Fly Reels

I've had a couple of fly reels that I've used over the last 10 years. I've been happy with my good value Decathlon rods and reels. The Decathlon #5/6 'May Fly' branded reel (left) with a diameter of 80mm has worked fine over the last seven or eight years. Priced at 229 Francs (€34.91) in about 1999. Decathlon is a great first stop for anyone starting out in a new sport and you can get full equipped without breaking the bank.









#5/6 BFR SuperFly-75 reel (right). Bought from Decathlon and also priced at €34.91 seven years ago. 88mm in diameter. Recently have I been looking at the market as a whole and seen the scope of what is available. As I've been expanding my rod collection recently, I've bought two new reels too, one relatively cheap Blazer 5/6 and a reasonably prised Vision Koma 6/7.










The #5/6 Blazer (left) looks nice and shiny, but is actually a cheap, die cast, low cost reel sold on eBay for under £15 (€22) and promoted as a higher quality reel. It works fine, but would make a good present for a kid with aspirations of getting into fly fishing. A smaller reel with a diameter of 70mm. I think my son will use this reel until he asks for something better.










The #6/7 Koma reel (right), made by the Finnish company Vision, has a good retrieve rate with its 97mm diameter spool. Anodized to a titanium finish these reels not only look the part but also out perform any other reel in their category (so says the blurb). Semi-machined - so I suppose semi die-cast too. Priced just under £50 (€74), it is a reasonably priced good reel and I think that it is excellent value for money. My main reel is loaded with Greys GRXi Floating WF#6 line.








This (left) is the spare spool of the Vision Koma that is loaded with Greys GRXi Intermediate WF#6 clear line. Both spools have 75m green 30lb backing.

In the big scheme of things, all these reels are very affordable. The quality amongst them is mainly fine, although I can arrange these reels from cheapest to mopst expensive and there is a direct relation with their quality. So what of the Hardy, Greys, Orvis, G Loomis and Loop reels. Can you justify £250, £400 or even £800 or more for a fly reel? So are we to assume that the expensive reels are that much better? Perhaps so...





I wonder if I will ever justify the purchase of a new Hardy Angel, Bouglé or Cascapedia reel - not just to the wife, but to myself!