Fly Fishing Reel Basics

Fly Fishing Reel Basics

Fly fishing reels are simple devices, much simpler than spinning reels for example, but fly fishing is so shrouded in tradition and mystery that nothing seems simple to the newcomer.

Most fly reels serve only one purpose, to hold the fly line and any extra line called "backing." That's it, just holding the line. You can fly fish for many species without a fly reel at all, although it would be inconvenient and your line would tangle more easily.

Also you do not cast with a fly reel, something which confuses beginners. You pull line off the reel, called "stripping" the line, before you cast. When you retrieve to make the fly seem alive and hopefully get a fish to bite it, you manually pull it in with your hands.

Some fly reels, especially for saltwater use and larger freshwater fish, also have a breaking device called a "drag." If a fish pulls hard, hard enough to maybe break off, it instead swims away pulling out line from the reel under pressure from the drag.

This tires out the fish so you hopefully can eventually land it. Non fly reels also have drags.

Traditional fishing reels have all kinds of gears and complexity. Most fly reels do not.  One turn of the handle equals one revolution of the reel. And when line is stripped off the reel or pulled out by a fish, the handle rotates in reverse.

Fly fishing reels are very simple devices, much simpler than other types of fishing reels. Don't let the seeming complexity of fly fishing deter you from trying it, it's actually pretty simple!

Question by fencer: what is a good beginner fly fishing reel?
I have a fenwick ff80-3 that my dad gave to me and im looking for a good beginner reel to go with it so i can try fly fishing in about 2 weeks from now, maybe a kit that has some flys with it as well and the string that goes with it. Does anyone know of a good beginner set up i can use.

Thanks alot.

Best answer:

Answer by trunorth
One important thing to remember about most fly reels (the exception is hard core saltwater reels) is that it is simply a place to keep your line.

I would recommend the Pflueger reels, I have two of them and they work well.

http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/products/products.php?p=33

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