Hardy Featherweight, Lamson Guru, Orvis BattenKill LA, or Orvis CFO or

[phishsaw]

Hi guys,
New to the forum, really love it!
I bought a Z-Axis 590-4, my biggest purchase for fly rods. I've been struggling to find a reel for it and have been reading this forum for the past two days.
I finally narrowed the choices down to the Hardy Featherweight, Lamson Guru, Orvis BattenKill LA, or Orvis CFO.
Would really appreciate your input and advice on these.
I'm also open to other suggestions in the price range up to $250.
Thanks.

 

[Ard]

Unless you're in a hurry I would shop eBay for a vintage / mint condition CFO IV. I use one on an old 9' PM-10 and it's a beautiful thing. The new rod you have will be a little lighter than my old one and this is good. My PM-10 is still a little tip heavy once you string the line up. With the lighter shaft on yours the CFO IV should be about perfect. If you choose to go with the Hardy look to the LRH lightweight rather than the Feather. It is a good match to 9' 5 weights.

Ard

 

[gt05254]

What Ard said, absolutely (CFO IV)! And oh, man, do I love PM-10"s! Wish they still made them!
Gary

 

[MoscaPescador]

The five weight. This is the rod in which one has to make the decision to have an old school click and pawl or a modern disk drag. Think of it this way. If you plan to fight the fish with the rod and only need enough drag to keep the reel from free spooling, go with a click and pawl reel. If you plan on using a drag system to complement the rod when fighting a fish, a disk drag is very helpful.

I am part of the click and pawl group. Like Ard mentioned, the LRH Lightweight would be the better reel. It will balance the rod better.

If you don't mind spending some extra coin, consider an Abel TR2. It is an American made click and pawl reel that you can pass down to generations. I use one on my 5 weight Z-Axis as my slime line stillwater reel. Brand new, a TR2 in black costs $270. You can find one used under $200.

If you want to spend a bit more, consider an Abel Creek Large Arbor 2.

Dennis

 

[jaybo41]

First off congratulations on your purchase. I have the same Z Axis rod and it has become one of my favorites. Solid advice thus far from all--not surpising on this board the group is one of the more helpful and useful forums I have found for fly fishing. Mosca hit the nail on the head in deciding to go with click & pawl or drag. Think about what species of fish you are targeting and the type of water you will be fishing when you make your choice.

I mostly throw my 5wt fishing larger streams/rivers, when I need to throw longer line (not the accomplished caster as some are here) and it's wonderful for streamers. The Z is a very versatile fly rod though, and I think you'll find that you can also turn over a very small dry fly with it as well. I am targeting trout and ocassionally smallies so I prefer a drag.

I have mine paired with a Ross Evolution LT #2 and really love this setup. $285 is just a little bit more than your budget of $250, but if you are considering a reel with drag, the Evo is certainly worth a look. Good luck in your search and let us know what you end up with.

 

[phishsaw]

Unless you're in a hurry I would shop eBay for a vintage / mint condition CFO IV. I use one on an old 9' PM-10 and it's a beautiful thing. The new rod you have will be a little lighter than my old one and this is good. My PM-10 is still a little tip heavy once you string the line up. With the lighter shaft on yours the CFO IV should be about perfect. If you choose to go with the Hardy look to the LRH lightweight rather than the Feather. It is a good match to 9' 5 weights.

Ard

Thanks for your input Ard. How often does the CFO IV show up on eBay? I'm also unclear about vintage vs. non vintage, are all CFO IV considered vintage because they're discontinued? Or only the ones made in England a certain year are vintage? Found this on eBay :Made in England Orvis Barstock CFO IV Fly Reel - eBay (item 110725706748 end time Aug-13-11 07:57:39 PDT) is this one of them?
Thanks, again for your help.

 

[FrankB2]

Orvis has the BBS IV on sale right now for $129. While it's no longer made in England, it's a very good reel: machined, handsome, drag with a clicker, lightweight, and holds plenty of backing for a 5wt line. Orvis assigns line weights to their reels that are entirely unrealistic IMO. Orvis says the BBS III will hold a 7wt line, but it has a narrow 3" spool. I've owned made in England BBS reels, and the line designations were lower back then. The BBS IV has a 3 3/8" spool that's about .75" wide. That's dandy for a 5wt, and I had one on my 590 Z-Axis. The Z-Axis has a U-20 Struble reel seat, and many reels have a foot that is too thick to fit well. The Orvis fits perfectly. Buying a new Orvis gives you a lifetime money back guarantee, and that might be something to consider as well.

 

[phishsaw]

First off congratulations on your purchase. I have the same Z Axis rod and it has become one of my favorites. Solid advice thus far from all--not surpising on this board the group is one of the more helpful and useful forums I have found for fly fishing. Mosca hit the nail on the head in deciding to go with click & pawl or drag. Think about what species of fish you are targeting and the type of water you will be fishing when you make your choice.

I mostly throw my 5wt fishing larger streams/rivers, when I need to throw longer line (not the accomplished caster as some are here) and it's wonderful for streamers. The Z is a very versatile fly rod though, and I think you'll find that you can also turn over a very small dry fly with it as well. I am targeting trout and ocassionally smallies so I prefer a drag.

I have mine paired with a Ross Evolution LT #2 and really love this setup.
$285 is just a little bit more than your budget of $250, but if you are
considering a reel with drag, the Evo is certainly worth a look. Good luck in
your search and let us know what you end up with.

Thanks, Jaybo. My Z is coming tomorrow and I can't wait to see it! Actually, tomorrow is here already, woke up in the middle of the night and been looking for reels and not realizing it's already 5 am PT
I did look into the Ross Evolution, but forgot why I abandoned it. Probably because of pricing. I also prefer gears made in the USA and then made in England in that order. I'll have to look at the Ross Evolution again.
I mostly fish rivers and streams for trout and the reels I have now are click and paw that I use with my 4# Thomas & Thomas. I'm curious to try a drag to see what it's like. However, the CFO IV Ard suggested sounds intriguing. I'm not sure if I have the patience to wait for one to show up on eBay
Will let everyone know which reel I decide on. Thanks, again for your input. This forum rocks!

 

[FrankB2]

Sending you a PM on the CFO IV (made in England).

I also had a Ross Evolution on the Z-Axis. The 3 size works best with the new LT, as they hold less backing than the older Evolution. There is a Ross Rhythm and spool listed in this forum's Classifieds, and that's the same reel as the older Evo, but with less holes. They are excellent, and that is the size I bought for 5/6 wt rods.

 

[phishsaw]

Sending you a PM on the CFO IV (made in England).

I also had a Ross Evolution on the Z-Axis. The 3 size works best with the new LT, as they hold less backing than the older Evolution. There is a Ross Rhythm and spool listed in this forum's Classifieds, and that's the same reel as the older Evo, but with less holes. They are excellent, and that is the size I bought for 5/6 wt rods.

Hi FrankB2,
Thanks for the pm. What's your review of the Ross vs. other brand reels?
I will definitely look at the Ross again.
Thank you for your help.

 

[FrankB2]

The Ross has a better drag system than the Orvis BBS and CFO (with drag). It's smooth as butter, and won't give you any problems. The Ross holds a drag setting forever, and can be tuned in finer increments than the Orvis reels. The drag on the CFO and BBS is fine, but it's just not up to the level of a Ross reel. My 590 Z-Axis feels better with a reel around 5oz mounted on it, and the Rhythm 3 is right there (4.9). The Rhythm is a mid arbor design, and you won't have any coiling issues with that. Here's a Rhythm 3 on my 9' 6wt. I don't have any pics with it on the Z-Axis, but it was fine on that rod.:

P.S.
Here's an Evo LT #3 on my 590 Z-Axis. Larger diameter reels look fine on that rod, and the weight difference it very small:

 

[phishsaw]

Great photos, FrankB2!
Thanks for the information. I'm going to look at the Ross reels for sure. Hopefully, the prices are within my budget! I think that may have been the reason why I didn't consider it.

Also, my Z-Axis arrived today, woohoo! It's a beauty. It deserves a nice reel!

Thanks everyone.

 

[jaybo41]

Frank has you covered with specifics of the Ross Evo, and it really is butter smooth. Ross are Made in the US, I haven't had to use warranty or CS, but have heard very good things about Ross. Honestly I don't think you can go wrong with all of the reels you're interested in or those that have been mentioned along the way.

The #2 is rated for 4-6wts and is 4.2 oz, where as the #3 is 5-7 and weighs in just a touch heavier at 4.5 oz. MSRP for the #2 is $285 and $305 for the #3. #2 spool $148, #3 spool # $159. This all from the Ross Website:

Fly Reels, Evolution LT - Ross Reels USA / Ross Worldwide

Here's my Z with the Evo #2

 

[FrankB2]

Yup. How can you hang a cheapo reel on a premium rod? The first reel used on the Z-Axis was a made in England (NOS) BBS IV. It was fine, but I sold it, and bought one of the original Ross Evolution #3 reels:

It was a fine reel, but I liked the looks of the Evolution LT. Somewhere along that time I bought the Ross Rhythm at a close-out price, and that was very nice as well. I sold all of them, but only regret selling the Rhythms. They would be very costly to replace, considering the discounted price I paid (and sold them for). A dumb move. One of the more attractive reels for me right now is the Abel Super 4N and 5N. I almost bought a new Super 4N on ebay last night, but was too exhausted from dealing with my wife's broken ankle. Moscapescador seems to like a lighter reel on his 590 Z-Axis, and he is very knowledgeable about these matters. In fact, I pester him quite a bit about reel selection. Everyone has their favorite, and Pocono is using an Abel Super 5N on his 590 Z-Axis. He loves it. I don't really recall why I sold my Evo Lt reels, but I do like swinging the Z-Axis with more weight hanging off the reel seat. I recently bought an Abel TR 3 (another NOS reel), but haven't used it on any rod yet. 3.25" diameter spool, and .75" wide, it will hold quite a bit of backing. It's VERY smooth for a click/pawl reel, but wouldn't slow down the largemouth in the photo above. I've been using my collection of Okuma SLV reels on most of my rods this year, and their drag systems have been used on several occasions this summer:

The Okuma reels shown above have a 3.5" diameter spool, and that 22 inch catfish require the drag knob to be tightened quite a bit after my wife hooked it on a #10 Wooly Bugger!

Honestly, they're all fine reels. Finding the match is really a matter of personal preference. If we were discussing a reel for tarpon, the answer would be much more definite.

P.S.
Jaybo, That bronze Evo LT looks great with the Fall leaves!

 

[phishsaw]

Frank has you covered with specifics of the Ross Evo, and it really is butter smooth. Ross are Made in the US, I haven't had to use warranty or CS, but have heard very good things about Ross. Honestly I don't think you can go wrong with all of the reels you're interested in or those that have been mentioned along the way.

The #2 is rated for 4-6wts and is 4.2 oz, where as the #3 is 5-7 and weighs in just a touch heavier at 4.5 oz. MSRP for the #2 is $285 and $305 for the #3. #2 spool $148, #3 spool # $159. This all from the Ross Website:

Fly Reels, Evolution LT - Ross Reels USA / Ross Worldwide

Here's my Z with the Evo #2

That's a thing of beauty Jaybo41. I like the color combo of your setup. Sweet!
The prices are slightly higher than my budget. Hmm.
But it's so awesome looking.

---------- Post added at 03:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:11 AM ----------

Yup. How can you hang a cheapo reel on a premium rod? The first reel used on the Z-Axis was a made in England (NOS) BBS IV. It was fine, but I sold it, and bought one of the original Ross Evolution #3 reels:

It was a fine reel, but I liked the looks of the Evolution LT. Somewhere along that time I bought the Ross Rhythm at a close-out price, and that was very nice as well. I sold all of them, but only regret selling the Rhythms. They would be very costly to replace, considering the discounted price I paid (and sold them for). A dumb move. One of the more attractive reels for me right now is the Abel Super 4N and 5N. I almost bought a new Super 4N on ebay last night, but was too exhausted from dealing with my wife's
broken ankle. Moscapescador seems to like a lighter reel on his 590 Z-Axis, and he is very knowledgeable about these matters. In fact, I pester him quite a bit about reel selection. Everyone has their favorite, and Pocono is using
an Abel Super 5N on his 590 Z-Axis. He loves it. I don't really recall why I sold my Evo Lt reels, but I do like swinging the Z-Axis with more weight hanging off the reel seat. I recently bought an Abel TR 3 (another NOS reel), but haven't used it on any rod yet. 3.25" diameter spool, and .75" wide, it will hold
quite a bit of backing. It's VERY smooth for a click/pawl reel, but wouldn't slow down the largemouth in the photo above. I've been using my collection of Okuma SLV reels on most of my rods this year, and their drag systems have been used on several occasions this summer:

The Okuma reels shown above have a 3.5" diameter spool, and that 22 in
catfish require the drag knob to be tightened quite a bit after my wife hooked it on a #10 Wooly Bugger!

Honestly, they're all fine reels. Finding the match is really a matter of personal preference. If we were discussing a reel for tarpon, the answer would be much more definite.
P.S.
Jaybo, That bronze Evo LT looks great with the Fall leaves!

I'm too distracted by the photos of the fish to think about reels. That brown trout is something. I just want to go fishing!
I think I've got enough info and I think I'd like a reel with a drag system because I don't have one yet. Now I just need to get one I can afford.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I'll keep you all updated.

 

[comeonavs]

I have posted this a few times. I have a Z-Axis and own a Evo 2 and a Lamson Guru. I have put both reels on the Z and truth be told I prefer the Guru. Dont get me wrong I love the Evo I own a few but my Z is paired with a Guru.

 

[jaybo41]

Thanks for the kind words Frank and Phish.

Frank, that older version of the Evo is sweet, that's one sweet rig you have! I've looked for the older versions and for the most part they don't seem to come up for sale too often, at least on the fly fishing forums I frequent. Love that Steel Blue color!

Lamson has a solid drag through my experiences, I own two. Litespeed and an older model Velocity. The Velocity I use to fish for Steelies, and that drag and reel has proven iteself in winter conditions with big fish. The Guru for the price is going to get you a solid drag and could potentially be viewed as "best bang for the buck" The Lamson drags are all the same as I understand it. The price difference is the manufacturing process of the spool and frame of the reel. Like I mentioned before, all of the reels being discussed in this thread are fine choices!

 

[phishsaw]

Thanks, Comeonavs,
Just when I thought I would go for the Ross Evo, the Lamson Guru2 reappears :icon_eek: I tried to get a guru a few days ago to take advantage of the Gabelas $20 off promo, but they didn't have the size I wanted. However, after seeing the copper color Evo #2 on Jaybo's Z I thought I have to get that combo sounds shallow I know, but that is such a sweet looking combo. If I'm getting skunked I may as well look good right?
I've heard really good things about the Guru 2, but it doesn't come in the color I want
Jaybo - why did you chose the Evo #2 and not 3 when the #3 is for 5/7 wt? My inclination is to go for Evo #3, but if it makes no difference I would rather go for #2 because it's a little less.

Any advice?
Thanks.

 

[jaybo41]

LOL you like the look of it eh Phish? Go for it if you like it!

Good question. I opted for the #2 as opposed to the #3 because I don't own a 6wt, am set on 7wt reels and figured that I could also get another spool and use it on a 4 wt. The weight is nearly the same on both, just a fraction of an ounce, and although not quite as much of a factor as what I've previously mentioned, a few bucks cheaper.

I think it balances great on the 905 Z.

 

[phishsaw]

Thanks, Jaybo.
I was wondering if there was a balancing reason for choosing one over the other, but your reasoning makes sense.
I think Ill do the same.
Once I get the reel and everything setup I'll take a photo And post it.
I'm not that shallow really. I'm an engineer by trade and a deep thinker by reputation "the chap does protest too much." Ha ha ha!