Fly Fishing

greg · Posted: Mon 11/17/08 9:54 am Post subject: Spey Fly Reel - Review

As I am an Atlantic Salmon junkie, I am always searching for the perfect spey fly fishing reel. My preferred method when fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon is using a double handed/spey rod and this type of fishing requires particular specifications in a fly reel. I find that a multi tip head is preferable and for a sufficient amount of backing plus a spey line you need more spool space than some reels will afford you. I found the Hardy, MKII to have the qualities I was looking for. I have 175 yd. of backing plus a multi tip spey line and this is spooled with room to spare. Further considerations were, ease of maintenance, drag system weight and balance on the rod and performance and control with a fish on. The drag system has the convenience of a visual drag position system so the need to say "oops" is decreased. You can see where your drag is positioned according to a series of red dots that are sequential in tightening or loosening the drag. Cleaning is as usual. Remove fly reels spool, wash surfaces with warm water and in this case be sure the oil reservoir is full. This reel I can recommend in good conscience as I have caught large Atlantic Salmon using it and enjoyed the experience, thats what I look for in equipment, a good experience. Does anyone else out there have any preferences for fly fishing reels that they use on their spey/double handed rods?

joey · Location: Colorado

I am very very novice when it comes to the world of spey fishing and am anxious to learn more about what type of equipment to use. There is an old time spey fisherman that I have shared stories with at the shop I work at and he has shown me some of his spey gear and swears by the Danielson Reels. They used to manufacture the reels for loop but pulled the marketing away from loop and decide to sell direct to the customer.....so i am told. But, it feels like a nice reel, looks bomb proof and has a killer drag. Any of you spey guys use/heard of these?