[eaglesfn68]

hello, i'm considering buying the ross flycast reel outfit. Just wondering what you guys think of the reel and what quality is the line that comes with it. It says high quality line buy who knows.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi eaglesfm68,

The Flycast reel is a Ross International reel and made over seas. The literature on their web site states that it uses Micron backing. Micron is a good backing and they are trying to cash in on its reputation. If they were using anything other than an inexpensive overseas line, they would certainly say so. So there is a good chance that you will be disappointed in the line's performance and trade up to a better line. I would compare the cost of the reel and micron backing against the price of the kit. If it is just a few dollars I would not buy the kit. I would bet money you will get better line performance from SA, RIO or Cortland.

Frank

[eaglesfn68]

hey frank, you think this would be better:



Cabela's Prestige Plus Fly Reel

Cabela's Prestige® Plus™ Floating Fly Line

Cortland Micron Fly Line Backing

[Frank Whiton]

Hi eaglesfn68,

Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with the Flycast reel for the money.

I don't know anything about Cabela's reels so I don't know. Keep in mind that any low cost reel kit is going to have a fly line from over seas. So if you are trying to get a better fly line I think it will be the same problem.

Frank

[philthy]

I agree with Frank. Got my son a flycast reel last summer and put a Cortland 444 line on it. Out the door was somewhere around 100 bucks and he got a pretty darn good starter outfit. Spend a little more money buying things separately and you'll be much happier.

I used to have a Cabelas CSR reel that I had gotten with one of their Sage Launch combos, but only fished it a couple of times before I sold the outfit. It seemed to work OK, but never had a chance to put the drag through it's paces.

[Rip Tide]

I have one of the Cabela's Prestige reels, just not the Prestige Plus
It was made by Okuma
They're on sale now for $15, not that I'm recommending them ('cuz I'm not)

I do have one of the Prestige Plus lines
I don't use it very often, but it works fine and was a good value
Made by SA, I think.

On a lot of my fresh water reels I use tip-up (ice fishing) line for backing (probably most)
I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen my backing while fishing for trout.
The brand and type just isn't that important.
On my salty reels, I'm a little more particular

[Joni]

I second buying the stuff separate. The LINE is much more important than the reel.
I fish for Trout and in all my years of fishing I can say the times I have been to my back I can count on one hand. Which is not to say I haven't done some fancy foot work down a shore line or turned and chased in my pontoon or tube.
I have a Harley Davidson reel, which I believe is a Martin, that I got off of e-bay for $25. and I have caught some nice fish on that, but I do have RIO GOLD on it.

[hardhat]

I second Joni's opion. There are differences in the $60-$70 lines over imports and house brands. I am sure many of us have looked and tried various line to find that real bargain line. Truth be said that it comes down that many times it is extravagant to be cheap. If you are looking to save a few dollars and still have a nice performing floating line I would suggest SA Lefty Kreh, SA Ultra 4 or the RIO Classic lines. I have tried all of these lines and found them to perform better than some more expensive (Orvis Cortland) lines.