I'm Looking For a Reel.............

[Ard]

Do you frequent any fly shops that sell Hardy reels? If so maybe the next time you are there take a look to see if they have any of the discontinued Swift models. If you spot any please send the shop name to me via PM.

This is what they look like;




Thanks,

Ard

 

[dennyk]

Hi Ard, it may be worth your time to try Great Lakes Fly fishing Co. The owner is Glenn Blackwood. He deals alot with Hardy and other classic reels. phone is 616-866-6060.

https://troutmoor.net

Denny

 

[sweetandsalt]

Ard, I think they've been discontinued for a long time now. I have one too, a Swift 925 Mk II, mine is the "improved" Korean built model...I like your English made one better. I think it is a very fine reel though more popular on the other side of the pond, it never was big deal over here. There was that transitional time period which Hardy (under Hardy Brothers) was striving to reinvent the reel by adding "performance" reels to the "traditional" series when they came out with Swift, Gem, Angel, MLA, Ultralite Disc and more, all very good reels albeit with little commonality in design elements...all very experimental. My MLA 350 has had its drag disappear and looking it over with Hardy's US reel expert, John Shaner, we can't figure out why. Perhaps a winter project for me would be to mail it to Alnwick and have them take a look.

 

[sweetandsalt]

I miss-understood your post Ard (too early in the morning?). But I'll keep my ear to the ground for one. I almost never see them on the water, much less in shops.

 

[Ard]

News Flash!

It's been almost a year since I posted this thread and I just got one of these from a seller in the UK.

Not only did I finally get a reel I've been wanting for years but got a good deal on it. It seems that everyone wants top dollar for this model and I've been opposed to spending more for a discontinued non collectable large arbor reel than I would pay for a brand new Sage Spectrum Max, I have no idea how this Swift will stack up against the Spectrum but I'll soon find out.

It's all been about getting the reel that was made to match up with my Swift rods here...… Now I'll be styling big time.

 

[okaloosa]

News Flash!

It's been almost a year since I posted this thread and I just got one of these from a seller in the UK.

Not only did I finally get a reel I've been wanting for years but got a good deal on it. It seems that everyone wants top dollar for this model and I've been opposed to spending more for a discontinued non collectable large arbor reel than I would pay for a brand new Sage Spectrum Max, I have no idea how this Swift will stack up against the Spectrum but I'll soon find out.

It's all been about getting the reel that was made to match up with my Swift rods here...… Now I'll be styling big time.

do you have to pay customs tax on reels from England?
have you bought any Hardys on Ebay from England?

 

[ia_trouter]

Patience paid off. That's a sharp looking reel Ard.

 

[DonW]

I've bought a couple English reels (used) and never paid any taxes.

 

[mcnerney]

Ars

That is awesome news, glad you got the reel you were looking for.

 

[okaloosa]

I've bought a couple English reels (used) and never paid any taxes.

on ebay?
thanks

 

[photoguy]

on ebay?
thanks

I've bought Hardy reels on eBay that were sent from England. No taxes.

Congrats Ard...I bet it feels good to cross this off the list!

 

[Ard]

do you have to pay customs tax on reels from England?
have you bought any Hardys on Ebay from England?

I got a customs charge one time back in 2011 for a bulk order from Hardy. Purchases of a single reel I've never been assessed any fees. I don't know where the price line is but did get a bill that one time.

 

[DonW]

Yes my purchases were all used reels via UK e-bay, spendy shipping but have never paid any tax/fee etc.

 

[Ard]

More updating here...….....

There was significant excitement when I made that buy back on October 5th and excitement can lead to mistakes. When I woke up from my euphorbia I took a second look at the not so good cell phone pictures the seller displayed to list the slightly used reel. I transferred them to my computer and enlarged them and guess what? The reel was not the Alnwick made model!

The seller was cool and knew his Hardy reels he had no problems with canceling the sale so I could continue the search.

I have been waiting for another UK. eBay auction to end for the past 8 days and this morning at 6:45 AM Alaska time it did and I was awake sitting at my computer. In the closing minutes I entered what I consider to be a high bid ($385.00) on a new with box case and papers Swift 975. I was shocked to see that the person who had made 15 automatic bids over the past week was at their upper limit. I bought the unused reel well under 300 and this time it is actually in the mail.

These are from the listing:





High hopes that I really like this and put it to use. I've been fishing with a Swift rod for 8 years but could never find the reel. I didn't suffer too badly though because I had my Taupo (yes Mike I had 2 of those) and Cascapedia to use with the rod. This purchase does create a problem ….. I need a rod for the Taupo. If that's the biggest problem I have between now and spring life is good

 

[Lewis Chessman]

Congratulations, Ard, a keen price worth getting up early for! I hope you're both very happy together.

Re: the Taupo reel; I was chatting on the river this year with an elderly guest who was reflecting on his first rod with fond remembrance. He was given it one birthday as a boy and adored it as he began a life of fly fishing. This would have been early post-war and his rod was cane, of course. Quite how and why, I forget, but the rod was left at the family home for many years then disappeared, never to be seen again, much to my man's dismay.

What was it? A Hardy Taupo Palakona!

There's a matchmaking challenge for you!

 

[Ard]

Hi James

I doubt that I'll go to cane Spey rods as I've been corrupted by the graphite rods of the past 30 years. The reel however, Taupo that is, is a favorite of mine. I sold one last year but kept one so I wouldn't have to use those awful space age large arbor reels always.... The swift is one that became a sort of obsession, I know I'll use it but doubt it would become the only one I'll employ.

I'm tracking it as it makes the trip from Brighton to here



I must say that the machining looks really sharp.

 

[Lewis Chessman]

Ha! Tracking it will be fun. I hope it's all you desire.
I was, of course, kidding about the Taupo rod though I did look and found one here, a 10 ft, #7, 3 pc., for a mere £645.
It's very tidy, though.

I do have a friend, a gillie on the Spey, whose preferred rod is still his 13 ft Sharpes spliced cane Scotty. He can often pick his time on the water and would rather cast this for a couple of hours in the evening than anything else in the cupboard. Nice to be in that position!

 

[sweetandsalt]

OK, Ard, now that your Swift is on its way, how about a Hardy Angel?

 

[Ard]

I've thought about those Richard but unlike the Swift reels I have had opportunity to handle the Angel reels. Back in 2005 / 06 local shops (Anchorage) had them in the stores. At the time I was far too invested in my old school reels to fall for something with such a radical departure in its design. Even today as I think on them I'm not overly enthused by the looks. They are different but not what I have been wanting, good reviews though.....

The thing with the Swift model reel has been just wanting the reel which was I believed made to match my rods. Another outdated item I struggle to avoid is the purchase of a 13 foot #8 Swift rod. Based on the performance of my 11 1/2 foot I can easily imagine the longer rod (Swift) could easily make my Sage rods obsolete.

James, I'm familiar with the trans oceanic and continental tracking of these things and so I don't expect much in that regard

 

[sweetandsalt]

The Angel is indeed a radical reel for Hardy. Yes, it was designed by them but in collaboration with Ari't Hart, the mad reel genius himself. If anyone thinks Ross invented the drag adjustment "wheel" (as on EVO R) look at the drag knob on Angel.