Fly Reels
Fly reels. It is hard to image fly fishing without fly rod, fly line and fly reel.
The fly reel serves a few functions in the fly kit: the most obvious one is backing and fly line storage whereas the most important – the safety at the encounter with a big fish.
The safety is ensured by the fly reel drag system – one may say that the drag system installed in fly reels is to fly rod what an airbag is to a car – it is there and you hardly ever use it, however when you do, it save your life. Additionally, the reel is a kind of a highlight in your fly fishing kit.
In our shop we have got a wide range of fly reels made by various manufacturers, stretching across all price points and for all fly fishing techniques, including: Taimen, Tibor, Loop, Hardy, Hatch and more.
Choosing a fly reel - help for beginners, what is important.
Fly reel size – AFTM rating is the main parameter - it specifies the rating of the fly line the reel should be used with; additionally manufacturers specify how much backing the reel can hold – it is generally assumed that the line used by the manufacturer is WF line and the backing is a standard backing with the strength of 20 lbs. The shape of fly reel spool. Fly reel spools can be divided into classic with small internal diameter, mid arbor and fly reels with wide spools - called Large Arbor. Classic fly reels are usually used in combination with tonkin or fiberglass rods. In modern fly fishing it is MA and LA fly reels that are the most popular. Modern reel constructions have got some advantages over the classic ones – faster winding of the fly line and - which is possibly even more important - a smoother drag.
Fly reels - construction type. Classic, that is with moving (rotating) spool - most of the models available on the market. Systems which are less popular but available on the market: Fly reel with anti-reserve gear spools - used mostly for fly fishing on salt waters. Semi-automatic fly reels in which the line is wound from behind the protruding handle. There are also other niche constructions such as reels with gears or automatic reels.
Fly reel weight and material. Generally in modern constructions the designers try to reduce the weight, which in turn results mostly from the type of material used. The most popular material for reels is aluminum and its alloys. Carbon composites are used in cheap reels and additionally reels made of titanium or even wood are available. Aluminum fly reels are produced in two technologies - they are either carved out (CNC) or forced under high pressure into a mold cavity (die casting). The reels that are carved out from aluminum are more expensive. The weight itself is related to the type of the line that the reel is intended for, rather than its brand.
Fly reel drag. One of the most important part of the fly reel is its drag - although there are many solution available on the market, they can be divided into two basic types: Click - in which a spring presses against a plastic or metal element of the cog, and Drag Disk. In the Drag Disk fly reels, the disks are made of various types of materials, ranging from cork to carbon composites and other friction materials. Click fly reels are very good for lightweight constructions intended for fly rods in rating 0-4, mostly due to high smoothness of the drag and small force needed to move the spool. Disk drag fly reels are considerably more universal and thus they are used for all the ratings.
Fly reel drag change from left to right hand. Disk drag fly reels drag one way only - during withdrawal of the fly line from the reel. This is possible thanks to a thrust bearing installed in the fly reel. Usually one needs to move the bearing to the other side in order to change the drag from left to right hand. In some fly reels such a change is not possible. Such fly reels are marked either LH (left hand) or RH (right hand) which relates to the hand operating the crank: right-handed person hold the rod in the right hand and cranks is held with the left hand which means that such a person should use a fly reel with LH marking.
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