I would hold off on the bones... the WW reels have proven to have serious vulnerability to saltwater use. Although they have recently awakened on this issue I would hold off to see if the fix is going to work.

Freshwater use should be ok but I would probably still remove the spools between uses to prevent locked in moisture from eating the spindles and mating hardware.

Have you looked at the Danielsson 6/nine for this application? I am thoroughly satisfied with mine and recommend it highly.

 

i would also take a look at bauer jm and the old florida reels for those price points. all of the lamson reels #3 and up now have stainless clutches to combat the saltwater issues, this happened last season so anything new now likely has the ss parts. lamson, bauer, old florida and danielson all overshadow ross's build quality, compare them side by side in hand.

 

Good call Nick, my bauers have been flawless and are lightweight as well as smooooth. Good looking too.

I like the Ross reels overall but for saltwater the BG series has a problem with corrosion within the chamber inside the drag adjustment which makes it impossible to reduce the drag beyond a certain point (relative to the amount of corrosion). It will not stop you from landing a fish but if you swab a qtip with oil on it into the chamber it will come up rusty red and there is no way for owners to service that. They know about it, I've had a long discussion with them as have others here. It's still a usable reel and I have not sent mine in yet although I should.

I hope the changes on the WW reels make them what we all hoped - machined reel w/ super smooth drag, lightweight large arbor at a working man's price.

 

Tibor Light Backcountry would be perfect for that setup. I put 35#GSP on mine and it fit a 7wt bonefish line nicely. Plenty of smooth drag and few parts to corrode.

I will also put in a vote for Bauer - but I would spend a little more for the McKenzie Superlite.

 

bauer reels

the bauer mckenzie SL seems like a great reel, but is the spool side drag knob a problem? I often tighten the drag while the fish is running, but if the drag were spool side you risk getting your fingers knocked off when you adjust the drag. the bauer xtreme has the traditional frame side drag, but is much more expensive. Anyone have a problem with this on their bauer SL?

i think the ross evolution 3 fits my situation the best. A lightweight big trout, and occasional light steelhead/bonefish reel (I have a ross BG4 on my 8wt that is for the big fish). the ross doesn't have the saltwater problems that the WW reels have had either. thanks for the advice all!

 

The SL does have the drag on the spool side but you can easily adjust the drag with one finger while the fish is running. I have used mine on Albies, big Bass, Bonefish and Permit and it has always performed flawlessly. I'm not a beleiver in fiddling around with your drag while fighting a fish anyway. More importantly the drag is smooth reliable cork and the reel is very easy to maintain.

The Ross evolution IMHO is not an appropriate SW reel and even the BG's have a reputation for corroding in the SW. Check the archives of this forum and you will see what I mean.

I would definitely not consider Lamson/WW if you are doing any serious amount of saltwater fishing.

 

since we seem to be blowing the budget anyway look at the Bauer MZ. it has the same clutches and drag as the rest but in a sealed cartridge. it also has the drag knob on the back of the reel.
Big Dave- i couldn't agree more about the ross, nice enough reels but compared side by side they are not in the same class.

 

at the risk of being called a Danielsson bigot the 6/nine comes in at like $295 and is heads and shoulder above anything else in this price range

Of course there are many great reels on the market and I want to own many different brands but I can't say enough about my evotecs.

 

If your budget is in the $300 range why not buy 2 Orvis Battenkill Mid-Arbor reels?

I have trouble understanding why people spend so much on reels. I have to admit I don't do much saltwater fly fishing but I see enough pictures of saltwater guides with big fish and reels like the the Orvis Mid-Arbor. These guys fish all the time so you'd assume they would choose something that works?

 

Are you looking in the Orvis catalog :hihi:

(I hope for a better reel when I pay a guide to tell the truth)

 

Hi Geoff -

From my perspective, I think of a reel as an investment that is worthy of some cash outlay - depending on purpose.

For instance, someday I want a reel to put into a wooden box where the leather pouch took more effort to sew than some cheap reels took to slap together in an assembly line. I don't have that now, but I can see it. How out there is that?

For providing to my clients, I want them to think "nice reel I've heard of these" instead of "hmmm my reel is better". But I don't have $1000 or more to spend on the reels (plural) I need to buy for clients use. Now no matter what I buy they might have a better reel, they might even fish with the reel in the wooden box for all I know.

For myself, I prefer the balance of price / performance where the design, durability, aesthetics and reliability meets or exceeds the price. You can see where I am going with this, it's a simple fact.

And yes, saltwater is the proving ground as are large fish like salmon, stripers, tarpon - or very fast fish like bonefish, inshore tuna, etc. I agree for freshwater fishing one does not need to spend a lot of money, and there are many great reels for $100-200 out there for streams and ponds.

(BTW we are starting to plan out the Forum Nor'easter Spey Clave if you are interested)

I have trouble understanding why people spend so much on reels. I have to admit I don't do much saltwater fly fishing but I see enough pictures of saltwater guides with big fish and reels like the the Orvis Mid-Arbor. These guys fish all the time so you'd assume they would choose something that works?

 

I use a Tibor Back Country Wide on a six weight for the salt . It has been a great performer..However, now that I am also a Danielsson owner for a ten weight, I would opt for the Danielsson if I made the choice today.

 

JF -

How is the backcountry drag when wet? I heard it freespools.

I have a bunch of old Lamson LP's that if I fit with a bigger caliper would still be the meat-and-potatoes battle axe reel of the century but with that microscopic pad (despite a full disc) they freespool when wet.

I love my Danielsson reels too (as you know).

 

Not to give you sticker shock...but you can not beat an Abel.... and if you go on e-bay they are have great sales on certain models in the range you are looking at and, even in a tight bidding atleast 50% off the retail which puts them at or below some of these other real prices.... these are all New unused reels, with warrentiees... Never had any issues on drag with those....JMO.

 

John -

What is your maintenance procedure for the Abel drag? Do you have to loosen it between trips?

thanks

A personal thing but I can't handle the silent drag ... Dave17's Tibor sure sounds nice though, I heard it a lot in Acklins. Not as loud as Bills HARDY

Cork drags are high maintenance although among the best performers on the market. Neither are in the price range being discussed.

 

Juro... I lossen the drag all the time, especially when not in use.... always wash it out with warm water and if I remember...I soak the reel in warm water for several minutes..followed by a light hosing.......let it dry outside Then treat the cock with a cock oil...lightly.... but the oil treatment is dependant on what I see and feel on the cork. When I store for the winter I also oil to keep the cork from getting dry...I beleive many guys forget to loosen drags and it is a must especially with cork...otherwise the compression can cause problems...a well oiled cork drag is very smooth and reliable. It is that the prices for these basically overpriced reals is more affordable and well worth the money if you know where to look....if you do go to e-bay there are at least three pages devoted to these reels for all species and waters..... I got a nice super 2-camo- new with a cork drag for the price I would have paid for a high end Orvis CFO...and no cork drag......so....look around. PS.... I don't change spools...I usually will simply carry an extra reel.... so the spool chaanging is a problem since it requires you to unscrew to remove...but so are the Tibors, Pates, Islanders as well.... the quickness of spool removal does not effect me since I just put on the other reel and still have to rig the rod... no more than anyone would have to do with the quick change spools on the market.

 

The Bauer McKenzie Superlite is about $330 depending on the model. Abel/Tibor you are looking closer to $600...talking retail price here.

BlackFrancis that MZ is a bad-ass reel. Very comparable draw-bar system to Abel/Tibor plus you don't need a tool to change spools. I put one through the paces at Harker's and was quite impressed. However the Riptide is still king on inshore tunoids :lildevl:

Regarding the Backcountry: you will lose some drag pressure if you really dunk the reel (which I did many times in belize) but there is still plenty of drag for bones or whatever else you expect to target on a 6wt.

 

Are you looking in the Orvis catalog

Well, no. Pointers to websites from the Saltwater section of the fly fisherman board. They were guides bragging about good fish they'd caught.

The latest fly fishing radio podcast features Lefty Kreh. He recommends going to Bass Pro and buying a $169 reel for Saltwater fishing because it works just as well as the $700 ones.

For instance, someday I want a reel to put into a wooden box where the leather pouch took more effort to sew than some cheap reels took to slap together in an assembly line. I don't have that now, but I can see it. How out there is that?

Hi Juro,

I have trouble with that but then I've fished with Pflueger Medalists my whole life. My fancy reel is a Scientific Anglers System 2L.

On the other hand I am currently awaiting the arrival of my very first bamboo rod. So I can understand the desire to own something nice. For me it is a rod rather than a reel.

My wife got me a 9wt Winston rod for Christmas. When I finally save up enough pennies I'll be getting a Battenkill Mid-Arbor for it. I'll use it mainly for throwing big bass bugs but I'd like to get out and try for stripers this year with it. I think the Mid-Arbor is a great value. (Plus, you can buy two for the price of the other reels mentioned. )

(BTW we are starting to plan out the Forum Nor'easter Spey Clave if you are interested)

Yes, please.

Grrrr.... Smilies shouldn't be treated as images... I like lots of smilies. <--- insert smilie here.

 

Yes that limitation is not intentional - I will try to separate the smile quota frmo the image quota somehow.

I knew you there was a catch - so you are a rod glut

 

I knew you there was a catch - so you are a rod glut

Yeah, I am.

I got laid off in the fall and took a nasty pay cut so I can't afford much in the way of rods now. (I had to scramble to pay for the bamboo.) On the other hand I'm enjoying my job now.

 

Waterworks and Ross are tough to beat. i use them every year from maine to mexico and have had no problems with them at all. Besides its hard to beat Ross in the service dept, after the trip just send it back to them and they will inspected it and clean it for free. No worries

 

who here has really fished in the salt?

 

gimmefish,

The good solution for you would be Danielsson ( Feather Weight) 5-7 for $235. This reel weights as about the same as Evolution 3.5, has similar size and capacity, but most important !!!, like all Danielsson Reels, has fully sealed, extreamlly extremely reliable drag system.
I use one on my Winston BIIX wt.7 , 9’6” for large Rainbows in SW Alaska when fishing in wind with mouse patter or sink tips. The set-up will also very good for silvers.

The reel is salt proof and the grag is smooth like a butter. At max set up the drag has similar stopping power ( if you would like to use it in salt water) to the LWs.
One more notice, FW reels have no clicker.


http://www.danielsson-flyreels.se/us/prod_fw.php

Salmo

 

who here has really fished in the salt?

What that a trick question?

A significant percentage of the membership here has extensively fished the salt from the north pacific coho to the tropics to the northeast stripers to down under etc. In fact the membership of this site has a higher saltwater FF population than most 100% flyfishing websites on the web which are often much stronger in trout (as is the general market) or really gear / bait sites disguised as flyfishing sites. It is also well represented by spey casters and river anglers for salmon and steelhead as well (although speypages.com is the web's top site for Spey).

Innovators in two-handed saltwater flyfishing visit here often. People on this site have been direct contributors to development of new rods and lines expressly suited to saltwater flyfishing. We have organized sorties' into remote islands in the tropics where fresh water is a commodity and we're just scratching the surface. So I think many people here really know about the products that can pass muster in the salt, and those that can not - especially those who fish for stripers in the northeast as that becomes about all the fishing they do (it's so much more exciting than the trout fishing if you live near the coast). There are almost 46,000 posts in the saltwater section of this board.

Why do you ask?

 

You can purchase the graphite lube along with the reel and reapply to the cork when necessary. Depending on how much use the reel gets, you can reapply every year or after three to four years. Some guys even reapply after each trip but it is generally not necessary. You can tell by looking at the cork to see if it looks dried out.
This is what Tibor recommends on maintaining the cork drag. They also said not to use Neet's Foot oil as it tends to dry out the cork. The spool changing problem has been solved with the QC model.
This was part of my research in buying a reel . FishHawk.