Reels for Boo Rods

[ddb]

I am about to have a rod made from one of the Chinese blanks sold by Anglers Roost. It will be on a 7 1/2' 5wt Gunnison blank.

My experience with bamboo rods is very limited to a Hardy Palakoma 7' 5 wt. I had a devil of a time finding a reel that balanced that rod. Most modern reels are way too light weight and also, with their skeletonized glossy looks. are just not 'right'. I finally dug deep into my stash of 'bargain' reels and found an Orvis Odysssey that I got as a demo model for a song. It is perfect weight wise, flawlessly smooth, and does not scare the horses in terms of its looks on the rod either.

I'ds appreciate some suggestions from you folk who have experience with AR bamboo rods about what I should be looking for in an appropriate reel for the new bamboo stick.

I am having it built by the a pro with vastly more demonstrated skills in rod building than I can muster.

Thanks,
DDB

 

[fq13]

No experience with that rod but I do fish a Powell and Leonard. Here I will use the P word. The Pflueger Medalist was designed for these rods. Likewise the Hardy perfects. You might also look at the Orvis Battenkill Discs or click and pawl ( I've not used the click and pawl). But the others have a nice weight to balance the rod.Besides, there is something kind of fun about sticking a $60 reel on a $1000 rod. And the Medalists were ubiquitous for a reason. Seriously,when were they were last updated?You can get the exposed rim model which lets you palm it. And nothing says I' m not a snob, I just like bamboo like a Pflueger.

 

[Ard]

I have always found the Hardy Lightweight series reels to be a good match to my bamboo rods. Don't let the series name fool you, we must take 'Lightweight' in terms of 1964 technology. For a rod the size you specify I would think the Hardy LRH would be just about right.

I use a Featherweight on a 6'6" 3/4 rod and a Princess on an eight foot 6 weight. Generally we find that a cane rod once strung up with line and in the hand will be tip heavy. This calls for a slightly larger reel than we would apply to a similar sized graphite rod but not always.

My eight foot rod was custom made and in order to use the Princess I had the company spike the reel seat with a lead weight to get what I consider perfect balance. To get this right I sent the reel loaded with line to the Orvis bamboo shop so that they could get the weight correct. The only other choice had I not had the weight put in the reel seat was to move up to a Hardy St. Aidan. The Princess is a 3 1/2" reel and the St. Aidan would mean using a 3 3/4" reel on a trout rod. The rod and reel look good together and the balance is as good as it gets.

Depending on handle design and seat an LRH will look similar to this in scale and should have the proper weight when loaded with line and backing.

Yes that's ice, cane rods are safe in the cold.

Ard

 

[sweetandsalt]

I too like the classic look of a standard arbor Hardy on cane rods. Heavier ones like a well worn Perfect or Boughly are particularly nice. A contemporary reel that has the right look and feel is the Argus by Douglas.

 

[planettrout]

I am with Ard on Hardy Reels for lighter Bamboo...I like the Hardy Lightweight for a 5wt. rod and the LRH for a 6wt. However, I also like the Abel TR 1 and TR 2, depending on the rod weight...this is a TR 1 on a 7 1/2', 4wt. custom bamboo rod I picked up in Montana:

The Orvis CFO II Reels are also nice if you can find one:

American Made Fly Reel / CFO Fly Reels -- Orvis

and I wouldn't mind having one of these either...

https://www.vintageflytackle.com/products/ari-t-hart-f2-rio-orbigo-fly-reel


PT/TB

 

[mka]

I like all of the reels suggested above...my favorite is the Orvis CFO for my bamboo rods. For me, it looks and works great on bamboo and contemporary plastic rods.

 

[tcorfey]

Here is three different reels on some Orvis Bamboo rods.

Top is a Pfluegar Medalist 1495.
Middle is an Orvis Battenkill iV - English
Bottom is an Orvis Battenkill III - English

Hope this helps

Tim C.

 

[flytie09]

Some very good ideas from the group. You can't go wrong with any of those suggestions.

Even some of the blue collar Pflueger Medalist or Hardy Lightweight clones are ones to consider:

- Shakespeare Purist 7593/7594/7594/7596
- Southbend Finalist 1122/1133/1144/1155
- Olympic 420/440/460
- Berkley 540
- Heddon 310
- Eagle Claw EC 10/11/12
- Daiwa 700/710/720

Happy hunting. Tally Ho!

ft09

 

[sweetandsalt]

I left out my favorite reel for cane rods...one I have coveted and never owned (I made a bad decision once upon a time), Hardy's agate line guard "St. George".

 

[seattlesetters]

Hardy Lightweight, St. George or Bouglé.

My shorter cane rods get Lightweights while the 8' and over get the Bouglé.

 

[rockriver]

I'd hang a Medalist on it.

 

[troutnut4]

Here is my choice for my recent entry into the Boo world. This reel balances the rod perfectly. It's a 3 1/8" Hardy Uniqua. Vintage look for a beautiful custom rod from a well know builder in Pennsylvania.

:frogdance

 

[Ard]

Now you might as well share the "well known builder in Pennsylvania" as well as the size and weight of the rod

 

[flytie09]

Be careful pairing a vintage English reel on a newer rod as not all reel seats are created equal. Much older Hardys, Dingleys, Farlows and the like have varying length mounting feet that are much longer than those made beyond the 1950s. They won't fit on modern reel seats and you'll regret your decision.

So you've been advised. I'd ask your expert builder what it can handle before plunging head first in a $250+ reel.

The suggestions I made before, I know will all work and can all be found for under $100.

If you want newish..... then you cant go wrong with an Orvis CFO or Battenkill. Older ones from the 80s and 90s can be found at a decent sub $125 price.... but a thorough search will be required.

Allcock Marvels or J W Young pattern 1's or 5's w/ red agates are randy-dandy and can be had for ~ $125 in decent shape. But the foot length has to be verified.

It's all a matter of what's tickles your fancy. Some like blondes, some like brunettes..... I like them all. :wavetowel

I've shared this before and I will again..... there's enough here for you to drool over for a couple weeks. - The FlyReelMania website has links to about any reel manufacturer's website that you can think of and lots that you can't. Good one to have in your favorites. The best fly reels reviews. Fly reel manufacturer sites, carrete, carretilha, degirmen, fis.

Lather away!

ft09

 

[troutnut4]

Now you might as well share the "well known builder in Pennsylvania" as well as the size and weight of the rod

The rod is a Garrison 204E built by Art Weiler. It is a 7'-3", 4 weight, 2 pic. With an extra tip. Art's recommendation was to fish it with a Cortland Sylk DT4. Art was recommended to me by a number of contributors over on the "Classic", an excellent forum for Boo fans as well as vintage reels and rods.

 

[troutnut4]

Be careful pairing a vintage English reel on a newer rod as not all reel seats are created equal. Much older Hardys, Dingleys, Farlows and the like have varying length mounting feet that are much longer than those made beyond the 1950s. They won't fit on modern reel seats and you'll regret your decision.

Exactly, found that out when I purchased a Dingley as a collector piece and tried it out on a favourite Fenwick salmon rod. No go! Had a machinist make a new brass foot but later decided not to use the reel at all. Wife is NOT happy with the purchase. As I said... it for my collection dear!

 

[pnc]

Plan on getting blank from roost.... maybe elsewhere. Was thinking 7.5 - 5w. Hopefully have a reel that will balance it. Currently have one bamboo rod. 9' 3pcs. No markings as to # or w. 6w line seems to work best but have not tried 7w yet. Only reel I have that comes close to balancing it. Is my , Billy Pate Tarpon reel. But still rod is tip heavy.
Looked god awful. My first thought was ....... I'll have to hang a brick on this. Second thought was ........ Good excuse to make a reel (been wanting to). Went with third idea....... made Pflueger heavier. Replaced backing with flat led.
Still need bigger spool for this rod. But found weight needed by wrapping led around reel afterwards.
Copied names in thread in case it doesn't work on smaller rod.
Thanks for imput guys !

........ pc

 

[Ard]

Since you're working from a set of blanks you may want to consider how I got that 8' Orvis balanced to the Princess reel. I mailed the reel loaded with line to Ron White at Orvis back in the 90's and ask that he string up the rod with line and reel. I ask that he add weight to the butt until the rod with the line through the guides had a fulcrum point directly behind the winding check on the very nose of the cork grip.

Once he knew how much weight to add I believe he used soft lead under or inside the actual cork seat. However he managed that the rod arrived perfect with the reel I wanted not the one I had to use based on weight.

You can play with weighting reels but when building a matched kit I think you're way ahead weighting the butt at the very butt end.

 

[pnc]

Hmmmmmm.... interesting. Sounds like good idea. Might try it on 9'er. Thinking about changing grip.

....... pc

 

[dennyk]

This is very cool. I have a childhood friend I grew up with who has taken up the challenge of building Tonkin cane fly rods from scratch some years ago. I can only appreciate the skill and the patients it takes to handcraft these rods.

We met for lunch sometime back, my friend was already there, fiddling with something in his trunk. I saw him pull a rod case from his trunk. I thought COOL, Chuck brought one of his rods to show me.

He slid it out of it's case, assembled it and handed it to me. My reply was: Chuck, this is beautiful!!

He said thanks, that's why it's your's, thought I was gonna croak. The only thing I could muster was THANK YOU!

That being said the only fly reel this fly rod will ever see is my 30-35 year old CFO IV spooled up with a SA 6.5 wt. line. What a pleasure to fish with and great memories not withstanding!

Denny