Choosing the Right Fly Reel with Kelly Galloup

In this video, Kelly discusses what to look for when purchasing a new fly reel. With advancements in both the casting and machining process, today's modern reels are better than ever and most drags out there will handle just about anything you can throw at them. This video focuses on the subtleties that make a fly reel right for you and why to choose certain styles of spools over others.

[northeasternfly]

Every few years I watch this video and love it as much as I did the first time.

[alpinemind]

This guy should make different videos. I've never fly fished in my life but this no bullshit talk is refreshing to watch.

[donnietriplett]

Wow, a fly shop owner that tells the truth about equipment. I am a fan and if I'm ever near the Madison River in South-West Montana I will visit your shop. Thanks for sharing all your fly fishing knowledge.

[outcastpiper]

HOT DAMN! a man that is honest, i love it lol. great job

[alannolan]

10 out of 10 presentation. I caught my first Atlantic Salmon in Feb 1984 in Ireland and I have had many many epic battles since. It has always amazed me how anglers associate big fish with big drag. It is actually the opposite, if its big let it run and let it run smooth. I could go on and on but once again my compliments to Kelly for telling it exactly like it is. Well done.

[geodrew]

Kelly, I've been watching your tying videos, great stuff, and just saw this. Right on! I've been fly fishing for over a half century, and you hit the nail on the head. I still fish with my first reel, a 1938 Pflueger, I have new reels and a few pricey reels, but I still like the feel and the sound of the old style. My grandfather was a guide and we learned to fish with bare minimum, "if you can't catch fish on this, you can't catch fish!"

[Robjmar]

Appreciate your blunt honesty approach. It's refreshing.

[owyheekid]

Back in the 70’s when I was in my early teens Bill Kiene told me something I remember well to this day. I was learning how to tie from him and while we were tying one evening we were talking about reels. He stated “ people put too much importance on reels, reels hold the line.”
Back then I used Pflueger Medalist reels for everything from very small streams to bigger rivers. I’ve no idea how many Trout, Grayling, Steelhead and Salmon were landed with those reels holding the line!
I still have those old Pflugers and a couple of Shakespear Medalist clones. They see little use as back in the early 80’s I picked up a SA System One 456 and never looked back. I have several of those old reels and still use them for the vast majority of my fishing.
Great video!
God bless!

[JAY_SS]

I've been fishing an Orvis Clearwater 5wt full flex rod with a Bauer reel for over 15 years. Same rod, same reel, cork drag, and I've caught everything from trout to pan fish to bass and pickerel, and I've never had issues with the rod or reel. Crazy high drag pressure isn't needed. Great video and no BS.

[fredjunk]

Thanks for your common sense explanation if reels, and all the other fly gear you've done videos on. We all get sucked in to marketing BS, so it's good to have the opinion of a real/reel expert, as opposed to a magazine writer.

[rudyruiz]

Old video, but still accurate. Personally a HUGE fan of the Orvis cassette reels. They are just fantastic. I agree on the sound too, I can't stand throwing textured lines for that reason.

[Chris-hjlc]

I need to hang out and drink beers with this guy. He’s awesome along with his no-nonsense information.

[ericflack]

Damn, that was a 12 min Master Class. I was looking to buy a reel for my brothers old 5wt...This definitely helped cut through the BS...Thanks!

[rossmurphy]

One point about what Kelly says about the balance. IMO if the rod + reel with zero line out is perfectly balanced where you grip it then any weight of line you have out can be felt in the hand. This is good feedback for casting accuracy. That's not to say that you couldn't do as well with extra ounces reel side. Maybe even better if the extra weight perfectly balances the line you have out at a given distance, but that is always variable and so the weighted feel when casting would be a bell curve. Heavy at fist, getting lighter, then perfectly balanced then getting tip heavy as you get more line out. If the rod+reel is balanced the load should be felt in a linear curve as you get more line out. Probably boils down to preference and how you learn. But if you have more than one rod/reel combo with different balances then they are going to feel very different. Theory says go balanced and reduce the variables. In practice people can learn to throw anything.

[flyfishincrazy]

Your honesty is refreshing! And outta all these guys on here giving advice....i know you know what the deal is.

[jimmythefish]

Very refreshing to hear the truth. I just bought a Sage Spectrum 7/8 and if I believed the reviews (especially from the guys in the northeast) it would be fairly useless due to the 3lbs of drag. Most of the time I don’t even get a fish onto the reel, and this is fishing sea run cutthroat and small salmon with my 9ft 7wt. Having something that’s durable and waterproof and saltwater friendly is far more important for me. That the drag is smooth and numbered and very adjustable is a nice bonus, for sure, but it’s not very often that I get a fish peeling line with my drag tightened way down. Kudos to Sage for not falling for the drag hype and instead providing me with a lot of fine adjustability in a range I actually use.

[skipsamples]

I have watched several of your videos today. I really like the "matter of fact" attitude and cut all of the glitz. It is humorous at the same time educational. I am lucky I have found you and your shop as I will be on my semi-annual several week road trip next summer and will in Montana again. I am subscribing to your channel as just find it enjoyable and I have even learned somethings. Keep fishing.

[lyndoncook]

so refreshing to see such an honest down to earth opinion on tackle, fantastic well done Kelly tightlines.

[ethanolfeed]

I’ve been going out to Montana in July the last two years and have been driving past your shop everyday going from West Fork Campground to West Yellowstone. I’ll have to stop by the shop when I go this year!

[richarde]

Solid video, and the discussion is pretty darn refreshing, but I have a couple of rebuttals or points...

Harry Lemire and his crew also liked gear and pawl reels for the simplicity; they are reliable and hardly anything to fail. Those systems just work, Even the ‘sealed’ drags of very expensive reels allow water intrusion, which eventually can cause operational issues. Great to have a lifetime warranty, but that doesn’t do much good when your reel fails on a trip or it’s in the shop.

Also, Kelly at 5:45 says the Liquid as ‘the same drag’ (he means compared to the other more expensive Lamson, I believe a Speedster, he had just held up as a super light reel). The lesser expensive Lamson reels have the same STYLE of drag as their more expensive siblings, but not the same drag. I bought, literally, into that marketing prose and bought a Liquid for my 8 weight. Used a short time, it’s gone out of my inventory. Minimal drag adjustment, ramped up quickly, sticky startup - not even close to the performance of my other more pricey Lamson reels.

For trout I appreciate the simplicity, which also translates to lightness, of some of my older gear and pawl reels. I’m fortunate to have acquired some nice ones over the years - Sage 500 (Hardy made) series, Orvis CFO, Ross Colorado series. I have done vintage Heddon 300 series reels, knockoffs of Hardy reels, that work fine. Gone the high tech route, but have come full circle back to keeping it ‘reel’ and opting for simplicity.

For salt, different story. Reliability and imperviousness to elements is huge. For bonefish, I don’t need a reel that generates 18 pounds of drag - I need maybe three, enough that it applies s wee bit of pressure and, most importantly, the reel doesn’t overrun when the fish takes off. And, the drag needs to engage smoothly. Need more pressure? Palm the spool.

Pretty similar comments to big salty fish, but I do want a sturdy frame reel with a stout reliable drag.

I guess the consistent word through all this is “reliability”. We all want stuff that works, whether one is a guide putting in 250 days per year or some who gets out once a year. I don’t want my waders or my jacket to leak, I want my floating line to float, I want my sink tip kind to turn over without hinging, I want my rod to make good loops and deliver the fly to where I speed up and stop the rod, I want a fly that swims or floats properly, a sharp hook to penetrate the fish’s mouth, and a reel that is reliable and doesn’t fail.

Thanks Kelly for a solid video.