Author Topic: Lets Talk Fly Reels..... (Read 92061 times)

E.T. · « **on:** May 11, 2012, 01:59:48 PM »

I would like to start a thread based on Fly Reels.
You can add your current reels on here, your next purchase, one of your collectibles and even that reel you are dreaming about owning one day.

I will start off with this one....

This is the Waterworks Lamson Velocity.....Would love to own this reel

I am trying to get my hands on one of these....

This is the Ari Hart Astrid and yes it comes standard with a reel seat.
Waiting for a bargain as these retail anything between R4500-R7500.

Kumz · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:01:58 PM »

WTF ... Freaking wicked looking reels ... nice very nice ...

E.T. · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:02:32 PM »

This is an Ari Hart Mach 0

They retail anything from R3500.
It is rated for 1-3wt fishing.

E.T. · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:08:08 PM »

These are ATH Remco replicas I had made in Sweden....

This is the Original ATH Remco...

Now these were manufactured in the 90's and in second hand good condition you are looking at R4500-R7500 for the Remco.

E.T. · « **Reply #4 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:19:00 PM »

You can now get Waterworks Lamson Reels locally from the Agents.

I wanted a Purist ULA for a recent addition to my rods arsenal and they didn't have any stock and apparently this reel isn't doing that well over here, so they wanted to offer me this reel.....

The Lamson Litespeed in a 3wt at about R1350 or something like that.

I decided to wait it out and as luck would have it, I now have what I wanted in the first place on it's way to me.....

The Lamson Purist ULA

E.T. · « **Reply #5 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:21:52 PM »

Guys I encourage you to post here.

Give a bit of info if you don't mind.
Things like retail price, line rating, etc.

Look forward to seeing some sweet reels

Wynand13 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:33:02 PM »

ATH Remco looks

I use Stealth and must say as a line storing device its doing good.....
But I like the
Sage 3800 Carbon Fiber Fly Reel its propably not the best but I was shown one recently and they just grabbed me..

rockspider · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:37:06 PM »

the Lamson reels look good and seem quite popular over here.

have you heard of Danielsson reels? I would like the original for my 7' 4wt 1oz ......
http://www.danielsson-flyreels.se/index.php?page=danielssons-original-teknisk-fakta&lang=en

Danielsson also make a range of bigger reels which seem reasonably popular.

I wish there was a shilton distributor over here, so i could feel the reels on some of my rods.

my reels are not quite so flash, have an old stealth click and pawl, shimano ultegras; orvis mach's for saltwater to replace my old BFR's and a shilton for the 12wt.

unfortunately they are all gathering dust, i use them far too little :(

tkei · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2012, 02:44:13 PM »

Et, got the earlier model Lamson velocity 3.5. lovely reel, but also dont use it enough. was a present from my dear wife. I felt too bad to return it to Sportfish in london, as it coast about 180 pounds at the time and for 300 quid i could have got an abel and the cash wasnt the issue, it was the fac tthat they looked so different that she would notice.
they would both still be collecting dust in my cuboard, havnt used them in years.
some lovely reels there. will take pic over weekend.

Searaider · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2012, 05:08:45 PM »

Very nice

REEFMAN · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2012, 05:52:09 PM »

K.... this may be a pleb question of note... so apologies in advance from a dedicated R/S angler.
Can someone explain to me why these reels are so expensive? I mean, what technology have they got to justify their cost?
They cost the same as some of the top of the range R/S reels, but at least those have some components, as in gears, bearings, drag systems, braking systems etc etc. What does a fly reel have that justifies the ridiculous price?
Or am I missing something here? Enlighten me please!

Half-Pint · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2012, 12:37:59 PM »

Reefz I was wondering the same thing! Is there actually a R4000 difference between these and the lower end reels? Or is it largely paying for the name? Nothing wrong with that since we all do that at some stage!

Capt. Hook · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2012, 01:02:43 PM »

Eish, you got my juices flowing there.... I am sure you not allowed to post porn on this forum.

I happened to come across a Penn International 6wt Fly Reel at a bargain once with a tackle shop that closed and I bought it just for the sake of owning one.

I also have a Redington Reel, along with 2 Redington Nano Rods which I love.

The tackle is just so stunning. Eish...............

Herman Jooste · « **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2012, 07:33:43 PM »

Quote from: REEFMAN on May 11, 2012, 05:52:09 PM

K.... this may be a pleb question of note... so apologies in advance from a dedicated R/S angler.
Can someone explain to me why these reels are so expensive? I mean, what technology have they got to justify their cost?
They cost the same as some of the top of the range R/S reels, but at least those have some components, as in gears, bearings, drag systems, braking systems etc etc. What does a fly reel have that justifies the ridiculous price?
Or am I missing something here? Enlighten me please!

There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION for the rediculous prices asked for f/f reels and rods.

It seems to me that over the years f/f has been percieved as a rich man's sport and the prices have been adjusted accordingly, which is just so WRONG.

I have a Shimano Ultegra fly reel, which cost me R 700, 5 years ago. I have 2 smallish Shimano spinning reels, which combined cost less than the flyreel.

Capt. Hook · « **Reply #14 on:** May 13, 2012, 11:09:39 PM »

Quote from: Herman Jooste on May 13, 2012, 07:33:43 PM

Quote from: REEFMAN on May 11, 2012, 05:52:09 PM
K.... this may be a pleb question of note... so apologies in advance from a dedicated R/S angler.
Can someone explain to me why these reels are so expensive? I mean, what technology have they got to justify their cost?
They cost the same as some of the top of the range R/S reels, but at least those have some components, as in gears, bearings, drag systems, braking systems etc etc. What does a fly reel have that justifies the ridiculous price?
Or am I missing something here? Enlighten me please!

There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION for the rediculous prices asked for f/f reels and rods.

It seems to me that over the years f/f has been percieved as a rich man's sport and the prices have been adjusted accordingly, which is just so WRONG.

I have a Shimano Ultegra fly reel, which cost me R 700, 5 years ago. I have 2 smallish Shimano spinning reels, which combined cost less than the flyreel.

Just a few things to ponder Herman.
1. The top range fly reels are low production items so manufacturing costs are high
2. The top range fly reels are machined from 1 solid piece of bar aircraft grade aluminium
3. All the top range fly reels are machined components

These reels need to be made like that because they can handle pressure that your R700 reel will never handle, and it may not mean anything when hunting trout or yellows, but when hitting the salt it makes a world of difference as most the cheaper production reels simply cannot handle big fish and they will break up.
Look at what happened to the 12wt Explorer reel when we got the saily on fly, the thing fell apart under the pressure and we had to try keepit together to land the fish, that was the end of that reel and imo it was a waste of money and a better quality reel even though more than double the price would have been money well spent, especially if you consider that a fish of a lifetime could have been lost.

tkei · « **Reply #15 on:** May 14, 2012, 08:59:41 AM »

Reefs,
i agree, but also consider they are being put on rods that cost the GDP of a small african country. The rods are works of art that have unbelievable technology in them. Pick up a 0 or 1 weight top end rod. they are like pieces of thatch that can cast unbelievably well etc. They are however not for everyone (for practicala nd cost reasons). Putting a r200 reel to store line on these will work, but i dont see you R&S guys putting a penn 500 on the top end assasin/ purglass rods. They will work (sort of) but rather not.

The drags on the top reels are incredible as well. Remember guys are pulling sails and blue marlin etc on max 20lb leader. Any snatching (which inferior tacle does in any facet of angling) is a sure break off. The tibor, abel, ross reels and some of the other custom reels have drags that are smoother than babies bums.

I dont have the previous mentioned brands as i dont fish for the big bills on fly (yet) but asd soon as I do, i wioll be in the market.

E.T. · « **Reply #16 on:** May 14, 2012, 09:07:42 AM »

The main reason why we are over paying is our "strong" Rand.
Would we complain paying $650 for a reel if the R1=$1 or even when R1=E1/BP1?
Nope we would not even feel it.

There are other factors too that determine price and it's the same with cars.
Why do Ferrari charge so much for a Ferrari? The answer is simple really, they are market leaders, only Ferrari can build a Ferrari and based on that, they can ask whatever they want.

I don't want to go into too much detail, as I am busy with an article on reels. What I can say is that this article will answer a few questions in terms of cost, different types of fly reels, different designs, different materials used, etc, etc.

Have a look at this
http://www.hardyfishing.com/en-gb/about-us/hardy---a-short-history.php

Now when you look at the Perfect Jubilee where only 250 was Made in England,

http://fly.hardyfishing.com/en-gb/products/reels/hardy-bros-reels/hardy-bros-perfect-diamond-jubilee-reel/

Then 1500 Brittish Pounds seems nothing for this reel? Why? Because this reel will be just as good in a 100 years from now and that's the difference. Hardy's made before WW1 & WW2 are very sought after and they are just as good now as when they were made back then. Expect to pay anything from 5000-10 000 Pounds for a reel like that. So what will the Jubilee be worth in years to come? I would say 5-10 Times the initial price!!!

Now you can't compare a high end product to something that there is 6 0000 7896145 567890 different variants of out there in the world. The reason why ATH reels are so sought after is the fact that it is tremendously well made, limited edition of each model and these reels are now worth more than what they were bought for. If you held one of these, fished one.....you know that you have something that will last a lifetime.

Another example, I recently acquired a High End rod and took it for an outing this weekend. So how was it?

The only way to describe it is to play opposite Jennifer Aniston in a movie and have the steamiest love scene ever captured on film. And to have Brad Pitt and every male, gays included wish it was them or hoping that they too can have a chance with Jennifer, while they are hating you, but envying you at the same time!!!

Is casting this crisp, precision masterpiece really this good? No, its better!!!!

E.T. · « **Reply #17 on:** May 14, 2012, 09:22:35 AM »

Some Monday Morning Nostalgia....

This is the Megoff Titanium Hubless Reel

Next is the Tight Lines Fly Reel....

E.T. · « **Reply #18 on:** May 14, 2012, 09:30:39 AM »

Here are a few snaps of a 1924 Hardy St. George

E.T. · « **Reply #19 on:** May 14, 2012, 09:41:30 AM »

Here are a few Abel Reels

Abel TR Series

Abel Super Series

Abel Creek Series

Now these are all brilliant reels, you can even choose your own design on the reel.

Check out.....

http://www.abelreels.com/finishes.html

Are these reels cheap? Nope, but they are sure worth the money and these too will last you a lifetime.