I will be fishing this september in Alaska. Mostly for Coho salmon – not real big but could go up to 20 pounds (they tell me). Almost all fishing will be in salt water.
I need to get a reel but don’t want it to break the bank although around $300 is OK. I do want a good drag and something that will hold up to salt water – also mid arbor or large arbor if it will hold enough line.
What reels are the salt water fishermen using?? How about the East Coast striper fishermen- what reels are they using?
When I went looking for a new budget reel for my 10wt last minute before a trip, the guys at my local shop set me up with and Orvis Mid arbor. I’d have gone for the large arbor if I had some extra money at the time, but either one seems like a good option and he knew there was a chance I’d be using it for tarpon. It might be the minumum you’d wanna go, but with the price range you set I’d look at the Orvis Battenkill Large Arbors. You can get a reel and probably an extra spool and be under your budget. Also might want to consider Lamson, I got a lot of suggestions to look at their reels when I was looking for a reel for an 8wt for the salt.
The majority of disk drag reels over $100 will work. The more $ you spend typically the more durable the reel and drag system. Some to consider would be the Lamson Konic and Guru, Redington CDL and Rise, TFO Large Arbor, Sage 3880CF, Scientific Anglers System II (standard and large arbor), Orvis Battenkill Mid and Large Arbor, Ross CLA, Sea Level Tempest, Okuma Helios,Cortland Precision XC just to list a few.
I use an Orvis Mid Arbor on one of my 8wt rods. It has worked out very well on snook and redfish and has held up well to the salt. It is probably the best combination of price and quality.
I am also a big Lamson fan and use a Lightspeed, which may be a little over the price limit, and a Radius. While I like the Radius, the spool diameter is a little to small for big fish. The Guru or Velocity would be a better choice.
Lots of great recommendations here. For coho on a single hander or switch I’m using Orivs Battenkill Large Arbors, Galvan Torques and Vosseler reels and think they are all great for the job and have stopped some large coho in their tracks. Consider Allen Fly Fishing’s Alpha series, won’t break the bank and for the price of one of the earlier mentioned reels you can get two Alphas, backing and lines. The only thing better than a nice reel is two or more nice reels.
Someone above recommended the Okuma Helios: bad choice. I had one that came apart after only 8 or 10 trips to the salt.
Battenkill Mid-Arbor comes highly recommended. If you can find the old school Battenkill Large Arbor (no longer for sale at retail; you’d have to look on ebay or some such place) I think those are some of the best reels ever built. They’re super-light weight.