I’ve been looking at perhaps buying one of the multiplier reels (geared to turn the spool twice for each revolution of the handle). Has anyone had any experience with one of these. The one I was looking at is for 8/9 wt line and I was planning on using it for striper fishing and other larger fish. Thanks for any opinions.
js;
My understanding of multiplier reels is that they don’t have the proper gearing to reel a large fish in. Think of the rear differential in your car trying to turn the wheels twice for every reveloution of the drive shaft!!
However, for taking up slack when pumping in a big fish they do it quickly.
Jack’s absolutely right. I’d go with a larger arbor reel, instead.
I don’t think this is always the case, though. Some multipliers, I believe, have gearing like spinning reel so they are both anti-reversing and the mechanical disadvantage of the multiplier is reduced, making it easier to reel.
I believe the old Orvis series of multipliers, made by BFR (again, I think) were like this.
Grouse
Bro in-law had one, He liked it…but as with any reel,He never really had to fight many fish with it…but He enjoyed being able to treverce more ground in a day by saving reeling in time, when moving from spot to spot on streams and rivers we fished…He still had the disadvantage of having to wait on me though. :rolleyes: 
Somewhere, I don’t know where, I saw an ad for a reel that had one knob in the regular spot and another knob nearer to the center axle of the reel which made for tighter circles of your hand and fingers, thus it was claimed reeled in faster. When I saw the ad My first thoughts were , Oh yea! in the excitement of a strike I am going to take my attention off the fish and look to make sure I have grabbed the correct knob on my reel. Anybody seen one of these?
Castwell also once pointed out that the smaller the diameter of spools the quicker would be the reeling in motion as the hand has less distance to travel for each revolution. Hmmmmmm.
I have a Cobra Multiplier Fly Reel.
Friend of mine bought several of these. I wanted to play with one, and traded him out of one of the 5/6 (smaller) ones he had.
Retrieves line at twice normal speed (obviously).
Doesn’t work well under load, the gearing isn’t set up well for that, so I’d think that with a good sized fish on, you’d be unable to move it with the reel. That means fighting the fish by hand (which I prefer anyway) or ‘pumping’ the fish (which is okay, if you got to).
These are heavy. Not overly so, but I noticed it right away. Also, they come pretty well covered in a substance that reminds me of cosmoline, and need to be degreased and then relubed before they will work smoothly (they can be very smooth AFTER you clean them up).
The one I have came with a set of plastic gears installed, and an extra set of metal gears. I took out the plastic ones right away, and have only used the metal ones.
The way the reel is built, you have to be careful to keep sand and stuff out of the gears. All the ‘workings’ are open to the world, and if you get any grit in there at all, it will grind and or lock up.
The spools are wide, but shallow, and don’t hold much backing, which seems to underline the ‘not for fighting big fish’ theme.
They are inexpensive, around $45 to $50 and come with a nice case and three (3) extra spools.
All in all, not a reel I’ll use much, but I just know I’ll find a niche for it someplace. It’s about right to balance one of those old antique cane type rods, and I may put it on one of those that I have laying around.
Fun to own, and cool to take out and play with.
Buddy
I had one years ago and didn’t see any real advantage to it. Playing a fish on a single-action reel is part of the challenge and appeal of fly fishing for me. I’m sticking to that.
While it is true that a multiplier gives the fish a mechanical advantage over you as opposed to a single action reel, it is no more significant than the mechanical advantage the fish has over you (leverage) by the use of your rod. And I don’t see anyone advocating the use of shorter rods to reduce the mechanical advantage the fish has over you.
Were this the case big game fishing would be done with single action reels not multipliers.
Really, if a fish is pulling so hard you cannot turn the handle of the reel you should probably let it run. Unless you fish with 50 lb test tippet. But I suspect you already know this.
Multipliers have simply gone out of fashion as the same effect (retrieving more line with each handle turn) can be achieved with a large arbor reel. They were once very popular with steelheaders due to the propensity of steelhead to run directly at the angler very quickly.
Hope this helps in your descision.
jsmartt,
If you’re set on a particular reel, don’t be dissuaded by the fact that it is a multiplier. There can be advantages.
Have you ever been stripping in a streamer after a long cast and get a strike close-in? There you are with a pile of line at your feet, and you want to get the fish on the reel in a hurry. Cranking a standard single action hard will get the job done, but (in your hurry) you risk putting the line back on the reel sloppily (inviting trouble on the next run). A larger diameter, large arbor reel will make the process a bit calmer and possibly cleaner. But that 2X multiplier will get it done faster yet.
And it will perform the same when your fish makes a quick run in your direction.
But, quality multipliers are also more costly to manufacture than single actions, and they aren’t as friendly in respect to cleaning and maintenance. Large arbor reels allow for a smaller gain in efficiency over single actions, without the potential maintenance and repair issues of some multipliers used under certain conditions.
[quote=" “Jack Hise”"]
My understanding of multiplier reels is that they don’t have the proper gearing to reel a large fish in. Think of the rear differential in your car trying to turn the wheels twice for every reveloution of the drive shaft!!
[/quote]
I think this is too much of a generalization. Some multipliers are/were assembled with substandard parts and tolerances. Others are/were engineered. Think of Stan Bogdan, Ted Godfrey, Maurice Noel and the many others that have made or continue to make outstanding multipliers for one purpose: Handle large, strong, fast fish.
[quote=" “Gnu Bee Flyer”"]
Somewhere, I don’t know where, I saw an ad for a reel that had one knob in the regular spot and another knob nearer to the center axle of the reel which made for tighter circles of your hand and fingers, thus it was claimed reeled in faster.
[/quote]
Tibor offers this as an option on certain models. As for confusing the handles when you hook up, I don’t think that would be easy; grabbing the handle closest to the rim would be most natural.
[quote=" “wet_fly_action”"]
Really, if a fish is pulling so hard you cannot turn the handle of the reel you should probably let it run.
[/quote]
I agree with much of your post. When a strong fish is on, we grasp the handle when there is the opportunity to retrieve line, not to force a fish directly off the reel and risk a busted tippet or bloody knuckle. We use the rod to provide that opportunity to retrieve as we work the fish closer.
I believe most anglers enjoy single actions for their simplicity and overall reliability. We probably feel the field is leveled somewhat by using the most simple reel. However that doesn’t make multipliers ineffective or impractical in general.
When I was in my teens almost every fly shop sold a plastic spool that you put inside the reel. It was secured around the axel so that you had a larger arbor and needed less backing. I have no idea what they were called. It worked pretty good for us kids as we never fished for anything over 12 - 14 inches and didn’t need much backing. You never see these plastic dohickeys any more. 
Bugsy, Great post, you provide some very solid info on the topic.
I like the concept of multipliers as well. I did get a chance to do some striper fishing once with a borrowed multiplier reel and we did get into several bass in the high teen to mid 20 lb range that day. On those big fish I found myself having to trap the line against the rod to prevent line going out of the reel when pumping the rod on a sulking fish.
This may not be as much an issue with a quality multiplier like a Bogdan. I do think we would see a resurgence of interest in multipliers if the price points for reels with “reel stopping power” and simpler maintenance could be brought down.
Guy
I won’t fish with a reel other than a multiplier. I have a Hardy and a Martin 72. I normally use the Martin 72 with its star drag. I normally only fish for steelhead or salmon. The Martin has a 3:1 retrieve and runs about $35-40 making it a great value. A friend used his on bone fish successfully.
One of the posts says a large arbor reel does the same job as the multiplier. The reel Buddy is referring to is a "LARGE ARBOR-“WIDE ARBOR” with a multiplier 1:2!
And Buddy is right about reeling in a large trout down stream from you in a boat and you are at midstream with a pretty good current. The reel WILL NOT reel the fish in toward you AT ALL. You will not play this fish “on the reel” Due to the small gear trying to turn a larger gear with a BIG spool on it with a Load on the line…it simply will not reel in a fish. period.
Now I, as Buddy, do not put a fish on the reel anyway. I bought it to simply take up slack line at the end of a cast or drift. But I have fought trout on the San Juan on the reel and would much prefer a good quality single action reel in that situation. That being said I would gladly sell someone one of these reels for $50 plus shipping. They cost me $80 apiece out of the UK.
Gemrod