The Fish and Lake Improvement Program for the Parkland Region

Equipment Corner (Fly Reels)

 By Bob Morenski

 I have a strict rule about fly reels and that is that I refuse to pay any more than $150 for a fly reel. To get me to pay more for a reel, it would have to do a heck of a lot more than hold my fly line. It better reel the fish in for me, tell me the time and sniff out locations where 25 plus inch trout are lurking. Conforming to my $150 top end rule, I bought two new fly reels this past winter. Now that I finally got to fish with both of them, I felt that I can report back on each them.

The first one that I bought was a Lamson Konic 3.5 reel. This reel slips in just under my $150 limit. I bought this from Cabelas where it listed for $139 plus change. I bought another item along with it so that I could use a $30 coupon that I had. So, the actual cost was few dollars less. The Lamson Konic reel is dye cast aluminum but it has the same patented drag system that you will find in the more expensive Lamson Waterworks reels. It is a large arbor reel and it is very light. I have had several hot rainbows on this reel and the drag system to be very smooth. I armed this reel with my 1.5 Airflo clear intermediate fly lines. This and my Airflo DI 3 are my two most used fly lines. I will be putting this reel through its paces throughout the year. As it sits right now, I would buy another which is probably one of the best marks of a good fly reel.

 Okuma introduced a new series of fly reel this year. They are the Super Large Arbor fly reels or SLV model. I bought a model 8/9 and the first thing that impressed me was the looks. It is a very nice looking reel for the money. The second thing that impressed me was the weight. The weight of this reel is comparable to Lamson Konic 3.5 reel that I listed above but it has a 4 inch diameter and can hold as much 30 pound backing as the Lamson can with 20 pound backing. The best thing was the price. I found the reel for $54.95 at Troutlet.com. It is an outfit in Michigan. This is the only item that I have bought from them but they were very quick. I can tell you right now, you are not going to find a nicer large arbor fly reel for twice the price. I found the drag on this reel to be smooth and the reel to be very functional. For those you just getting into the sport and thinking about buying a new reel, this is definitely the reel for you. Like the Lamson Konic fly reel, the Okuma SLV has a very smooth drag. The feature that I like about large arbor fly reels is that they pick up line fast and they do not coil your fly lines too tightly. This makes casting easier. I am definitely going to pick up another one of these.  

I do not have a lot of time logged with either of these two reels but I am highly satisfied with both of them.

 I originally was going to shoot a few pictures of my own reels but when I went out to my camper to get out my box of reels, I found that they had been stolen. In all, I lost 10 fly reels. All but 2 had fly lines on them. My loss is your gain. I had to quickly purchase a few new reels. I bought all of my replacement reels on EBAY. I found that EBAY is not a bad place to look for reels. I got very good bargains like an Okuma model 8/9 Helios reel. This reel lists for $189.00 and I bought it for $134.95. Helios is a machined aluminum reel and is the highest quality fly reel that Okuma makes. I will be putting it through its paces this season.