disco steve
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Come on fella's - what in your honest opinions, is the very best trout fly reel of all time - past or present and regardless of price?
S.
S.
Best trout reel of all time - regardless of price
- Thread starter disco steve
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c web
Well-known member
Where I fish in the southern Appalachians, Martin model 62, cost around $15, does it's job beautifully and lasts forever, oh and you can't beat the sound that old tuna can makes! 
Rip Tide
Well-known member
Best selling, most popular, lasts a lifetime
dennyk
Well-known member
Rip Tide, nice stable of Medalists. I have the new Medalist in the 7/8. Some spool slop and the backlash drag ain't much to speak of, but as my bass reel it does the job. I swap it for and old one in the same size in a heartbeat.
Denny
Denny
fredaevans
Well-known member
Gets my vote; I'm still using a couple that are at least 50 years old. A clean up, a drop of oil or grease, and good to go.
Frank Whiton
Most Senior Member
Well I don't know if it is the best but it certainly is my favorite. That would be the Galvin Open Back. Wonderful drag, well built and perfect size.
Frank
Frank
mka
Well-known member
No list like this is complete without an Orvis CFO on it:
JasonTX
Well-known member
No doubt the CFO in my opinion. I respect how cheap and long lasting medalists are, but they’re just too bulky for me.
silver creek
Well-known member
I have a CFO but my favorite is the Ross San Miguel Vision. There are not many of them around.
wthorpe
Well-known member
This thread and some other recent ones have prompted me to wonder: What's the big deal about Hardy's, CFO's, and other such reels? I hate to sound ignorant but well i guess i am, and that's why i am asking. i have bumbled along for 20 years with mid-priced Ross reels (mostly Cimmarons, Evolution, and their progeny), caught fish with them just fine, and I know next to nothing about these "classic" reels. For example, are all or most click and pawl, or do they have drags (or both)? (For what it's worth i have one inexpensive Ross clicker that i put away for good the first time i backlashed the whole thing pulling line off of the reel. Perhaps more patience on my part was warranted.) If someone wanted to give me for a present, say a Hardy, for a 5 wt., to what reel, and what seller might i direct them--and what are the implications of the used vs. brand new products. I tried to find some of this basic stuff on the internet, but either it ain't there, or my (im)Perfect searches did not find it. i will appreciate any responses.
coug
Well-known member
Mine is the Abel trout series.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
silver creek
Well-known member
Are you a car guy? Imagine it is 1962 and the 1962 Corvette below is the new car everyone hungers for.
If you are and are of a certain age, you will remember when the 1962 Jaguar XKE appeared. I certainly do. It redefined what a sports car could be. There was no car that every looked close to that car when it was introduced.
I graduated high school in 1962 and for me the XKE will always be the definition of a sexy sports car. Well Classic reels are like that. They leave the competition behind and they stand the test of time. This car is 55 years old and yet looks like looks like a modern sports car should.
JasonTX
Well-known member
wthorpe, here’s my answer to your question regarding the CFO. Hardy’s are desireable for another set of reasons. Stan Bogdan designed it to be simple, lightweight and easy to use. It doesn’t balance cane rods as well as most of its Hardy predecessors. It came around in the 70’s when graphite was beginning to become a norm and it is well suited for it. To me it is just good looking and defines what a fly reel looks like (Im not very old). The sound of the check when a fish runs is like music to me. The check adjustment does not even require a 360 degree turn of a well placed knob when you need a bit of drag, unlike Hardy’s little brass screw. I see absolutely no need for anything other than a click check for trout. Hell I fish saltwater with a CFO V SW. After Hardy’s stopped making them they got arguably better as BFR started machining from bar stock. The manufacturing tolerances are incredibly tight. The return to click check and US manufacturing with the Abel made version made it the perfect trout reel IMO......not that I’m opinionated or anything!
This “random” pile of reels may show a click check bias!!
This “random” pile of reels may show a click check bias!!
dillon
Well-known member
Saracione Mark IV Trout
I wouldn't proclaim any reel or rod the best, but the sarcione is worth a mention. Mine found a home this summer on my 486 One. A pretty nice little set up that produced my Montana "trip fish." However, it was on my way home, in Oregon... It was a tough year in Id/Mt. The coldest, wettest ever, for us.
I wouldn't proclaim any reel or rod the best, but the sarcione is worth a mention. Mine found a home this summer on my 486 One. A pretty nice little set up that produced my Montana "trip fish." However, it was on my way home, in Oregon... It was a tough year in Id/Mt. The coldest, wettest ever, for us.
While I can appreciate all of the Classic reels of the past, the CFO’s and Hardy’s and Pflueger Medalists, I have a hard time believing that’s what any of you would choose if the store owner told you to pick whatever you wanted out of the case.
If I were pressed to select today, it would be an Abel SDS or a Ross Evo R. I have the Evo R, and it’s a fine piece. Pairs perfectly on my Sage X 590.
The current Sage Click could find a place on something like a Sage X 486.
Never would I select a Pflueger Medalist, despite their value and ability.
If I were pressed to select today, it would be an Abel SDS or a Ross Evo R. I have the Evo R, and it’s a fine piece. Pairs perfectly on my Sage X 590.
The current Sage Click could find a place on something like a Sage X 486.
Never would I select a Pflueger Medalist, despite their value and ability.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
The "value and ability" of the Pflueger Medalist is exactly what makes the Medalist the best reel of all time.
There's no snobbery involved. Just a reliable reel that anyone could afford.
I used them in the salt for 18 years before I got my first anodized disk drag and I still have, and sometimes use, my first Medalist from 1964.
And still to this day, I use them for 90% of my fresh water fishing.
And why wouldn't you ? Not cool enough ?
'Cuz here's a little secret, :secret:, That's not what fish care about.
I wouldn’t “hypothetically” select one because this thread stated “regardless of price.” Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t buy one for personal use.
I’m also familiar with the fact that the fish don’t care about your gear. However, I do care about what I use; and ultimately what I care about means more to me than what the fish care about or what you think.
The point was (and I think you missed it), given the choice of any reel for free, I have my doubts that anybody here selects a Medalist. You would be a fool to do so.
JasonTX
Well-known member
Those are all large arbor reels....nice ones, but I’ll stick with a standard arbor click check for trout any day!
I have another pile of reels like you’re talking about for saltwater, but we’re talking about trout reels here. I don’t need 10 pounds of drag.