Fly Reels/ Fly Shops

[flymike]

Greeting you anglers. I'm not from your area but have fished for the last 6 years around Branson. You have a great conservation program set up. Being a new fly man I have tried to find literature on the different kinds of fly reels, and can't find any. Could someone please help me understand what to look for in a good fly reel? Second question is I have been told their are some good fly shops around the dam. Would someone please point me in the right direction. Thnaks to all.

[Phil Lilley]

Welcome Mike-

Anglers and Archery is just 1/4 mile from the entrance to Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery on Highway 165.

http://www.anglersandarchery.com/

Right up the street from AA is River Run, not even a block.

http://www.riverrunoutfitters.com/

We have a fly shop at Lilleys but we're alittle further from the dam- Fall Creek Road about 4-5 miles.

http://lilleyslanding.com

Reels- all depends on what you want to spend. I like Dan Bailey's new reel for the $... about $75.00 you can get into a nice large arbor with a great drag.

[Guest flyfishBDS]

Fly Reels, man where to start.

Well Im assuming your looking for trout around these parts. Saltwater or stripers/salmon are a different ball game.

Ok, price. You can spend anything you want on a fly reel for trout in the Ozarks and it will do the job _ as little or as much too. Go cheap $50 and you will have something a little clunkier, heavier and not as pretty and not last as long spend $300 and you get a very pretty reel very smooth, last a lifetime.

But they both will do the job _ untill the cheapie falls and and you buy another.

Thankfully you can buy a different reel probably for every $10 increment in price between $50 and $400, so you have lots of choice. I'll point out a few of the major choices here.

OK standard arbor, large/hybrid arbor:

Large/hybrid arbor reels are the modern trend, witha wide shallow spool to hold the line, which means the line is held in larger coils/less memory, you gain back more line with each turn of the handle and there is less impact on drag pressure when getting down to the bottom of the spool. Standard arbor hold more backing, can be lighter.

Reality is on trout reels LA is really for show. They look "modern" but are often heavier (without a bunch of expensive machining), hold less backing and the drag issue/ retrieval rates are irrelevant when your notgetting beyond the flyline and on such small spools. But its hard to find traditional reels any more that aren't very cheap or very expensive.

Disc/Click drags

Again hard to find anything that isn't a disc anymore unless your talking bargain bin or $300+.

Discs are heavier, more things to go wrong but can be smoother and are the fashion

Before I get an array of responses that Im a luddite (funny since i write about new gear for a magazine down under) I'll mention that the hardest fighting trout Ive taken was a 27" 19"girth Dolly Varden in big water in Alaska, only time Ive nearly been spooled was fishing 14lb flouro and maxed that fish out _ line actually scored grooves into the frame. Reel was a $30 Diawa click drag, a few more salmon some big carp in Arkansas and that reel was on its last legs.

Now I fish with Sage 2500/3000 reels, Ross Rhythms which cost up to ten times as much, will last way longer, are smoother prettier and so on. Its a question of judging to your own budget.

I have a preference for the certain fly fishing company brands, mostly US made (the Sage's aren't but I LOVE them) like Ross (kind of staid but built to last/ great customer service); Lamson/Waterworks (prettier and very nice); Galvan's and Tibors I haven't fished with but look good and a good rep; Sage (2500/3500 very very pretty, very tough, super smooth). Sage and Ross have several $50 to $140 new models coming out this year., Loop and Hardy from Europe both are pricey but very good

FYI: I sell the Sage/Ross but not the other brands mentioned above

Now there is a whole bunch of Asian made LA reels out there using pretty much the same drag design, you will find them badged up under difference names in big box stores etc. You will be able to tell them by the similar drag set up and spool release clip . The big differences are in the materials used to make the bodies/ and the porting (the holes in the frame). They are certainly serviceable, some good value but often they are running similar prices to those from the brands mentioned above, without the same quality and local service.

Decide how much you want to spend, look around the shops

Im an hour further southwest on beaver tailwater

then its going to be a matter of personal taste in terms of design colors etc

Hope this helps

Cheers

Steve