Reels

[FishingCreekOutdoors]

Does anybody know the difference between the arbors of fly reels? What would be good for a small eastern pa creek like fishing creek?

 

[skiltonian]

not sure what you mean about the arbor but generally speaking the spool width is wider and not as deep which equates to less memory in the line and faster retrieval rates. I prefer the orvis battenkill large arbor which by the way were on sale last i looked...

 

[Woolybugger]

I have to agree about the Orvis! All the Orvis reels seem like a good value to me.

Everything was about the "arbors" last year!! LOL The larger the better!! I desperatly wanted a SLA (super large arbor) reel from Cabelas. It won the "best of the best" from Field & Stream........ but after reading all the reviews on the internet and seeing them in person they are just a shiney heavy reel with a crappy drag. The Sage Super Large Arbor is nice but way too expensive.

I like to "undersize" my reel and "oversize" my line. If you have a cheapo reel, it is very easy to put some magic marker to cover the Cabelas logo!!

IMHO you want light in the small trout streams you fish. Always go with the light reels......... you won't ever have to use the drag anyway!! And backing, you'll never need it. It's better to put some foam plastic to make the cheapo reel like a large arbor reel.

 

[jerseygeorge]

I used the orvis battenkill reels for a long time. Inexpensive, decent quality, and it is mostly just a spool for the line anyway.

However. I got into fishing the upper delaware. 22-24" fish, 7 x tippett. That is when I gave up on the Battenkill. The clicks from one drag setting to another are not precise enough to control a big fish, in the backing, with fine tippet.

My favorite, the ross evolution. Light, well made, excellent drag.

For smaller streams you may not need the performance of a reel like this, but your flyfising will hopefully take you for more distant fishing on bigger water with bigger fish, even in PA, where you will appreciate a finer reel more.

I used to buy expensive rods and cheap reels. I have tended to buy less expensive rods and put more into reels lately.

 

[tobewan77]

Honestly for trout fishing it really doesn't matter as long as the reel is reliable and balances your rod.

Old Pflueger medalists have been around since the 20's and people have caught everything under the sun on them, tarpon, permit, stripers you name it.

check out this post to see some of the history.
http://p099.ezboard.com/ffiberglassflyroddersfrm22.showMessage?topicID=295.topic
What is really cool is that no matter how old the model you can buy a spool new out of the store today and it will fit your old reel.

I'm not saying to purchase a medalist but that you don't need to spend anymore than $30 for a solid trout reel. I just purchased 2 old Ocean City 76 reels off ebay for $10 total. They're older than I am and still function beautifully.

This is another forum that has TONS of information on reels. Mostly the older click and pawl reels but worth a look.
http://p099.ezboard.com/ffiberglassflyroddersfrm22.showMessageRange?topicID=3.topic&start=1&stop=25

Edit: Nice rainbow caught on the tully with an ocean city 76 (made in philly)

 

[Brown_Trout]

Ross Evolution 1.5

 

[Maurice]

FishingCreekOutdoors wrote:
Does anybody know the difference between the arbors of fly reels? What would be good for a small eastern pa creek like fishing creek?

First off, I moved this post to the Gear Forum.

The differemce between arbors of fly reels are not important for trout fishing in PA. The arbor is the axle of the spool that rides on the frame. The part you connect the backing to. The purpose of it being large, or larger, or super large is to keep as much of the running line to the outer-most circumference so that line pick up happens at a greater raito to each turn of the spool.

Two things have to happen for this to occur; 1. the reel must be wider for this to happen for a longer period of time. and 2.) The overall circumference is usually larger to to raise the ratio to begin with.

When rating LA reels it is all aout the line pick up ratio to reel rotation.

That said, the purpose of this line pick up increase is to not allow slack to develop while keeping the fish on the reel if a fish runs toward you. That is why they were developed. The key here is "Keeping the fish on the reel." Whithout the need to keep the fish on the reel eliminates the need for a large arbor. In other words, if your quarry allows for stripping line to keep the slack to a minimum then you don't need a LA reel.

I can see using a LA reel for Steelhead, or maybe a diehard carp fisheman. or Salmon (big game fishermen) but for trout in PA it is not necessary. LA reels under a size #7 (maybe a six) are marketed to gear heads and not necessary for the practical purpose they were developed.

Buy one if you want one but just know you didn't buy a large arbor because you needed one for the type of fishing you are doing.

Maurice

 

[Panchon74]

If you do not want your line to coil as bad what I do on a regular arbor reel is I use the Tennis overgrip strips to fill in the middle before I put in my backing and fly line. It works great. But I also have some LAR (Large Arbor Reels). Hope that helps some of you. You may need to trim some of the grip tape depending on the with of your reel. Take care all!!

Mario

 

[sandfly]

Ocean City's for sure ! have a few and love em....

 

[shakey]

i too have a few old ocean city reels,some labeled as sport king(mongomery wards)and can't say i love them,but they are fun reels.made in philly.

i passed the penn reel factory the other day,wish they'd start cranking out some fly reels.

i also think pflueger medalist reels can be useful.

however, in the cheap reel realm i think a cortland crown rimfly is a great value.

it also depends on yor rod.on plastic rods i tend to use modern disk drag reels.on cane i use click reels.

 

[sandfly]

the ocean city #76 in green has a mid arbor..compared to the standard one

 

[tobewan77]

wow, never saw that mid arbor OC! Very nice.

However, I could barely fit a new DT 6 Sylk line with a little backing on the standard arbor let alone a larger one. Would be perfect for a WF 4 or 5 i guess. They're just a reel that works. And for most trout fishing in and around PA you hardly ever have to put'em on the reel. The OC are great cause there is barely anything that can break, just a simple, solid reel.