flawlessly.

I have no affiliation to this company what so ever.

Will try to post pics

2

Thank you for sharing your initial review. I look forward to hearing how the drag behave on the monster Brown you caught on it.

3

You must have read my post on the (other) site…

Worked great.

4

I put about 7 serious days fishing on this reel with zero issues. Fought and netted a lot of fish, and few large trout, one 3-4 lb brown, with no issues. This is the smoothest reel I have ever owned. The drag is smooth and worked flawlessly.

If I can figure out how to resize the pic, I will post it.

Link to other site that I could post the pic, if this is nor allowed, please delete.

https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/99939-bozeman-flyworks-reels/page/2/#comments

My plan is to sell off my other reels and replace them with Bozemanflyworks.

I have no connection whatsoever with this company. I Just like their product.

5

Great review from a doubly qualified reviewer; both as a precision machinist and as an avid fly fisherman. Thank you for sharing this with us. Well done!

Jim Smith

6

I agree, great review! Thanks for sharing it with us.
I see they have 3 reel models, the Hamilton and Midnight (non-sealed drags for freshwater), and the Patriot (sealed drag for saltwater). Sounds like your reel is the Hamilton?
They look good, and reviews, like yours, have been stellar!

7

Thanks for the review! I’ve been looking at these reviews and wondering how they were. Great to get a review by a machinest as well as a fly fisherman! Thanks for taking the time to review. I will be getting a reel or two in the near future.