Fly reel recommendation

[Jfad77]

Hello. I recently bought a 7' 3" Echo Carbon 2 wt rod and would like to know what fly reel people recommend? Also should I use 3 wt on it to load it better? I will be fishing small brookie streams. Please keep reel suggestions under 200 bucks. Thanks.

 

[troutpoop]

For a 2wt brookie rod I would look at the "New" battenkill click pawl reel. At $99.00 you could spool it with orvis superfine line and still be under $200.
I don't know much about the rod action so I pass on the line weight recommendation.

 

[MKern]

For small Brookline streams you want a cheap and durable reel because it is going to get dinged and dropped every trip.

Why pay the money for a mid to high end reel that will never get used besides to hold line?

The weight is the only thing I considered when buying mine (years ago thought).

I purchased a SA cheapo from Bass Pro for $35. Shortly after I saw it at Walmart for under $30. I don't know if they still sell it though.

Paired with a sub-$20 DT line I have never had to change anything but my leader over the last 13 years.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

troutpoop wrote:
For a 2wt brookie rod I would look at the "New" battenkill click pawl reel.

I'm with the poopster on this one. Awesome reel for the money.

 

[Jfad77]

Thank you all for the input!

 

[MKern]

I just don't see why you would pair a reel and line that cost more than the rod????

I built my rod for $35 bought a reel for $35 and got a discontinued Rio line for $20. So for under $100 I have a brookie setup that could break tomorrow and I wouldn't shed a tear or hesitate to buy another (nor have to explain to my wife).

I'm sure the battenkill is awesome, but does it do anything different than my SA? And it can't be a status symbol because I have only ever bumped into one other person while brookie fishing.

 

[jls0842]

The redington drift reel is awesome for the price of $99! It's click and pawl so unless you plan on trying to catch 20" fish with it, it'll do just fine!

 

[sandfly]

just keep the 2 wt. on it...mkern has the right idea for reel and line

 

[Heritage-Angler]

MKern wrote:
I'm sure the battenkill is awesome, but does it do anything different than my SA?

Yes - it weighs a lot less, which is important if you need something to balance an ultralight rod like the Carbon. It also comes in smaller sizes than a 4/5 weight sized reel.

Several of my fishing buddies use this reel for their brookie rods, and it's easy to match up one of the three sizes it comes in to get the right balance. We all love the reel.

It's a stealthy color, looks and performs great, its built tough and simple, and is warranted by Orvis - and it's $99.

 

[markp]

I completely agree with Heritage go with the Battenkill. I had a cheaper Cabelas reel on my 6' 3wt but switched it out with the battenkill because the balance of the rod was thrown way out of whack by the heavy cabelas reel. The small rod is much more fun to cast with the battenkill then it was the cabelas reel. Both reels were click and pawl but the battenkill was smaller and lighter than the cabelas reel. It matches the rod perfectly. Another suggestions would be to go and try out a few reels on that rod and see exactly where the balance point is with each reel.

 

[tomitrout]

For small Brookline streams you want a cheap and durable reel because it is going to get dinged and dropped every trip.

yeah, if you're clumsy and hard on your gear.

Or, if you take care of your stuff and take a little pride in ownership, why not splurge on a nice little reel for those special days of harassing brookies in the mountains? The Battenkill does look nice for the money, so did the little $100 2wt-ish click-n-pawl in the case at BassPro. If you're patient though, I'd suggest keeping an eye on the ebay and you might find a nice little vintage CFO in your price range, or a Hardy Fly or Featherweight. Or you can go off the beaten path and look for one of those little '60 yd' reels from days gone bye, they pop up for $30-60 now and then, might find one at your local antique mall also. JA Forbes also made some nice little clickers that you can still find in your price range....

 

[BrookieChaser]

This is the reel I use.

http://galvanflyreels.com/brookie_reels.html

 

[gfen]

I would sincerely like to know WTH a "click ball" drag is.

Please explain. Use lots of words, I'm baffled.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Gfen, the click ball system is a system where a steel ball bearing (about the size of a BB) is inserted into a machined cylinder on top of a spring in the hub of the spool. There are two directly across from each other (12 and 6 o'clock). In the frame there are 8 machined cutouts the size of the balls in the spool, the balls will spring into said cutouts. Said cutouts are visible on the frame in the link above (the bare metal area at the center of the frame).

To adjust pressure there is a ball on the radius of the frame that holds pressure against the race (for lack of a better term) on the spool. This ball has a set screw to adjust the tension the ball puts on the race.

 

[gfen]

BrookieChaser wrote:
To adjust pressure there is a ball on the radius of the frame that holds pressure against the race (for lack of a better term) on the spool. This ball has a set screw to adjust the tension the ball puts on the race.

You had me up until this.

So, two balls ride in the divots of the frame side, and there's another ball on the other side of that which provides pressure?

Is it equal resistance in and out, or is it biased?

 

[turkey]

It's equally biased.

 

[gfen]

Well, that seems like a bizarre step back.

 

[mario66pens]

I got an older orvis clearwater reel from a yard sale for 5$ that I use on my brookie rod. It was made in England so it has that going for it! But for a brookie stream, the reels main purpose is to hold line. How much you are willing to spend is up to you.

That being said, at a local antique mall there is a 40's fly reel that I was considering dropping 50$ on to pair with my 40's split cane rod that my great uncle brought home from WW2 Japan.

I'm a bit of a sucker for nostalgia, especially to time where I wasn't around.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

mario66pens wrote:
I got an older orvis clearwater reel from a yard sale for 5$ that I use on my brookie rod. It was made in England so it has that going for it! But for a brookie stream, the reels main purpose is to hold line. How much you are willing to spend is up to you.

That being said, at a local antique mall there is a 40's fly reel that I was considering dropping 50$ on to pair with my 40's split cane rod that my great uncle brought home from WW2 Japan.

I'm a bit of a sucker for nostalgia, especially to time where I wasn't around.

I'm with you on that. I fish for brookies a lot, and I love the old gear, but in all honesty you'r eright. You just need it to hold line. Quite honestly, I used and Okuma Sierra for years. Small, well built, $50 reel. I beat the crap out of it for about 10 years, then sold it to Swattie who, to my knowledge, is still beating the crap out of it to this day!

 

[Swattie87]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
[ I beat the crap out of it for about 10 years, then sold it to Swattie who, to my knowledge, is still beating the crap out of it to this day!

Yep…Squatch sold me his old one and now I have two Sierra’s! I have 4wt line on Squatch’s and 5wt on the newer one. Truth be told, the drag on Squatch’s older one is a little smoother, and I’ve actually used it to fish Sulphurs on Spring Creek before.

Definitely a good, durable, cheap Brookie reel though. The 4/5 is fairly small sized and balances a small rod well. I dropped the newer one with 5wt line on it from a fairly good height down onto a VW size boulder once. I was sure it would be killed…barely a knick.