I don’t know if Loop invented them or not. I do know that Danielsson Fly Reels in Sweden manufactured Loop’s LA reels for a long time. This link to Danielsson’s website shows Danielsson’s claim of inventor of the LA reel.
https://danielsson-flyreels.se/en/history

Dang! Thought this was going to be about reels made in Los Angeles.

Seriously, I own and use exactly one Large Arbor reel - a Lamson Force SL, which is about as non-classic as it gets.

From an innovation/usefulness perspective, being able to pick up line fast does matter when a steelhead runs back at you. Otherwise? I dunno, maybe less line curling?

I do find it interesting that the latest Sage Trout, Trout Spey, and Spey reels are mid/large arbor reels that are designed to not look like large arbor reels...

Pampas - I think whrlpool pulled this thread from a fly rod thread, and they were talking about fly reels on that thread. My guess is that Danielsson’s claim is limited to fly reels (and not moochers or centrepins).

Were the reels built in the 1800s marked as "fly" or "bait"? I've kinda thought that until about WW1 that fishing gear was "fishing gear". All used braided lines made of silk, horse hair etc.?
What exactly differentiates centrepins? What exactly differentiates a "large arbor"? is it just the advertising label or there something about these reels that makes them unusable for anything but ?

Large arbor fly reels are not a modern innovation. Some Hardy St. Georges from before WWII had large arbors. They were made at the same time other St. Georges had standard arbors, so it was a conscious choice to offer an option. The same large arbor reels also had an additional feature - the handle was mounted closer to the center of the spool rather than close to the rim as almost all reels were. That way your hand would travel in a smaller circle to wind in a given amount of line. Faster retrieve for both reasons - larger arbor and smaller winding circle - so Hardy had it figured out more than 75 years ago. and consciously designed a reel that way. Here's an example:

https://www.classicflyfishingtackle.com ... E-england/

But what was the purpose of the large arbor back then. The pin reels need the low startup inertia like today but for fly rod used reels I'm not sure the lines coiled back then and the extra weight of backing should help with the bamboo or wooden rods.
It seems like the new generation of LA reels came out and were marketed to solve more modern problems of modern lines and rod materials. Also newer reels had drags that did not exist back then and when getting into the small arbor were amplified. The older click reels were amplified but did not start out with a high level of drag.
The daniellson design does seem different and was marketed as no startup inertia because of the light low mass spool.

"Despite all the self congratulations on the Danielsson and Loop websites, those reels were not innovations. Innovations change the market"
It did! That is where all the current reel designs came from. The older reels with large arbors were not innovations because they did not change the market.

I fished larger reels for Steelhead and salmon, mostly hardy click pawl, and would use a larger diameter reel and fill it with backing. Same thing as a large arbor reel just more backing. Maybe weight. Definitely more mass and physics associated with it.
Just picked up my first 2wt recently. I have had a few ul reels that I quickly sold because they were so small in diameter that I didn't feel they were useful. I would not want to pick up a reel that has a larger size and fill it with backing because it would add the weight I do not want. Also don't want my line on a 2.5" dia reel for coiling issues. I actually ordered one of the danielsson original reels for it. couldn't be happier and don't know what option would fill that bill.
The previous LA reels seem to be from the pre WWII or so era and they didn't seem to take off. They weren't an innovation or weren't marketed enough.
I still use mostly standard arbor reels. I see the advantage on the UL side of the spectrum.


"* The Lamson Center-Axis perversion is an 'innovation' looking for a problem to solve. yikes.."
This was introduced buy sage, who owned lamson at the time, back in the 90's exactly.

I am not arguing that the large arbor is superior or not. I mostly don't own them. I am just saying that the modern push is diffent than the old reels people are referencing. I also do not like multipliers or automatics. I would rather have a larger dia. than a multiplier. Your definition of innovative would have us all with multipliers but they never took off.

Russell

Well. See why I separated this from the other interesting thread? Gotta say I love the Loop design/manufacturing concept, even if it is a schtick based on a solution in search of a problem. High quality reels with a complicated way to spin a wheel.
.
As to recovery and line kinking, over-rated, flick of the wrist winding enabling greater speed than larger diameter cranking at higher effort because of the larger diameter spool.

I never knew kinking/coiled lines were a problem until I read about it in a Loop advertisement way back when. Poor spooling of line is the problem, and it can occur with either type. Sloppy, unevenly spooled fly line will kink and twist. Happens often in quick reel-up while fishing until someone develops a sort of automatic line guiding finger or fingers. No harm anyway if the uneveness is brief, as it is between fishing breaks and the next time the line is stripped off and fished. When the day is over, that last wind-up needs to be at moderate tension, evenly spooled. Personally, I do this automatically with conventional spool reels and have to be more careful with a large arbor. Others, used to them from the start, probably spool line even as can be without thought on an L.A.

Leave the line unevenly tensioned and spooled, you might have a problem with kinks and twists the next time. As for uniform coils, these relax when a line is used again--unless there are kinks and twists to complicate the process.

Fly reels, either type, are best used to wind line, not as a winch to recover line against strong resistance. That is the reason for pumping the rod to gain line, then dipping the rod as line under light tension is wound on the reel. More even spooling is the result. If a reel hard-cranked in a fish and the line is left stretched under high tension, plus being spooled unevenly, kinks and twists are imparted.

As graphite rods became popular, their stiffness reduced fishing-playing finesse, putting more importance on "smoothness" and "start-up inertia" on the reel. Loop's design goal made sense, as does the L.A. in that context. Playing fish off the reel with the rod pointed almost straight at them became more common. The reel better be responsive, because the rod isn't in the way a 'glass rod absorbs shock when playing fish at, let's say, a 60 degree angle and pumping and reeling. With 'glass, there is a more integrated two-component system so reels of either type can be enjoyable to use.

Winch a fish in with either type, though, just remember to relax and respool the line afterward.