Hi everyone,

One of my goals for this year is to really use and become much more proficient with my fly fishing gear. I've had a small trout setup for a few years now, but haven't used it much.

I got a nice 8wt rod for Christmas and need a reel a relatively good quality reel to match. Nothing too extravagant, I'm a beginner and don't want to break the bank on a real (yet).

Any recommendations? I know nothing when it comes to fly fishing.

Thanks!

-Rich

I'm a fan of the rocky mountain large arbor from orvis. It doesn't have the best drag in the world but it does the job reliably. For a few bucks more you can get the battenkill mid arbor which has a great drag. Also you may want to look at a few of cabela's offerings. They're good reels for the money for the most part. The most important thing in my opinion is to find a mid or large arbor reel. You'll appreciate the extra backing/retrieve speed when you tie into a fast, strong fish like a big blue or a bonito.

I'm in the same boat. I've been learning on a 6wt combo thats more than adaquate for trout and panfish, but want to build a setup for salt on the cheap. So far, I'm liking the Pleuger Summit for under 100.00 reels. Okuma has the Integrity, but I would go with the summit, as it is anodized aluminum and looks cool ;)
Rumour has it that llbean is having a mad sale in stores only. you might score a deal there.

I picked up a10 wt. streamlight for under 60.00- not bad, as it is 175 online. It's a 4 pc with mod-fast action w/case.
If you go there, ask about the inventory sale. The sale ended Monday, but if you ask, you can find out if the item is still 30% off of the "red pen" mark down. This only applied to items that were already onsale.
:bgi:

Many years ago when I first started fishing in the salt and there wasn't the assortment of reels out as there is now I used a Medalist with good success. It is a decent reel for about $30. You should probaly get the newer rim control model if possible. Just make sure you rinse them well as they are not really designed for the salt. I have landed blues up to 15 pounds on that reel. If you want to spend a bit more the Teton Tioga is a good reel. Get the large arbor model. This reel has taken some good sized albies and has a decent drag. If you are after albies go up 1 reel size for the line size youare using for some added backing capacity. I think the reel goes for around $150 bucks. When you get up to around $200 and beyond there's huge assrtment of good reels. You don't need to spend a ton of money on your first reel. All it does is hold your line for the most part. As you gain experience I am sure you will want to upgrade but don't go crazy at first..just get out there and fish!

teton tioga :)

When you get up to around $200 and beyond there's huge assrtment of good reels. You don't need to spend a ton of money on your first reel. All it does is hold your line for the most part. As you gain experience I am sure you will want to upgrade but don't go crazy at first..just get out there and fish!

I agree 100% with this statement if we were talking about freshwater as many fish are stripped in and the reel really becomes nothing more than a line holder. For saltwater I disagree. Spend a little more on the reel to get a decent drag.

As previously stated the Orvis Mid Arbor is reasonably priced but you might end up wishing you bought the large arbor for line retrieve reasons (costs about $100 more than the mid arbor).

I just bought a TFO LA 375 but haven't really tested it out enough to give an honest opinion but so far it feels fairly decent.

You can get a Pfleuger medalist 1498 for $26 or the rim control model 1598 model for $43. If they are good enough for the likes of Lefty or Bondereau they are good enough for anyone. Based on Motor Fish's admitted lack of salt experience and desire to "not break the bank" I think either one will do fine. Most of the stripers we catch are schoolies and can be handled with a rim control drag and your palm. Other stuff you're likely to catch such as Hickory Shad and Bluefish up to about 10 pounds also can be handled the same way. Also, Ebay is a good place to find all that Orvis gear cheap that people have bought and spent alot of money on and never used. My point is that a lot of people get discouraged by the supposed complexity of the sport and give it up before they ever experience it. Also, I can honestly say after over 40 years fishing in the salt I have not lost any fish because of a drag on my reel. Most of the big fish I have lost were due to one boneheaded thing or another that I did fighting the fish or a bad knot. A few times I lost a good fish because I forgot to set my drag at all at the beginning of a session and a few times I had it cranked down too tight to pull off a snag and forgot to reset it. In these cases it wasn't the reel's fault.

Oh, and to answer the next question as to what line out of the hundreds available, get a floating or intermediate line (slow sinker/I like clear intermediates) 1 or 2 line weights heavier than your rod is rated for or in your case a 9 or 10 weight. Wind it on your reel tip first and add enough 30# Cortland or other dacron backing to within a pencil thickness of the reel foot or posts holding the reel halves together. Then turn the whole thing around on the spool. Get some 40 pound Maxima or Big Game for a 4 foot butt section for your leader and loop to loop about 24-30" of 20# to that for a leader. Buy or tie a few Clousers and Deceivers (chartreuse is a good color) and go fish.

Motor Fish - I posted a reply this morning, but it disappeared into cyberspace.
I agree with some of the above post and disagree with others. You did not say whether you were planning on fishing fresh or salt water. Assuming it's salt, I believe a good drag is VERY important. The reel isn't the place to save money. You'll hopefully be catching big fish, some of which will take a lot line. They will burn out a cheap drag very quickly. You said that you had an 8wt. rod so I would get a reel that is rated for 9 or 10wt. line. You want to be able to have plenty of backing on reel [30lb.test]. I think that you will find the 8wt. a little light for most of your salt water fishing. You will probably end up getting a 9 or 10 wt. rod. You'll be throwing large flies in windy conditions. Another reason for getting the larger reel. I own 2 Scientific Angler 89 reels which I love. A large arbor reel [mine are not] is a definite plus. As far as line goes: I would buy a "weight forward, slow sink" if fishing from shore. From a boat: a slow sink & full fast sink lines are both very useful.
I would not get line that is rated for heavier rod. The only time that you may want to "OVER-LOAD" a rod is when making very short cast on fresh water [small stream, for example]. My original post was more coherent. Hope I didn't forget anything. Good fishing!!

MOTOR FISH, this FLY THING is ALL up to YOU, your TASTE, an what you can AFFORD. don't WORRY about TOP DOLLAR. the important thing is getting OUT an LEARNING, you will have a LEARNING CURVE,an after that you will want better gear, so here's what you should do. you MUST know an have friends that FLY FISH ask them if you can go with them an have them teach you about it an maby you can USE there EQUIPTMENT an LEARN, then go out an BUY what you like. don't know where your from BUT, if you live colse let me know Id gladley show you difference in ROD'S , REELS, an LINE,an set'ups.
GOOD LUCK GOOD FISHIN:humpty:

First, "over-loading" a rod and "over-lining" a rod are two different things entirely. You want to be able to load your rod with one or two falsecasts and deliver the fly. Bad things happen to flies when they spend too much time in the air. All of my rods 7 wt and higher are not rated properly. I have found, through usage, that they need to be over-lined by 1-3 line weights to cast properly to suit my casting style and use. If possible, try several lines on your rod to tune it to your liking. I am not in general making short casts as on a small stream unless the situation requires it. There have been times that I have had to back up to present my fly but in most cases the fish require casts of 60 feet or more or will be out of range entirely. The big difference between fresh and salt is the fish are free to go anywhere they desire in the salt. You will need to put yourself within range of the fish. Second, get or make yourself a stripping basket. In my opinion they are necessary, especially if you fish in a rocky environment. Last, consider joining a fishing club. Your learning curve will increase dramatically. I don't know where you are located but your 8 wt should be fine for most areas from shore unless you want to tackle the outer cape beaches and such. In the next couple of months there should be plenty of schoolies in an estuary near you to practice on. They are great places to learn and it is not unlike trout fishing. Learning about tidal influences is the key to success.

The first reel I used was a $25.00 Ryobi, "palm drag". It had no drag whatsoever. I remember the first SB I caught on it. What a gas. It was all up hill form there. I am not suggesting you go that cheap or "frill less", but spending a pile of dough is silly. Flyfishing is a humbling endeavour and starting out simple and inexpensive is the way to go. It is a tremedously fullfilling sport. Spend more as you become more accomplished and flyfishing and the amount you spend the more you flyfish will be intertwined forever.

No body mentioned Okuma Intergrity 1011, cheap and it will handle any size striper or bluefish

Thanks Capt Mike for the earlier info - I picked up the Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor and they are giving away a free spool until 4/30. With the free spool I thought it was a pretty good deal. The drag seems great. Thanks again!:jump: