fly reels

[slurpie]

Dont know anything about them. What knid do you use for a panfish application. How much do they cost? Does line twist happen? Do they have a drag system? What do you think of them on your ice rods?

[markkstanley]

I use them for panfish rods where light jigs and line twist are not a good mix. Advantages - better drag system, no line twist, less coiling if you use large arbors. Disadvantages - you need to strip out line and 1:1 gear ratio. Usually one turn of the reel retrieves about 7" of line. Takes longer to reel fish in but you also get a longer fight and less stress on fish coming up out of depths. As for stripping line I end up doing that any way as I hole hop a lot and my guides ice up. Fly reels have clickers so when stripping out line you will hear the clicker. Annoys some people. You can remove the clicker from Okumas if you wish. The clicker noise doesn't bother me.

I just use my reels from my fly rods. Attach about 100ft of mono/fluoro to the backing. I prefer 4/5 size reels - about 3" in diameter. You can go smaller but I found that size to work well. No reasom why fly reels won't work for walleye rods etc but line twist is not a big issue.

The Pflueger Medalist reels at about $25 bucks are a option as are Okuma Sierras. I haven't used them but I know people who do. I am using more expensive gear because I already have it. Just picked up some spare spools for my Sage reels. Cut off the mono in spring and reload with sinking fly line for summer nymph fishing. Double duty.

[wbliceman]

great for pannies im trying to get a few for my self once i have some money!!

[slurpie]

I waa thinking it would cost more than that. Ill have to check into some. I plan on using them for pannies.

[finnbay]

Fly reels can be used for more than just pannies. Back in the days when I could still ski back into the Boundary Waters, we'd use fly reels with 30# braided and put them on short heavy rods for jigging up lakers. The idea was that they were foolproof and we didn't have to worry about a reel breaking down on a four day trip. This is a shot of me back in 1991 jigging in front of Thunder Point on Knife Lake:

Proof in the pudding. A six pounder taken on that trip with a 1 oz white Jackpine Jig:

[markkstanley]

Very cool pics. Heard rumors Okuma was designing a fly reel especially for us ice types. That would be sweet.

[polarsusd81]

Mark, I sent them a couple of ideas. With any luck, we might have something out next year. Would be pretty cool.

[bobbymalone]

I waa thinking it would cost more than that. Ill have to check into some. I plan on using them for pannies.

I think Ross makes a couple cheap reels and the Owatonna and Roger's store brand reels are pretty cheap too.

And they can cost more than that... You could bolt on a $700 dollar reel if you wanted.

[OnAFly]

Anyone know what they were thinking of changing to make them more 'ice friendly'?

I think one of the best things about the Okuma Sierra is that it's a $40 reel that you can strap onto your favorite ice rod and fish whatever you want with it. Then, after ice season ends you can throw it onto your favorite fly rod and fish anything from trout to panfish to small bass flies on it.

I guess if they made it into a single duty reel as opposed to a double duty reel like it is now, it would lose a bit of appeal to some people.

[polarsusd81]

No, OnAFly, I have just sent them a few ideas for a new ice specific spool and couple of other little tweaks. There wouldn't be much of a change from the standard fly reels we see today, just something to make them more ice friendly.

[markkstanley]

yeah Tom all I would really want is an ice friendly spare spool as an option. Or maybe some sort of spool filler we can slap on for ice fishing. I got used to the "eternal reel" of fly reels. Nothing like a little extra anticipation. I know you hate the clicker but I sometimes use my flyreels with a very light drag setting for deadsticking and the clicker is nice for that.