Wow! To each his own, I suppose. I'm sure Islanders are fine reels, but I don't think I have as much invested in my entire reel collection as the cheapest used Islander costs on eBay.

I've wondered about those Speyco reels. Sounds good. I'm not a member of the "Reels Are Nothing But Lineholders Club". I'll take a look.

Looks like a Willow fly reel (because of the gleaming beauty and the handle) with Farlows name on it to me... but I am unsure of why that is.

And to scud - the Speyco reels ROCK! They are the bee's knee's bro... that clicker is sweet music to my ears... I have 3 of them. Let me get some pics of up for you of my favorite that just came in real quick...

Hardy comes to mind..... A lot of different flavours and vintages. For casting I have a preference for smaller diameter reels - keeps the mass in tighter to the rod and hand. For fighting fish different story.

It has the Farlows name on it because it was made for them to sell in their stores under their own brand - much like BFR made reels for Orvis, Cortland, and many others. They now offer a similar reel called the Loop Classic - made by (wait for it) Loop. Hardy also makes reels for Farlows.


https://www.farlows.co.uk/loop-classic-fly-reels.html

Why would anyone - especially this company - make fun of a Gem? Great reel, very smooth click pawl because of the large drag gear with fine teeth.

In the '51 Wards catalog, it was the highest-grade fly reel they sold


the 1935 horseshoe Gem is one of the most collectible reels of all time - designed to give Uniqua a run

never saw a gem, that's a nice looking reel

Thanks for the topic-
when not in use my reels are stored in a daypack that is close to hemorrhaging ,after some recent additions -gives me an excuse to take stock .
Never really planned to acquire as many reels as I have - rods yeah , but, in the smaller waters I fish , usually reels just warehouse line . But this past winter I scooped up 2-3 real finds from pawnshops that didn't know (or care) what they had .

Most recent addition is a LL bean Guide series 100- a relabeled JW Young 1500 , I believe. Paid $15 for it .

Made in USA Cabela's Cahill - no idea who made it but a very strong reel, that I fish with a Peach DT6 .

Ross Gunnison G 3 . Another recent addition . Lot better reel than I thought I'd buy . No price tag - so I asked the man behind the counter " How much ?" Man said " Twenty dollars ".
Thought it over for a few moments, then told him " Ok" - but, I made it sound like I was reluctant to go that high . Came with a weight forward 7 .

SA System 1 456 - Built for small stream abuse . The " SCREECH " keeps the bears at bay .

Cortland Vista 1 First good reel I ever bought - a demo from JL Waters in Bloomington , still going strong with a DT 4 on it .

Dinged up Japanese Medalist .

Brunson Royalist .

This is a list that will no doubt continue to expand .

Porespeler,
How the hell do you find a Gunnison 3 for $20!!!
What did the guy have no idea what he had?
One of my favorite reels..I had a pre 98...stolen Then a post 98...stolen
Then I bought an other post 98..I have 2 spools for that and 3 spare
Spools for a pre 98.
I’m always watching eBay for a pre-98 but every time one comes up I’m broke.

I once bought $300 worth of Lobsters for $25.

I love fishing with this reel.
Bronson royal 360
This green one is my favorite late 50s early 60s

In my opinion, the dark olive Ross Colorado LT is one of the best looking reels available when spooled with orange backing and SA Amplitude Trout. I have a few of the new Abel TRs as well, but theres something about the design of the Ross that I like even better. Those folks in Montrose know what they're doing!

The Douglas ARGUS is one smooth reel... I dig it and nobody else does... that makes it extra cool.

The only clicker I use is a Pflueger Sal Trout 1554, the older version with the "iron cross" cutouts on the back. I just put it to work a few days ago on a Fenwick 786 with a Rio Trout 5wt and about 100 yards of backing. I have adjusted it to work about equally well LH and RH, and I have chosen to make it a LH retrieve reel. I had bought some weighted trolling line to add weight but it was not needed. The fly line and backing likely "underfill" the reel but not by a lot. I have only limited experience with clickers. This one looks good, feels good, sounds good. Now i just need to find it a decent fish to test it. Best i recall i paid $25 for it, and it is in very good functioning and cosmetic shape.