The other night while tying up 4 dozen flies for the local fly shop I had the TV on and was watching an In Fisherman program. They were fly fishing in, I believe Alberta, Canada. They were catching some very nice fish. As I was tying and watching I noticed that the fly fisherman, I do not remember his name, had the fly line coming off the top of his fly reel instead of the bottom. When he would wind the line in, while fighting the fish, he would wind the reel backward since the line was coming off the top of the reel. I am not looking for a discussion on which way is right or wrong, but, is there anyone else out there that has their fly line coming off the top of the reel instead of the bottom? I have mine coming off the bottom and turn the reel handle forward to retrieve line. With line coming off the top of the reel, it would put the line in line with the stripping guide instead of coming up and then through the guide. This has been on my mind ever since seeing the show and now I want to know what you all are thinking about this. Did anyone else notice this, if you saw the show, or does anyone else know of someone that spools their fly line off the top of the reel? What do you all think about it? The pros and cons?
On backwards,
Once had a lady ask us what was wrong with her drag ( we were salmon fishing), she had her reel on backwards, drag went the other way. Reely bright. Oh ya, she was on a Salmon council out here too.
On the one hand, there’s no rules to this sport, so if people want to reel that way, more power to them. It could have been that the reel was already set up to reel with the other hand, but the guy couldn’t use it that way. Having spent half an hour this weekend unspooling a line and backing on the grass at a kids fishing clinic and re-reeling it the other way, I can sympathize with not wanting to have to redo a reel just so it works the way I think it should.
On the other hand, it’s gotta be harder to use it that way than the way most of us do it. Who knows why he had it that way.
On my first and still only rig I figured that I needed to reverse the reel so I could cast with my left hand. So that ment switching the spool around and then rewinding the line using my right hand. I came to the same question when doing this and said to myself, Toilet paper off the Top Fly line off the Bottom:cool:
I’m with JC…apparently he was good enough to use it that way:D
I have always done it that way. To reel in I invert the rod with the reel on top and reel in backwards to everyone else. But the drag is set up in the correct direction, hard out easy in. I don’t know why but that is the easiest way for me to reel in. JC saw me reeling in that way at the CWFI fish in. He and others all laughed and told me how to do it the “right way” but for me it is the right way. I know the rod and reel was set up right because it is the Gatti that JC always brings to the fish in.
A side note, On all my reels the backing is not tied to the arbour . I used to catch salmon all the time when I lived on the salt and once in a while a porpoise would grab the salmon and scream out line till it hit the end. If your backing was tied tight the porpoise would yank the whole kit and kaboodle overboard and gone forever. Once a buddy and I had a humpback whale snag our Cod jigging lines in its flukes, mine was saved because I was quick enough to cut the line, Mike, my fishing partner lost all his gear when the Whale hit the end of the backing. We are quite sure the whale never even knew we were there. The power of those things is truly awesome.
PS we were unable to bring the humpback to hand and judging by the size of our net that was probably a good thing. :rolleyes:
PPS Ducksterman , Does this mean that I also am good enough to use it that way? Is there a certificate or prize for this?
That’s backwards! That will effect the way the drag works (if it is a disc drag), and may not be good for it.
And on top of that, it would look and feel weird, sort of like the steering wheel of your car being on the right side, instead of the left, where it belongs (in the US, anyway).
I’ve driven several cars with right-hand drive, but I’d never get used to it. It’s just weird! And I would never do that to my beloved fly gear.
GBF…I saw a certificate once but it was written backwards and mounted in the frame blank side out:rolleyes:
All of my reels have the flyline off the top of the reel. The flyline is better aligned with the stripping guide.
I would say he had a right hand retrieve and wanted to retrieve left handed on the backwards reeling.
As Warren knows, many of my reels peel off from the top. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m changing them just so people quit telling me that I’ve got it all wrong… <sigh>
Ed
Ed,
If you are comfortable with the set up as you have it, then I would leave it alone. I only mentioned this because it seemed unusual for me and I wanted to know what others thought and their feedback on it. Just trying to see if there was something else I needed to know about this great sport. On the show the gentleman doing the fishing would cast with his right hand, strip line with his left hand and once he had a fish on and on the reel, he would shift the rod to his left hand and crank the reel backwards with his right hand! It just seemed odd to me and having to switch the fly rod from one hand to the other while trying to land a fish made no sense to me. Good way to lose a fish. Just my opinions and thoughts and nothing more…
Yep thats what I do , switch hands to reel in. Has it cost me fish? Probably but if I reeled in “normally” I am so slow that I would lose even more.
It does not impact my fly reel’s safety because it is set up correctly as to the drag.
There’s another thread on this subject…I posed the question a long time ago. The idea of the line coming off the top in line with the guides…and seemingly stripping out better from off the top stripping downward…as opposed to line off the bottom stripping downward. I suggested all I have to do to try it is reel line in backwards. It was mentioned it’s gonna rub your knuckles…but no big definitive comments came out of it…I haven’t tried to do it yet…but I will
I cast and wind with my right hand. I tried left handed and especially in the salt would wind up with cramps in my hand. It was just to uncomfortable. I don’t ever remember losing a fish because I have to change hands. Another reason is that if a right handed caster doesn’t pull straight down while stripping line off the reel and the reel is set up for left hand wind, you will be pulling your line against the revolving spool instead of the frame and line guard. Prematurly wearing out your line. Most newer reel have an exposed spool rim.
About the upside down reeling. Those of us who fish bamboo will fight some fish with the reel on top to try to prevent the bamboo tip from getting a set. Learned this one the hard way.
Since I doubt any of us are using tippets stronger than our backing, If I think I’m gonna get spooled ( I Wish) point the rod at the fish and the tippet should break before the backing or any other knot in the system.
No matter how you set your reel the line should come past the line guard. Any other way you can not only damage the line but I’ve seen reel frames with grooves in them from the line.
Tom
I can cast, badly, and reel with either hand. I can lose fish with or hand or with both hands acting in concert…
I just get tired of half the people that I see on a stream telling me that I’m doing it wrong. It gets monotonous.
Ed