redington rs2 - one 5/6 wt, three 7/8 wt, and one 9/10 wt. I think they are about the best compromise between quality and price. You can pay “much more” but you won’t get “much more” reel. Medium arbor and disc drag. Very durable. YMMV.
I love and fish a Hardy,Prince,LRH,Perfect,SA System #7 on the local small streams here in Idaho,and Ross with a disic drag for the big fish in Alaska.
From my point of view, it’s not the reel you have on the rod, but the fish you have on the reel.
This afternoon, this 19 and 1/2 inch West Slope cutt found itself on an Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor III.
John
This thread has been an interesting read for me. Learned some new things.
I kind of operate on the assumption that, until you get into really big fish, the reel is just a place to store line. I’d rather spend my money on things that are more important to the actual catching of trout.
But, to answer the thread, I own some Cabela’s reels that came with combo sets and a Medalist to balance out a glass 3 weight. The reel I use most often is a BBS, but that is because it balances fine on my favorite 4-weight and was a gift from my bride, who actually entered a fly shop for her first time to get their advice and spent more on a reel than I normally do.
BBS I and III
Pflueger Medalist 1494
Cabelas Cutthroat
Ocean City No. 76
HI Automatic
I have a bunch… same as a couple of others on there…in the low to moderate price range. The why? Simply to hold the fly line and balance the rod. (except for my Steelhead / salmon rod) I have a moderately priced SA with a good disk drag on that one.
Talked to a shop owner today about a 3n Abel and will wait to see what it will cost,in the meantime browsed hardy and that CC model looked nice for 179.00 plus a free line.
I have a couple of large arbor Battenkills for bones and salmon.
Old style Battenkills for line size three up to eight.
I have a 3/4 CFO I love on my Superfine.
I’ve got a Bradley and a Godfrey for a couple of 'boos, none of which see the light of day very often.
I like the looks of the Old Battenkills. The new bar stocks don’t really capture the same look and I’ve never seen anything else comparable at a reasonable price.
My favorite reel is the Baby Marryat (gold frame, silver perforated spool) with a one way clutch brake drag system for a 2 weight bamboo rod.
I bought my first reel when they stopped making steel beer cans!
four hardys because after 40 years they won?t wear out.
Tibor Spring Creek and Hardy Bougle for 3 & 4 wts. Tibor Tailwater and Bauer Rogue for 5 & 6 wts. Although fancy reels are not necessary for these lighter weights, I just happen to like these reels. I like their drag and their quality. Also like their appearance.
The two I use most often are an Orvis CFO on my 4 weight. I like it mostly because it’s got that classic look and it’s light. The other one (and one I use most often) is a Hardy Lightweight on my 5 weight. Honestly the main reason I use it is because it “sounds like a Hardy”. And the sound of a fish taking line off of a Hardy click-drag reel is one of the nicest sounds in the world.
Interesting no one has mentioned the Okuma Helios…there was a time when they were under the radar you could get them at a bargain.
well i have way too many, but the ones i like are scientific anglers mastery and #2, than martin the mg 10 and the work hog mg 72 must be 12 ozs. all kind of , all kinds of small reels most all old had a hardy perfect gone over att a show this year factory man said in was very nice, for a reel build in 1925. also have some auto that i repaired that were not pick up after 43 years in the shop who knows what i have. flyman 3
I have a CFO 123 that I use for my 2and3 wts., aHardy JHL for my 4 wts and Lamson Velocity or Ross Gunnison for my 5wts. I just picked up an Abel creek,that will likely become my new 5 wt .Will be selling my Galvan and Tibor soon as I start downsizing my rods and reels.
I just got a new TFO Finesse 7’3" 4pc 2wt and BVK 0 today, haven’t fished it yet, but I like it already. 
Empty
Loaded…maybe I should have put some more backing on?
Over all diameter is 2.75"
My other reels are Bass Pro Shops, two White River CV2 reels (small on my 3wt, medium on the 6wt) and a Worldwide Sportsman Gold Cup III on my 9wt.
Well I have a new addition to my galvan ob3,a Abel super series 3n that I tried on my custom built loomis 4 randy at bigdadyrods built for me,I think I like this setup but have chosen to keep the galvan for the 5 weight and as we speak the extra spool is on eBay.
I have a couple Tioga 6’s, a Tioga 4, and a Lamson LP1-L. I like the Tiogas because they can take a pounding (lots of scrambling on the rocks), have a decent drag, and spare spools are fairly inexpensive. I love the Lamson for my lightweight trout fishing, and even though it only has a click/pawl drag, I’ve caught trout up to 20" on it without a hitch.
Regards,
Scott
Okay, I’m an idiot. Is there an actual poll or are we being asked to simply identify our reels with answers to the question? In any event, I have reels for 2 purposes: 1) for trout, and 2) for salmon/steelhead. I have about 8 different ones for the former, all about the same size but hold different lines. For the latter I have a Refington/Orvis 8-9. Nothing fancy or expensive.
Allan