I have a Sage 896 (9'6' 8WT) that I need to setup with a cost effective but quality reel. While the majority of time will be fresh water, I would like the option of using in the salt so a reel that stands up to salt would be preferable.

I am thinking large arbor, quality drag and if it has a clicker - one thats not obnoxious.

Since there is no shortage on opinions aorund here, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

The redington delta or rise would be on my list.

I bought an Allen Alpha II last spring for my salt water 8 wt that should satisfy your criteria. The cost is pretty reasonable, which is partly why I bought it.

Sg

Price range?

Im open- Im more concerned with value for my dollar.

Something above $100 up to $350-400 inc line?

I am a big fan of the Lamson Litespeed reels. I think I own 4-5 now. The 3.5 size would likely be the one to fit/balance your 8wt. The models with X in the model # (3.5X, 3X) have a deeper spool to accommodate larger/thicker fly lines. The 3.5 goes for $350 retail but you can find better deals on them.












They hold up to salt water just fine. The drag is sealed and most other components fairly corrosion resistant. I let a couple sit for a few days before I rinsed salt water off them and did get a little corrosion on the screw that holds the reel handle in place, but it cleaned up just fine.

The clicker/drag is very mellow/quiet compared to most.

Super solid reels and no complaints. I like how light they are because you can oversize your reels for a give weight/rod without compromising on balance. I plan to stick with them for a while.

Good luck.

That is a pretty wide price range.
The Redington's mentioned are good options.
Ross CLA
Sage 4280
Galvan Torque...although that is stretching your budget with a line included.

I'd go with the Redington Rise or Delta. If you want to spend a little more then the Sage 4200 series would be a fine choice.

im partial to Hardy reels, but im not a full time fly fisherman so take that with a grain of pepper..

can be used both salt and fresh...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARDY-ZANE-SALTW...=item5895f4f155

I would take a bit farther and mention that a fly reel should also hold all of your intended line+backing as well. This is a definite consideration with the movement towards these bulkier weight forward and spey/switch oriented lines.

The balance thing, well that is less of a characteristic and more of a math problem/feel sorta thing i suppose and is solvable within any given line of reels regardless of quality.

Yes, the fly reel is a fairly simple beast of which very little is demanded or needed. That having been said, how boring would it be if the reels were designed as simply as their required functionality could dictate. That would be like only having one color of ascot.

Says the authority who has fly fished all of what, twice, now? Indeed most fly fishermen could get by with a toys R us reel because most fly fishermen fish for trout and panfish, with the reel serving mainly as a line holder. However the original poster intends some saltwater use with his 8 wt rod. And for saltwater fish species, a good disc drag that operates smoothly, as Stam describes, is an asset for 8 wt and heavier. The main reason for choosing a disc drag reel for lighter line weights IMO is that they are usually cheaper than a good traditional spring and pawl reel. However, I have used spring and pawl reels on bonefish to good effect.

Coley likes his Lamsons. I don't have any experience with them, primarily because a friend used them and had the drag go into freewheel when it got wet. Maybe Coley has newer models of Lamsons that have an improved disc drag. Another reasonably priced reel that gets good reviews for saltwater use is the Ross CLA. The Allen reel I mentioned above holds 200 yd of 20# backing and a WF8F saltwater line and has been tested in Mexico.

Sg

The Lamson line uses a proprietary conical drag design. I have yet to have a problem with any of mine and they are the smoothest I have used.



http://waterworks-lamson.com/our-story/

From Lamson's site re: disc drag vs. their conical:

The first problem is associated with the disk shape itself. A typical approach is to use two disks (one stationary, one rotates). But the disks need to be large in order to have the surface area required to generate stopping power. Once a disk is large it cannot be sealed from the elements, and this exposure brings with it a long list of other problems.

To address this problem, we reshaped the traditional disk drag into two mated cones. By doing so, we are able to take advantage of a large surface area for torque, but we reduce the overall diameter of the system so it could be fitted into a sealed chamber. The male cone is precisely machined to mate with a female cone; the male rotates while the female remains stationary.

The male conical element is a polymer alloy with an extremely low co-efficient of friction, and the female element is a Teflon impregnated metallic surface. The male cone has a very low co-efficient of thermal conductivity, meaning it conducts heat very slowly. The female cone, which is part of the frame, conducts heat very quickly. Thus, when heat is product by friction it is “wicked” off the male cone and out through the frame. The polymer alloy and Teflon/metal cones run without any oil or grease; thus no maintenance is required to keep the drag system performing at it’s best. And because the drag parts require no lubrication, don’t wear, and are fully sealed, the fisherman will never experience a change in performance and will never be burdened with cleaning, lubricating or maintaining the drag in any way.

Coley, if the drag remains sealed from water, that should make the difference. My friend's experience was a while back. Next time I see him I'll try to remember to ask about the drag design on the reels he had.

I could see that. If for some reason the seal failed, water would create quite a friction free and efficient bearing of sorts for the parts to spin on.

Salmo,
Your friend probably had an LP. That was common with those models and that was when they were still produced on Bainbridge Is.

I've owned a couple of Litespeeds. No issues with the drags. My only issue was with how thin they are. They machine them down pretty thin so there isn't a ton of metal there. I ended up bending both of them.
One fell over in a padded rod on reel case in my garage. Hit the concrete floor and bend the spool. The other had the frame bent when I took a header on the river.
Both my fault, but I've had similar things happen with my older Ross's without issue.
Lamson was great and repaired both quickly.

They claim to have fixed that problem with the new "hard alox" material. I agree though, they aren't beefy by any stretch of the word which is both a blessing and a curse depending on the context.

I ran over one of my spey reels with a car recently. It didn't fare well at all.

I heard that as well about the hard alox.
Both of the them that I owned where very early models.

You tell me Stam. You're the ascot expert. It looked like you were tossing bait, in the fly fishing forum again. Good thing for you it isn't fly fishing only regulations. Now about those eggs, you serving bacon with 'em? And if it's "just fishing" to you, why do you invariably expend the extra effort to draw the distinction? Meanwhile, have you had any fly reel failures? I've had a couple that I wouldn't trade for anything just for the stories and memories they provided.

Sg

Why not one day make a pact with your partner.....
"OK, no drags today. Let's crank 'em down tight and palm these beotches."

I'll bet after a while it would become the thing to do.

Every time I fish with a "fly" reel, it is a failure

I must admit, I was surprised that Stam made an initial appearance in the fly forum without ruffling a few feathers...pardon the pun. Glad we got back on track pretty quick.

DD,

Not an issue. All my fly reels are spring and pawl except for some I got for saltwater fishing. And the "no drag" method is to loosen the disc drag all the way, not tighten it down. I've used spring and pawl for saltwater fishing for bonefish, and that's just fine. Bones run long, but are otherwise easy to handle without a disc drag. My first Allen reel, prior to their Alpha II series, had a freshwater drag, and I landed my first permit on that, mainly by palming it as the drag didn't have more than 2 1/2 or 3 pounds resistance. Doable, but a bit of work. I think people forget that it wasn't all that long ago that reliable disc drags that were affordable didn't exist. A lot of saltwater fish were landed on spring and pawl reels because that's what anglers had. A lot of saltwater fish were caught on Pfluger Medalists, but my guess is that they had to be replaced on a regular basis.

Coley,

If it's that bad, you should see if you can trade for some less failure prone gear. You could probably come by some pretty good coffee grinder reels for those Lamsons.

Sg

Yeah, Stone got it right, as usual. The older LP Lamsons were known for freespooling when the drag got wet. The newer Lamsons are nice reels and I have owned a few but sold them because they were just too light. The spools and rims were so light that they are pretty fragile, in my opinion. You have to be real careful not to drop them or else they will bend.

I much prefer the Ross CLA and feel it is one of the best deals/values on the market for a disc drag, US made reels.

I also own multiple models of Nautilus NV Galvan Torques, and Galvan Rush and while they are all very nice and overkill for the species I use them for, I would feel fully confident chasing pretty much everything with the Ross CLA.

I wasn't referring to the performance of my reels

Not so fast Stam. I have a fly reel that if you're not careful the spool won't fully click into place. I've been on the river casting away had the spool come out of the cage and into the river. Then again, that might be operator error.

Commenting on the drag system, I think Bauer reels makes one of the best sealed drag systems I've seen. The Konic drag by Lamson is pretty ingenious, but, I wonder how it would hold up to a hot bone fish, or other big game fish. There doesn't look like enough material to dissipate the heat with the drag set playing a big hot fish that will take you into your backing in 0.5 seconds flat.

Stam wrote: "Not too much to go wrong with a fly reel.... except the drag. "

As Sam points out, that isn't all that can go wrong. Fish long enough with enough different reels, and you'll find out what else can happen. I had one where the side plates of a reel made of stamped aluminum pushed outward due to to much pressure while winding in line. The plate on the inside pressed against the cage and inner workings and came to a stop. That resulted in the loss of a red hot springer.

I've had two reel handles come off while playing fish, one a hot summer run on the Stilly that I still managed to land by winding all the backing and line back in by pressing my thumb or finger on the outer side plate and rotating it. That happened with a cheap $5 reel, so quality was bound to be a questionable issue. The last one however, was just last winter, using a not so cheap $400 reel, and I almost landed that fish except it spit (for Coley's benefit) as I was trying to land it.

Sometimes it is the drag that fails. I recall another time with an early summer run and high water. Not all pawls in spring and pawl reels are made of the right stuff. This one just ground itself into bits of metal shavings inside the reel, leaving me to play the fish in free wheel. I did land it, but it's experiences like this, that are outside the norm, that make for a more exciting day and the best fishing stories.

Weird stuff can happen to fly reels if you as the customer end up being the beta tester for the manufacturer.
Drag knob seized up on day one. Handle fell off while playing a bonefish that was into my backing the next day. Nothing more fun then hand lining bonefish.

Had another where the reel seat broke off while playing a fish.

For the money, Redington makes a solid reel. I've had no problems with those. For a little more, the Ross CLA is a good tool. I would second the remarks about Bauer reels; those are sweet, but too spendy for a man of my means. I have a couple older Lamsons. Super smooth, but the drag does seem to loosen up the first time they get wet each day. No biggie; just tighten it up a bit more. I have heard lots of good things about the new Lamsons.

Enjoy!

Thanks all for the thoughts and laughs. I went with the Allen that was recommended, I'm impressed with the reel. It's slightly heavier than my buddies galvan torque but not much. We had the opportunity to put them to the test yesterday, going 7 for 7 on steelhead with a few nice bull trout mixed in. Nothing huge but hatchery fish were to ten lbs and wilds to about seven. The drag was smooth on a couple of searing runs and was all I needed when I cranked it down to horse a fish in entering the top of a rapids.

IMO, the Allen is an amazing value. Much thanks for the suggestions.

C & B,

What? You went with my recommendation? You weren't supposed to do that! (kidding) Hope that reel continues to perform well for you. They've been out less than two years, so there is no long term data on them. Fortunately steelheading isn't very demanding on reel mechanics, but I bought mine specifically for saltwater, which you mentioned as a potential use. Good luck and good fishing.

Sg

That was unsportsmanlike conduct.

Good luck with that Allen reel and let us know how it goes.

I have both Reddington and Sage reels that would fit the bill. Have'nt fished the Reddington Delta much, but it balances an 8 weight well. I am very pleased with the Sage 4280 matched to a 7 weight Reddington switch. Plenty of spool space for backing, line and a fat skagit or long scandi head. Only downside is the cost of an extra spool. I actually spoke to the gent (can't remember his name) at sage that does their reel repairs. He was very impressed with the 4200 line of reels and had not seen many come into the shop.

+1 Sage 4280

Guess I should have read the rest of the thread. Congrats on getting your reel. Now if the rivers, weather and work would align so we can all go chase steelhead life would be good.

tight lines