Fly reels

[BP in ME]

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Been going through my dad's fishing gear. These are just the fly reels he liked enough to bring indoors for the winter (he had others that are mixed in with spinning gear or given away already). Every so often someone will post a question about what they should buy to get into fly fishing and someone usually responds with something about worrying more about the rod than the reel because the reel is just a line holder. This is esp. true in Maine because we have so few fish that will peel line off. My dad was an accomplished fly fisherman and believed in that approach even after he could have afforded whatever he wanted. Rods are a different story, he had armloads of those and most are quality

Pflueger Medalists were popular around the time he got into fly fishing so he ended up with at least 7 of those that I know of. A French executive that he taught to fly fish gave him all the gear when he headed home so Dad came to own exactly one Orvis. Atlantic salmon are the exception to the rule and should have a quality drag. I gave him the Sage salmon reel for his 50th birthday and he bought the Lamson to go on a custom salmon rod my mother gave him. And the little Hardy? I have no idea how he came to own that but I know he caught thousands of brook trout with it

[Bassin273Stratos]

That’s a great collection! The Medalist reels were (still are) very functional and solid reels. What rods did he pair them with?

[RoadrashPaul]

Awesome collection. Was he in a fly group or anything with a local fly shop? Maybe you could give them to the local fly shop so they can give them to kids wanting to get into the sport.

[BP in ME]

That’s a great collection! The Medalist reels were (still are) very functional and solid reels. What rods did he pair them with?

Most of them started out on Fenwick glass rods but eventually switched to a variety of graphite (Sage, St Croix, LL Bean, etc)

[BP in ME]

Awesome collection. Was he in a fly group or anything with a local fly shop? Maybe you could give them to the local fly shop so they can give them to kids wanting to get into the sport.

He as a member of TU and a local salmon club but mainly just fished ALOT. The salmon club has a youth program but they got a corporate donation so they're pretty well set for now. I still have to decide which ones I want to keep in addition to the two salmon reels. I still have and use the first trout rod and cheap Ryobi reel he gave me somewhere around 1980. I really can't think of a time when I thought, "Gee, if I only had better equipment I'd catch more fish or I'd enjoy casting more." Today I let an 8 y.o. use it when I tried to teach her how to cast. She was content just to drag the fly on the surface until a bass grabbed it. I kinda panicked when she pinched the line and started to muscle a 14" fish to shore. The little 5 wt. was doubled over pretty good.

[fr8dog]

Very nice! Love the old Medalists, probably one of the iconic fly reels. Work good, last long time, very little $. Then there’s the sound and feel of the English built Hardys. Nothing like it. I got a few deals some years ago but folks have gotten stingy with them. I’d hang on to that collection and pass them down. They’ll last for generations if properly cared for and it’s super easy to do.