Fly Reels

Good thread. I cant stand a click and pawl reel, doesnt matter who it was made by, its just annoying. I think the best feeling, best sounding, smoothest reel are the old 60`s Battenkill disc drag made in England. Ive got a few of them, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 8/9 and one 10/11. All in perfect condition and am impressed with each one. The feel, sound and the precision is a thing of beauty. They made and sold tons of these reels and for good reason.

I did have a couple of each of those but I sold a few off and got a few of the discontinued Hydros reels that cost a bunch more, because I liked the gold color and the large arbor and the design which I like way more than the Mirage reels that cost even more. I do not care for the new Hydros at all, I think Orvis blew it on that reel, and Ive heard comments like mine from others. I`m not impressed with any of the reels Orvis is putting out any more.

On the older Hyros reels, (made in China BTW) they are kinda big and bulky, and they have to be to hold any line. The V size for 10 wt is huge. As it is, they only hold the line and half the backing of the old Battenkills in the same size reel. The gold reels are flashy and do look good, but they are somewhat louder then the Battenkill, the drags are incredible, but they do not have the precision of the Battenkill, and the first batch people did not like the fact that the backing could get through the gap between the spool and the body. I have not had any problems with that myself. I like how the spool is designed to allow plenty of air to get to the line and backing. Over all I like these reels, but I`m sure in the future I will rekinder the feeling I had when I got that first old Battenkill and was so impressed with it and just be sorry I spent all that money on the Hydros reels
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Fly Reels