Another vote for the Tetons. I was able to get Teton signature reels on e-bay for about the same price as retail Tiogas. Very simple, reliable and rugged reels with excellent smooth drag. The only downside with earlier Tetons is the cosmetic finish is a bit delicate if you care about that.
John
Interesting thread guys. I bought three Lamsons and have been terribly disappointed, ony of my Radius 1.5’s actually disintergrated on stream the other day. I now have a couple of Orvis, a mid arbour and a battenkill large arbour and am very impressed with both. One more you should consider though, that I am real tempted to buy, is the Okuma Helios for around $140 at Cabelas, and I think it is an awsome looking reel for the money. For me it’s between the Orvis mid arbour and the helios.
I use 2 orvis Battenkill disc and 2teton reels. they are both fine reels.Cant go wrong with either. The tetons i got really good deals both 70 bucks. One on Ebay and other in Cabelas Bargin Cave.
No one mentioned the STH cassette reels? Interesting option if you want to load a couple of spools. At $50 a pop for decent lines, I’d figure that into the equation. Just MYHO.
Hey there ol’blue,
As you’ve probably already noticed,if allowed, this would also be a great place to
get help on choosing auto colors.
Mark
I’d rather be in Wyoming!
Another vote for the Trion! I just got one and they seem to be quite well built and as the one poster said almost a duplicate of the Orvis mid arbor. I held both and went with the Pflueger Trion for the cost savings. Got mine for 75.00 with free shipping. Hard to beat.
Also, I recent purchased via Ebay, two Pflueger Medalist reels. One is on my new self built 4wt. It’s a 1973 near mint 1494DA. The other is on the way. A converted to mid arbor 1496 and 1/2 with the spool conversion installed. I went from thinking they were cheesy to being a “pfluegerphile”. Good luck with your choice.
Steve
I fish, therefore I swam.
After looking everything over, and comparing as many different reels as I could get my hands on, I went with the Trion for several reasons. First was the price. I picked up a brand new one for under $80 shipped and extra spools are less than $50. After handling other reels in higher price ranges, I didn’t feel that I was getting a good enough return for the extra $$. Secondly, I just liked the looks of the mid-arbor reels. The other reels that were seriously in the running were the Orvis Battenkill disc and the mid-arbor. The warranty was a huge plus there, but I couldn’t justify nearly doubling the cost of the reel and spools for the lifetime warranty of the midarbor (and I’m still not sure it has one). The battenkill disc was very temping, but the choice on that one came down to asthetics, mostly. If I have any problems with the Pflueger, the Battenkill disc will be its replacement.
Thanks everyone for your input and opinions. I can’t wait for the reel to arrive in the mail so I can get it rigged and on the water.
hey ol’blue. glad to hear of your Trion choice. What model did you get the 1934 or the 1956? mine is the 1978 model for my 8 wt salmon rod which I use in Southeast Alaska each fall for the Silver run. Problem is I gotta wait til Sept 06 to do that and hopefully will get it on the water here in the spring when the fish get active again. Carp will be my target fish here in NC til the fall. So I hope to break it in by next April.
Then after thinking for a minute I realized I have right at home…a dog- a very fast one at that, a cat-indoors so she’s out, chickens, guineas-also fast, ducks-not fast, sheep-fast, you see where I’m going with this…and three small kids. I’m thinking I could tie some 5-7 pound tippet on to a critter or my dog or one of the kids…and with the drag set loose…have’em take off then crank the drag down til the tippet pops! Ye- haa! Redneck farm fishin’ at its best.
I could maybe even cast some sort of paper clip fly onto the sheep’s backs and with a woolly snag give a tug that would spook them into running. Boy, if it’s not too windy this weekend…this could be FUN!
I fish, therefore I swam.
I’ve never heard of a wooly snagger before. You should’ve entered that one in the wooly swap we had a while back. I’m sure it would have been a one of a kind.
I picked up the 1956 and figured that I could use it easier with a 4 weight line and extra backing than I could use a 3/4 with a 6 weight line and little or no backing. It has to be a multi-use, ya know?
Easy choice-- Galvan, or Lamson
Jude
Late to bed,
Early to Rise,
Guide all day,
Tie more flies!
www.customflys.com
Well, I finally got my reel in this evening. I’m happy with my choice. It seems like a well made, smooth reel for the money. Now for some more spools and I’ll be ready to roll. I’m hoping to get it out this weekend to break it in on some trout.