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Post 15 Apr 2021, 07:14 • #51 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Thanks! I didn't want to declare open season on the type, but, you know, when marketing drives design, look out ! I suppose there is a slight production economy in using the same frame.


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Post 15 Apr 2021, 07:25 • #52 
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Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
hey, it was me who posted Disc Drags are Fascist (an allusion to Bull Durham).


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Post 15 Apr 2021, 09:59 • #53 
New Member
Joined: 03/05/21
Posts: 24
Location: New Mexico
My favorite reel is the Bauer SST series...a classic looking reel with a sealed drag that looks just at home locked into a glass, graphite, or bamboo fly rod. It's definitely my go to reel these days whether I'm on a mountain creek fishing for 8" brownies or a big river with 20" plus rainbows. https://dryflynm.blogspot.com/2020/12/b ... reels.html

My worst reel of all time is a PHOS 1949 reel that I bought many years ago...talk about a heavy reel with a lousy drag!!!


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Post 15 Apr 2021, 12:01 • #54 
Guide
Joined: 01/27/12
Posts: 210
Location: US-PA
Best, Hardy Lightweight Series, especially , the Flyweight. Lightweight and a great sounding click.
Worst, Pflueger Medalist, heavy and terrible sounding click.


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Post 15 Apr 2021, 14:12 • #55 
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Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
Best = Hardy Perfect
Worst = Zebco 202


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Post 15 Apr 2021, 14:27 • #56 
Guide
Joined: 11/28/11
Posts: 325
Location: US-MI
Favorite is a Hardy Dutchess. The Redington CTS small arbors were a huge bang for the buck. My worst reel was a Cortland (Intrepid) multiplier.


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Post 18 Apr 2021, 11:32 • #57 
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Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
Image

Reels are funny things. Some you own because you think they're beautiful and they look good, some you own almost by accident, and some you settle on because they just seem right. I started out with bare bones stuff, graduated to older Hardys, then settled down to the Pfluegers (and newer Hardys on my modern tackle, hey....the "Key" employee discount you know).

Image

When I'm on big water, I fish modern, home water is mostly cane, small water can be anything.


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Post 18 Apr 2021, 11:51 • #58 
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Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
that's a respectable stack of reels.
I think what got me into them was what you get for what you spend - good shopping will get you four or five quality reels for one fresh from the "pages" of the fly rod rags.
The new reel you can sell at a loss, but the vintage reel you can always sell at least for what you paid.


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Post 18 Apr 2021, 13:59 • #59 
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Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
Ron: and that was something like 20-years ago. Many of those reels are in somebody else's collection now. I generally don't fall prey to the "man jewelery" stuff much, but reels might be the exception. Especially the older ones, pretty much anything well-made in the 1930s looks pretty good to me.

Image

The newer stuff works really well, but even most of the Hardys are made in Korea anymore. No.....it's the older stuff that I tend to covet now. They really are old Gems.


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Post 18 Apr 2021, 17:04 • #60 
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Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
Bloodhound wrote:
Hersh

That is way cool that your EC10 is a good one. The 3 I had were in pristine but dusty boxes...last of production? I messed with all three of them and they all had issues with wobble and poor fit. I love Eagle Claw as I have been fishing with Eagle Claw gear since I was a kid in Denver. I will keep my eyes open and see if I can find a good one...kind of the way I have been testing out Ocean City reels. Thanks for the good word.

Thing is i don't think EC made any of these.There are all different brands with different paint jobs and badges,some later versions using/ripping off the Hardy click pawl configuration are out there.I have a couple Daiwas, a Cabela's Cahill .5.BullDog knows 100x more about these reels than i do.I bought a few and didn't know enough to even know they were copies of Hardy reels.I bought many locally as a novelty but a few are pretty decent reels.


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Post 19 Apr 2021, 08:16 • #61 
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Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
lloyd3 wrote:
Ron: and that was something like 20-years ago. Many of those reels are in somebody else's collection now. I generally don't fall prey to the "man jewelery" stuff much, but reels might be the exception. Especially the older ones, pretty much anything well-made in the 1930s looks pretty good to me.

Image

The newer stuff works really well, but even most of the Hardys are made in Korea anymore. No.....it's the older stuff that I tend to covet now. They really are old Gems.

I've had more than a few reels burn a hole in my pocket - bought well, then literally doubled to tripled in value - applies to well-found, good-purchase-timing, contemporary benchmade reels as well as antiques. (e.g., Bougle MkIV, Godfrey Westminster, Peerless 1.5; 1917 St, George)
When they do me more good by selling them than fishing them, they're gone.


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Post 19 Apr 2021, 22:54 • #62 
Guide
Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
I get it. I even unloaded several bench-made reels (a nice Bellinger and some Hardy Perfects, even a smaller St. George) to pay for other projects after I discovered the lowly Pfluegers. I couldn't make those Russels work for me either, but I still have that Meeks 55 you converted for me.


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Post 25 Apr 2021, 08:41 • #63 
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Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
Tell us more about that pair of lefty medalists you have there Lloyd!


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Post 25 Apr 2021, 09:29 • #64 
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Joined: 03/16/08
Posts: 3540
Location: Upstate-NY
Best? geeze - there are sooo many good ones. Hardy Lightweight series is an easy choice, though.

2 best that I dont own but wish I *could* (they are RHW, only): Hardy Perfect, Heddon Imperial

worst? probably the Bronson Royal 360. Tiny gear with very few teeth. Pretty rough operation. (The Bronson Royalist 370, however, is an excellent reel)


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Post 25 Apr 2021, 10:39 • #65 
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Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2086
Location: US-PA
I guess I am lucky in that I have never owned any reels I had issues with which is why I have always stick with the same types and brands for all of my fishing.


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Post 25 Apr 2021, 14:10 • #66 
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Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
corlay wrote:
2 best that I dont own but wish I *could* (they are RHW, only): Hardy Perfect, Heddon Imperial


+1 for this principle. So many well designed and beautiful fly reels with red agate line guides and all I can do is imagine.


Last edited by Ruff Hunter on 26 Apr 2021, 07:06, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 25 Apr 2021, 23:20 • #67 
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Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
Ruff Hunter:

Image

Old picture. Dan at OnePfoot converted the big one to left hand after this shot. When I'm fishing an older rod on smaller water, I'm probably using a Medalist. They have become my default at this point.


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 07:11 • #68 
Guide
Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
Thats a nice trio! Are the first two converted 139Xs? I've been thinking about trying that, but suspect that the drag still favors RHW.

Gotta love a Medalist.


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 07:56 • #69 
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Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
The smaller one was done by Bill Franke, the other two are Dan's work. The OnePfoot drags make the conversion truly seamless (8 and 8) detents per side. I even went the deep dive route and got a late 50s lefthander drag that has the 16 detents. That pre-war 1595 1/2 is currently wearing the 16 detent drag.


Last edited by lloyd3 on 26 Apr 2021, 12:54, edited 2 times in total.

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Post 26 Apr 2021, 08:01 • #70 
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Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
To bad Dan doesn't do a 16 detent plate. Nice score on the 50's LHW drag plate. Not many of those around at all.


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 10:17 • #71 
Master Guide
Joined: 06/07/12
Posts: 865
Location: US-CA
Hmmmm great thread brought back to life.

The Orvis offset drag Info provided by Bulldog is interesting. Question, though. Did the Hardy disc drag Marquis reels come after the CFOs? Were the first disc drag CFOs built by Hardy, or had Orvis already transitioned to BFR by then?

As for my best reels... I’d have to say that I am happiest functionally with the Marquis reel series. They just work, and the palmable rim has saved me a couple of times with bigger fish. My Hardy-made CFO III is the same. Sentimentally? Probable the Hardy Bougle series.

Worst reels? I guess it would be the South Bend Finalist 1144 that was a hand-me-down from my dad when I was a teenager. Heavy as a tank, but still easily dented/bent. But I dunno - it holds line, right?


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 12:48 • #72 
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Joined: 03/01/17
Posts: 115
Location: US-IL
Ruff Hunter: I even supplied him with one to copy. I think the capitol costs were too much, considering that he already has a very functional 8x8.

The name Ruffhunter got me to thinking...

[Um, photo deleted. We are a fishing forum. Please don't post photos or discussions that will get us rated by the corporate web filters as something different. Sorry. Tom]


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 16:09 • #73 
Guide
Joined: 02/06/16
Posts: 328
Location: US
Ahh, my favorite pursuit... at least from October through December, then its tying flies and catching trout with them until October. Life is cyclical.

Edited to add:

That was a nice picture!


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 16:17 • #74 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
I tend to fish vintage rods but generally prefer modern reels. My MG-3, MG-7, and Pflueger 1494 and 1492 1/2 tend to lose out to my Tetons, Orvis BBS, and Orvis Access reels.

The Tetons and their cage design are bulletproof and despite the hazards of timber-bashing to remote fishing spots, I have never damaged one. Their unique drag system is very reliable and durable.

The Orvis reels tend to be favorites...because I like the sound of them best. Smooth, elegant, with a wonderful but subdued click. They are, however, much more fragile and I have had to replace spools on each of them after falls in which they were bent and became casualties.


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Post 26 Apr 2021, 16:27 • #75 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
Quote:
The Orvis reels tend to be favorites...because I like the sound of them best. Smooth, elegant, with a wonderful but subdued click. They are, however, much more fragile and I have had to replace spools on each of them after falls in which they were bent and became casualties.


Many years ago, I bought a beautiful little Orvis CFO 123 in the special olive and brass color scheme. On my very first outing with it I fell, mid-river, and bounced it off a rock. Nothing got bent or broken but I did put a scratch through the finish.

Well, I got that out of the way early so I was able to fish with it pretty much sorry-free after that. :)

Be careful out there with those nice old reels!


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