When deciding on a fly fishing reel, you need to consider the type of fish you will be going after and get a reel suited to it. When you go fly reel shopping, keep in mind a good fly reel should have sufficient reel capacity, good rod balance, and a quality drag system. If you do a lot of saltwater fly fishing, you might choose a reel made of corrosion resistance. Ask the opinions from fly fisherman who have used their reels for more than a couple of years. They should give a better idea what reels have less corrosion problems as most corrosion will start to show up after two seasons. A fly reel is more than a device to store line. When you try to catch a large fish, your rod will help you fight it but it is your reel that helps you keep from losing it. A high quality fly reel will last a lifetime and will cost more than two hundred dollars.

 

1. The reel capacity. You need to know how much line and backing a reel with hold and the size of its base. The reel should be reasonably full but not overloaded when all the line is reeled in.

 

2. Rod balance. Put the reel on the rod, string it up with line, and check the balance. If the pivot point is very close to the grip, the balance is correct.

 

3. A quality drag system. Drag is the resistance placed on the line when reeling in. A good drag system is especially vital when catching a large fish because A large fish can strip line fast. For example, if you hook a 7 pound steelhead and you have your drag set too light, the fish is going to run and strip line off your reel like it was nothing. In this case, you would need to tighten the drag so that you still allow the fish to run but you control the run. If you tighten down the drag too much and don’t allow it to run at all, then you run the risk of your leader or tippet snapping from the tension.

 

There are many brands of quality reels. Orvis offers a wide selection of the highest quality reels on the market and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Others are Cabelas, Abel, St. Croix, J.Ryall, Redington, and etc. They have own line of graphite reels as well at affordable prices.

 

Below is a picture of fly fishing reels

 

Here are some fly fishing reels for sale on eBay.