I fish primarily 5wts and 7wts. I’ve always really liked my old STH cassette reels for my 5wts. Can trade out different lines, sink tips, etc with the cassettes. I stick with my Teton Tioga LA’s for my 7wts. They’re built like Tiger tanks…and about as heavy! But I love em!
Whatever comes w/ TFO 8 weight rod cause that seemed a good place to start per bass pro sales.
There ya go … 30 different answers. So now, you’re no closer than you were when you posted your question. 
Purpose of topic was to basically see what most buy in comparison to the rods they own.As you see I normally try and equal the reel price and quality of the rod even if a super drag isn’t needed as stated but top quality and longivity is.
My White River reel died after 2 years of use. It still works, just doesn’t have any drag. So if large fish hits it, that thing is done for.
My current favorite reel is an Orvis Clearwater IV and a Cabelas Prestige.
Quick, get some dirt on that cork. The brightness is hurting my eyes.
orvis battenkill with 4 spools so i can have sever different lines when i go to fish a new place… 2 yawman key wound reels for bamboo rod fishing with silk lines…
four 40 year old Hardys because they simply will not die. Looks like i am going to go before they do.
Orvis CFO’s (old British-made models, not the current version) and Hardy Featherweight/Lightweights for trout. Tradition must be observed. Besides, you don’t really need super-large arbors or hundreds of yards of backing or truck-stopping drags for most freshwater fishing.
Lamson Litespeeds for salmon. The large arbor makes reeling in a lot of backing much easier, and the drag is butter-smooth.
Redington AL large arbor reels for saltwater. Durable, large arbor, decent drag, but the main reason I use them is I picked up 3 of them for $65 each on closeout.
LL Bea Quest 3 for spare saltwater reels spooled with sinking and intermediate lines. Large arbor, decent drag, reliable, a cheap alternative to extra spools for lines you aren’t going to use very often.
Reels are not the most important part of the fly rod set-up. Here is my list of the fly rod set-up listed by importance…
#1. Fly Rod Blank: by use needed in the cast it can be a “Quick Tip” the first 25 percent of the fly rod blank. “Moderate Tip” the first 33 to 50 percent of the fly rod blank. “Slow Tip” 75 percent of the fly rod blank. All have their place in fly fishing, determined by the water you are fishing on, and what species of fish you are fishing for…
#2 Guides (including stripping guides): depending on your need you can use two footed guides, or one footed guides.
#3 Handle Grip: One size does not fit all, make sure that the fly rod handle grip matches your hand grip diameter and shape
#4 Fly Line: Use a fly line that will match the action of the fly rod, and travel swiftly and smoothly through the guides.
#5 Reel Seat and Lock-down gear: Make sure that real seat setup matches the reel and the foots on the reel.
#6 Reel: I have mostly moderate priced fly rod reels, most under $100. For most reels I have a spare spool to use depending on the conditions (weather conditions and wind strength).
Most Important to keep all you fly fishing gear (all the above) in shape and to extend its life-span, to always to clean the whole set-up at the end of each days outing. Let the gear air dry before storing in it’s case.
~Parnelli
On Friday I floated the Kenai River with friends and in relatively “big water” caught a small king salmon, an ordinary silver salmon, rainbows, and dollies. A Lamson Guru on a 7wt Echo worked well for all of them. My ordinary click and pawl Hardys would not have done me well on the salmon… I have smoked far too many Ross reels to ever consider using one again and they should be seriously ashamed of the “Vexsis” line.
Last month I had multiple days of king salmon to 30# and up to a dozen per morning. I was using a brand new Bauer and was extremely impressed with how it handled the big fish and how consistent the drag remained throughout. My needs are a little different than most, obviously.
For grayling and trout I absolutely love Hardys and have a huge pile of them. Lamsons are becoming my favorite reel for everything though.
Just a few of the reels on hand.
The Hardy featherweight and some Marquis (2/3/4, 6, 10, and Salmon #1) are serious sentimental favorites. But Hardys have proved to require more maintenence. I have not fished my Perfects for quite a few years due to concerns about their value being reduced.
Orvis BBS are very adequate, as well as SA for general use. Also have several Sage reels in the more modest end of the line and they are fine for click and pawl reels.
art
I agree that until you are chasing big fish that take a lot of line in a hurry, the reel is not very important. But I do appreciate aesthetics and have ended up pairing “fancier” reels with my nicer rods. For 2-4 weight rods (Winstons), I use the Abel TR-1 reels and love them to death. For 5-6 weights (Sage, Orvis and Loomis), I am currently fishing a brand new Lamson Guru which I like a lot, a Bauer MacKenzie which is awesome, and a Sage 3000, which I am very unimpressed with despite its good looks. My 7 weight Hardy has a beautiful Hardy Ultralite disc reel. For my loaner/kid rods, I have a variety of inexpensive reels. The Cabelas are the best. The low end Orvis reels (Madison) suck.
None of my gear is expensive, reels included as I’m simply not an equipment junkie. I enjoy the fishing and the rod and reels are the tools albeit cheap ones with me but I do take care of my toys. I have a number of reels holding lines from 3 weight to 8 weight but i dont think any are above the 60 dollar mark, actually that would be my most expensive reel. As long as the reel holds the suitable amount of backing and flyline and has enough drag to place resistance on the flyline when I’m stripping, thats all the requirements i have, then I’m happy. I have caught some nice size trout up to 7lb, and nothing has looked like failing on me at any time 
Just a update that will hopefully be my last until my death hopefully a long ways down the road.I now have two abels,a new Abel super 3n for my two 7 1/2’ 4 weights and one I just got today a new Abel super 4 in dark green for my green 5 weight St croix legends and Winston.
I have a number of reels. However, the two that I fish the most are a 3 5/8 Hardy Perfect for salmon and a Hardy LRH Lightweight for trout. Here’s my opinion on fly reels in case anyone wants to hear it… LOL! On a river, unless you’re fishing a click and pawl fly reel, you’re not fishing. There’s nothing like the sound of a running fish on a click reel. Even 8 inch brookies deserve the dignity of being angled with one of these reels. In my opinion, it adds to the fishing experience as landing a big fish on one of these is more challenging than landing a fish with a train stopping disc drag reel. Click and Pawl all the way!!