Fly Reel Buyers Guide

Other Fly Fishing Tackle Buyers Guides:

- Fly Rod Buyers Guide
- Fly Line Buyers Guide

Fly Reels

Most fly anglers, especially stillwater anglers, just use the fly reel to store the fly line when it's not being used.

It's common practice to strip sufficent line off the fly reel before casting and to leave the line off the fly reel until packing up or changing lines.

There are really only five considerations to bear in mind when choosing a fly reel:

1. Wide Arbour Fly Reel or not?

A Wide Arbour fly reel has a larger 'drum' (the bit that the line winds around) and this helps to stop the fly line from going curly. i.e. when cast out it will remain straight rather than developing lots of bends.

We usually recommend anglers buy a wide arbour reel. The only disadvantage is that they're a bit larger and slightly heavier.

2. Fly Reel Weight

The fly reel acts as a counterbalance to the fly rod when casting and it's important to get the balance right. The main thing here is to match a lightweight reel to a lightweight fly rod and vice versa.

Most anglers will find that normal fly rods and Fly reels achieve a reasonable balance. This is mainly a consideration for those using an expensive lightweight fly rod.

3. Fly Reel Size

The fly reel must have enough room on it to take the size of line you're using and the backing line.

The key thing here is to check the capacity of the fly reel. This is usually presented as "WF7/8 + Backing" or something similar.

4. Fly Reel Material

Most fly reels these days are made from either a graphite composite (carbon Fibre) or aluminium (occasionaly a lightweight metal alloy). The composite fly reels are lightweight and cheap but don't have the same strength or robustness as aluminium.

Having said that, I've used both composite and metal reels and never had a problem with either in over 25 years of fishing.

5. Fly Reel Style

The final, and probably least important consideration is fly reel style. Modern manufacturing techniques and materials means that you can now get some very stylish fly reels at a reasonable price.

Of course what style or colour of fly reel you prefer is down to personal taste, so I can't advise you here. If you like what you see then go ahead and buy it (as long as it fits the other criteria mentioned above).