Hardy Bougle Mk VII 3"

[unforgiven]

Hi guys! Hope your Holiday Season has been a good one. Anyway,
Santa brought me a 9' 4wt Hardy Marksman rod for Christmas!!! It's beautiful and extremely light. I was thinking of getting the Hardy
Bougle Mk VII 3" to match the rod. I just love the look and feel
of that reel!!! Do any of you have any experience with the Bougle
reel? If so, I'd like to hear your opinion(s).

If you wouldn't chose the Bougle, what reel do you think would be a good match for the rod?

C'mon guys, throw some knowledge to this noob.

Thanks!

 

[tobewan77]

Timeless reel, just a bit flashy in the "spitfire" finish. I have a 3 1/2 model and love it. Silky smooth and the best sounding check i've ever heard. The thumbable rear section of the reel makes additional drag easy to apply.

I think it's a great evolution to the "Perfect" reel, and since it's made in korea it's under half the price of a "Perfect".

The only thing i can say about the reel is that it's almost too light for the size, but i fish bamboo and you need a heavier reel to balance those.

 

[Ramcatt]

...it's made in korea it's under half the price of a "Perfect"...

the main reason i wouldn't buy it

imo $400+ could get you something a lot better

 

[tobewan77]

eh, depends on a person's idea of better. I didn't have to pay that, when these new reels were introduced they had some crazy pricing ~$200.

Anyway, regardless of the geopolitical stuff the hardy reel is a very well machined reel with a great click check. The original Hardy design is still flawless after 100 years.

Some of the bench made reels can be had for around that cost but usually not in the range of sizes the Hardy reels are in.

Get into the vintage tackle field and the options open up immensely.

 

[Ramcatt]

by "better" i meant a trout sized pre-war hardy

or a trout sized spey co

 

[unforgiven]

Guys, I really don't care if it's made in Korea. I think the Koreans
make some darn good products and are probably as meticulous as
the English, if not more so. If I'm not mistaken, I think the heart of the "Classic" Hardy reels are still made in England, then shipped over
to Korea where the softer steel is much cheaper. Heck, I think the CNC machines in the Korean Hardy plant are probably programed my the English engineers anyway. So what if it's CNC'd in Korea or England? If it was CNC'd in England, the reel would probably be twice as much.
Anyway, I just really like the look and feel of the reel.

What other reels would be "just as good" as the Hardy reel? Just opinions, but I'd like to check them out, too. THANKS!!!

 

[turkey]

I have a 3 3/4" Bougle and its a mkvii. I waited it out and found one on auction that o couldn't pass up. I think the 3 1/4" might be better for your 4wt. Its a raised pillar design so I believe the 3" designation is measured pillar to pillar, making the spool diameter slightly less than 3". I love mine. The gears seem to be a bit finer than other Hardys so it really purrs when a fish is taking line.

As far as "just as good" there are an absolute ton of reels that are great. A lot of it depends on what style you like. Classic vs modern. Click pawl vs disc.

The Hardy Lightweights are nice too. A Featherweight would balance your 4wt nicely. Theyre a bit less than a Bougle.

 

[unforgiven]

Turkey - thanks for your input. I'm going to take a look at the Hardy
Lightweights, Featherweight and Bougle. I love the look of a classic reel.

 

[Jeep_Angler]

You can't go wrong w/ the Bougle mk 7. It is a great reel by any standards. It compares well with my 1920's Perfects, but is actually built to tighter tolerances. I just wish they were heavier to balance cane rods easier.

As for being made in Korea, honestly, how can someone in America gripe about that??? They're already buying a foreign made product from a country that we fought a war against (England) so what does it really matter if that product is made in yet a different county?

 

[HCsteel]

Jeep_Angler wrote:
You can't go wrong w/ the Bougle mk 7. It is a great reel by any standards. It compares well with my 1920's Perfects, but is actually built to tighter tolerances. I just wish they were heavier to balance cane rods easier.

As for being made in Korea, honestly, how can someone in America gripe about that??? They're already buying a foreign made product from a country that we fought a war against (England) so what does it really matter if that product is made in yet a different county?

Didn't we also fight a war in Korea? I would look into a trout sized Speyco reel that is made here in the US, but wait we fought a war against ourself. Maybe there is some company out there we haven't fought against that is making reels.

 

[unforgiven]

HCSteel, good point!! Hey, we haven't fought Sweden.

 

[turkey]

unforgiven wrote:
HCSteel, good point!! Hey, we haven't fought Sweden.

http://www.looptackle.com/website1/1.0.1.0/787/1/

can't go wrong with these.

Tim's reels from Speyco are awesome too. Indestructable is how i would describe them. He should have some free time to come up with some more models now that the Packers lost.

 

[unforgiven]

turkey: got to tell you - I LOVE THE SPEYCO SINGLE SPEY TROUT REEL. That is what I'm getting. It is absolutely beautiful, made in the USA, plus I'm supporting a small business. I can't thank you enough for giving me the info!!! THANK YOU!!!! Beer is on me.

 

[turkey]

I think Ramcatt mentioned them first but I concur. They're built ot last. I don't have Tim's trout sized reel but I have a bigger one. I'd like the trout size with the bulldog handle. I know he was working on different clicker/check mechanisms but I'm not sure if he ended up marketing them. The best thing to do is probably call Tim and talk to him about what he has in stock or what he has scheduled to build. He might have what you want or you might have to wait for him to build it. Just give yourself some time when you call him because he can get to talking...usually about fishing which is cool. Here is a pic of that clicker system he was experimenting with. I think his standard clicker is more basic than this...

 

[Jeep_Angler]

HCsteel wrote:

Didn't we also fight a war in Korea?

That is exactly my point.

Everyone gets so bent out of shape about buying a Hardy reel made in Korea when (if it were still made in England) they'd be buying a reel made in a foreign country that we fought a war against anyways. And, in fact (so I'm told), the reels are made in S. Korea and we fought against N. Korea, so we're buying from a country we haven't had as an enemy, versus a country that was an enemy.

So, what is the point in getting so bent out of shape about buying your foreignly manufacturered reel that is manufacturered in a different foreigh country? Sounds stupid to me.

Now if the argument was against buying non-American made stuff, I'd be able to follow the logic (and would agree!).

 

[Ramcatt]

Who said it has anything to do with wars/foreign countries

It has to do with the quality of the product... Or in the case of Korean reels... The lack of quality and a large price tag for a name without the quality

 

[unforgiven]

Ramcatt: sorry, didn't give you your "props"!! Man, I'm calling Spey tomorrow and talking to "the man". Their reels look wonderful!!!

 

[Jeep_Angler]

Ramcatt wrote:
It has to do with the quality of the product... Or in the case of Korean reels... The lack of quality and a large price tag for a name without the quality

Yes, off brand/knockoff Korean reels typically do suck, but we're not talking about an off brand here. Those reels are made to be cheap and you get what you pay for.

Reading your response makes me think you have little to no experience with Hardy reels, both English and Korean made. They're made to the same standards they were in England and perform the same, sometimes better. Most folks with experience using both the Korean made ones and the English made ones will tell you that the Korean ones are at least as well made, probably better. The ones that tell you differently usually have an ax to grind that clouds their judgement.

I've been fishing various Hardy reels for years. My collection (Perfects, Bougles and Cascapedias) includes reels made in the 1920's through sometime in the last year. All are excellent and well built. Even though I won't be around to fish them, my newest ones will be around (barring accidents) 100 years from now and still fishing without issue because they're so well made.

 

[Ramcatt]

Jeep_Angler wrote:

Yes, off brand/knockoff Korean reels typically do suck, but we're not talking about an off brand here. Those reels are made to be cheap and you get what you pay for.

You are paying benchmade prices for massed produced Korean reels with nothing that resembles the name that carries 120yrs+ of tradition

Jeep_Angler wrote:


Reading your response makes me think you have little to no experience with Hardy reels, both English and Korean made. They're made to the same standards they were in England and perform the same, sometimes better. Most folks with experience using both the Korean made ones and the English made ones will tell you that the Korean ones are at least as well made, probably better. The ones that tell you differently usually have an ax to grind that clouds their judgement.

I have handled every current production model Hardy… even the $8k Ti
I have NEVER met anyone who thinks the Korean reels even hold a light to the historical English made reels
In fact the people at Hardy won’t even tell you that
My “ax to grind”?
I made valid suggestions of a pre-war trout size perfect or a spey co… that were in the same price range
A suggestion that ended up being what the original poster wanted

Jeep_Angler wrote:
I've been fishing various Hardy reels for years. My collection (Perfects, Bougles and Cascapedias) includes reels made in the 1920's through sometime in the last year. All are excellent and well built. Even though I won't be around to fish them, my newest ones will be around (barring accidents) 100 years from now and still fishing without issue because they're so well made.

That’s amazing!

I have my half dozen pre-war reels that I fish very often
I fully expect my 100yr old reels to fish another 100

There are modern Hardys that may stand the test of time… but they are not the Korean models

 

[tobewan77]

There are modern Hardys that may stand the test of time… but they are not the Korean models

That's without base and pure opinion. The new reels are aircraft barstock and the old are cast aluminum. The new reels have great tolerances and are excellent reels.

This tread over at clarks sums it up perfectly:
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=42545&p=83952&hilit=bougle+vii#p83952

"In MHO the differences are not to be found in the product - but in the feelings and the attitude amoung the buyers !"

Saying that, I covet the SpeyCo reel in spades.