small stream rod

[Skook]

American made products HAVE to find a way to get costs down. There is just no way possible I can afford it! I'm not about to say...do I want to make my car or house payment this month or do I want to buy a fly reel thats just going to hold my line and do literally next to nothing?

I'm not made of money. I try to squirrel a little bit of cash away each payday or each month ($10 here, $20 there). After a year or so, it adds up to a couple hundred bucks. Then, maybe combine it with a few bucks or gift cards you receive for birthdays or holidays, and a person could afford a new American-made reel every year, if they chose to.

I don't smoke, don't chew tobacco, don't gamble or play the Lottery (unless it's up to $1 billion or more) and drink little alcohol. Compared to folks who have one or more of these habits, I could probably afford a new high-end rod and reel each year with the money I'm not spending on those vices.

 

[Bamboozle]

I'm not made of money...

I don't... gamble or play the Lottery (unless it's up to $1 billion or more)...

I guess reading those comments it's safe to assume you didn't win either of those recent $1 billion + drawings...

Me either...

 

[CRB]

Machining anything in the US costs $$ From the imported machining iI,ve seen it depends on the machine and the cutters used. Tight tolerances and with most reels in the US made in shop 100% thats the cost. Reels made overseas the hardware is off the cart, tolerances are much bigger. Good drags on non us made reels are hit or miss. Cheaper reals are not sealed and they are move prone to fail with big fish.
One must weigh the good with the price.

On that note:
Can't go wrong with a Lampson liquid at 40% off through the month of November

Liquid

Liquid courage. Let’s face it, die-cast reels are intended to be low-cost alternatives to machined reels, right? Heavier. Easier to damage. Plain Jane. Well . . . not anymore. When creating Liquid, we focused purely on the virtues and advantages a pressure-cast process can offer. Structurally...

www.lamsonflyfishing.com

 

[mtelesha]

Ross/Abel are made in the USA. Their reels are CNC machined from chunks of aluminum. When you buy their products, you’re supporting an American business and American workers.

Maxcatch reels are made in China by people who probably live in the factory and are effectively slaves to the company.

I don’t think you can say they’re the same product with a different “skin.” You can decide to save money, and that’s fine, but let’s not pretend the price difference is purely cosmetic.

I buy Lamson Reels. Made in America and 1/4 the price at the Liquid reel and all their reels are USA made and have the same drag. Also why do you need a crazy priced trout reel practically speaking.

No need to spend $400+ on an American Made Reel.

I have a few Orvis Reels and were USA or England made and they were half the price of Ross or Sage so it is cosmetics to me. Unless your going for fish that go way into your backing they are jewlery In My Opinion.

 

[silverfox]

I buy Lamson Reels. Made in America and 1/4 the price at the Liquid reel and all their reels are USA made and have the same drag. Also why do you need a crazy priced trout reel practically speaking.

No need to spend $400+ on an American Made Reel.

I have a few Orvis Reels and were USA or England made and they were half the price of Ross or Sage so it is cosmetics to me. Unless your going for fish that go way into your backing they are jewlery In My Opinion.

Some of Lamson’s reels (including the liquid) are “assembled in the US” with components that were made overseas. Lamson doesn’t have a small click/pawl reel that I’m aware of.

The Lamson reels that are 100% US made are comparable to other US made reels on price. Ross makes all of their components, everything in house in CO.

If we’re talking about small (1-3wt) click n pawl for small streams, the Galvan brookie is the cheapest option. Show me a US made (fully US made) 1-3wt click n pawl for under $275 brand new.

The Orvis Mirage LT (made in the USA) is $398. The Ross Colorado is $375.

I have a 3/5 Mirage ($598) and a 4/5 San Miguel ($675) and I can tell a big difference in overall quality. Especially drag quality. Same with the Galvan T5 ($440). Even if the Mirage and San Miguel were the same price I would buy the Ross over the Orvis all day long.

Yes, I’m talking about fish that will get you in the backing and drag is absolutely important. On click n pawl reels (small stream reels) there really is no technical justification for it. There is still the issue of US made vs imported, and there is absolutely an overall quality difference. Especially between cast and machined. One breaks, the other bends.

 

[mtelesha]

Some of Lamson’s reels (including the liquid) are “assembled in the US” with components that were made overseas. Lamson doesn’t have a small click/pawl reel that I’m aware of.

View attachment 1641233025
The Lamson reels that are 100% US made are comparable to other US made reels on price. Ross makes all of their components, everything in house in CO.

If we’re talking about small (1-3wt) click n pawl for small streams, the Galvan brookie is the cheapest option. Show me a US made (fully US made) 1-3wt click n pawl for under $275 brand new.

The Orvis Mirage LT (made in the USA) is $398. The Ross Colorado is $375.

I have a 3/5 Mirage ($598) and a 4/5 San Miguel ($675) and I can tell a big difference in overall quality. Especially drag quality. Same with the Galvan T5 ($440). Even if the Mirage and San Miguel were the same price I would buy the Ross over the Orvis all day long.

Yes, I’m talking about fish that will get you in the backing and drag is absolutely important. On click n pawl reels (small stream reels) there really is no technical justification for it. There is still the issue of US made vs imported, and there is absolutely an overall quality difference. Especially between cast and machined. One breaks, the other bends.

I use Liquids and I don't mind that some of the parts are overseas, it is still giving American manufacturing jobs to people. All Lamson reels have the same awesome drag.

Ross, Abel and now Dyna-King are all under the same umbrella. High-priced premium brands. I would love to own a Ross Colorado but $375 for a pretty reel that will have zero impact on my catch rate or my fundamental fly skills seems unnecessary.

That is why I say they are skins. A way to show others you really care about your hobby.

Well, all I got for that which gets to my backing is RARE. Even a big Great Lakes Steelhead may puts me to my backing once or twice a year. I move with my fish. In PA with trout, I have landed a few 24" plus trout and they never put me into my backing, and yes they were measured.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Lots of new information to look at here. Again, I'm looking for a 2-weight reel and all I'm finding online are 3-wt+... which to me could look like adding a truck winch to bicycle. We're looking at these short, lightweight rigs as "specialty rods" specifically for small water and tight spaces. Drag isn't all that important since even a big fish can't run very far in a small creek and will break off by wrapping around something anyway. Casts are going to be short so once the required amount of line is stripped out, there won't be much need to land a fish from the reel.

 

[bigjohn358]

Lots of new information to look at here. Again, I'm looking for a 2-weight reel and all I'm finding online are 3-wt+... which to me could look like adding a truck winch to bicycle. We're looking at these short, lightweight rigs as "specialty rods" specifically for small water and tight spaces. Drag isn't all that important since even a big fish can't run very far in a small creek and will break off by wrapping around something anyway. Casts are going to be short so once the required amount of line is stripped out, there won't be much need to land a fish from the reel.

I have larger reels on my light weight rods. This actually is way more comfortable when reeling in slack line and also kinks your line less. I've noticed the really small reels can really increase the line memory.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

I have larger reels on my light weight rods. This actually is way more comfortable when reeling in slack line and also kinks your line less. I've noticed the really small reels can really increase the line memory.

Thanks. I have a cheap frugally-priced 3/4-wt on-hand. I'll give the rod a test-ride with that one.
A few weeks ago, one of my sons lent me a reel with 5-wt DT line on it with no backing. I have no idea why he set it up that way. Neither did he when I showed him how pig-tailed the line was coming off the reel.

 

[Skook]

Again, I'm looking for a 2-weight reel and all I'm finding online are 3-wt+... which to me could look like adding a truck winch to bicycle.

A 0-1 or 2-3 Galvan Brookie might be what you're after. They're $275 at full retail price, but you should be able to find someone selling reels at 15% to 20% off during the upcoming holidays. I get emails from Bob Marriot's Fly Fishing Store. Last year they did a "12 Days of Christmas" deal where different types of equipment were 20% off for a day. One day was rods, one day reels, one day waders, etc.

I recently saw a used, excellent condition Galvan Brookie 0-1 for sale on another forum in the classifieds. IIRC, it was $160 or $165.

You may also want to consider a made-in-Sweden Danielsson Original Series Midge (0-2) reel ($142 USD). The original series has a unique "brake" system that would likely be a pleasure to use on small streams. I own two Danielsson reels from another model series (F3W), and they are fantastic reels for the price - probably one of the better values out there for reels. The dollar/Krona exchange rate is pretty good now, so the prices are relatively low, and Danielsson only uses a direct-to-consumer sales model, thereby cutting out the middleman mark-up. Here is a link:

Danielsson Midge

USD/Krona Exchange Rate

 

[Skook]

The Blue Galvan Brookie is/was still available for sale as of 11/6/2023 for $160 shipped:

Galvan Brookie 0-1

 

[Silent Ocelot]

It boils to down to the fact that I simply like a good well-built piece of gear in my hands. There is no tactical advantage to having an expensive reel with a good drag system when fishing tiny streams for small trout, however with cheap cast reels that structure of the very metal in of itself has the tendency to break rather than bend. The machining in these cheap Chinese/Korean reels isn't very good with loose high tolerances. While these will not really impede or become problematic with small stream fishing I find the tendency of these reels to free-spool quite annoying, resulting in a clump of line spitting out of my reel and the drags on these reels grind and have seem to have an "on/off switch" switch feel to them where I can't get the precise amount of resistance that I want. I find the notion of referring to these cheap reels calling themselves machined laughable, which has now been such a watered down term that it practically has no meaning, alluding to the notion that these overseas machined reels are remotely close in terms of the metals used, tolerances, and durability of a finely made US reel. Referring to these high end reels as merely "skins", stating that they have the same performance attributes as their overseas counterparts is silly, however when discussing paint jobs with a reel model the term is apt.

The true failings in cheap overseas reels comes into play with large gamefish that can move quickly, often causing these reels to fail in comedic ways, the drag exploding being personal favorite of mine. I heard somewhere that a Hatch's drag system fails when the reel spins at around 600mph! That sounds high to even me but not entirely impossible. I couldn't conduct such a test if I wanted to given the cost of the reel and I don't happen to own a jet... yet. I'll take my tough high end reels any day of the week even if I know the drag won't be getting engaged. It's just a good feeling knowing that my gear is bulletproof, heck, you could probably shoot a non-ported Abel Super with a .22 and it'd probably still function.

 

[Jessed]

Looking for recommendation on a reasonably priced six foot 2-3 wt fly rod and reel. Any thoughts?

I have a 6’ 2wt st croix imperial I’m looking to get rid off. Been taken out of the rod tube twice since I got it