"Bob La Londe" wrote in
:

I wish I had taken the time to look at some fly reels when I was at
Bass Pro Shops a week ago. None of my inexpesnive (ok cheap) fly
reels have a drag. In fact I'm not sure how a fly reel drag would
work. They all look like the handle is on the side of the spool.
Atleast in the pictures.

In some of the less expensive reels, there's a click mechanism that
serves as the drag. As these reels get a hair more expensive, there's
mechanisms to increase the tension on the click and pawl spring to
tighten the drag without knocking your fingers bloody on the reel handle.

It's lovely if these kind of reels have an exposed rim. That way, you
can apply the palm of your hand (gently) to the rim as its screaming out
of control to add some drag. Many reels don't have this arrangement,
particularly Pflueger Medalist. They have a nylon screw that you can
tighten onto the hub to increase drag. I've seen one modification to
this reel, where part of the housing was cut away, and a leather pad used
to exert pressure directly onto the side of the spool.

If you're looking for a bargain that will handle large bass, or even
steelhead, you can usually find Redington RS/2's in an appropriate size.
There's been some marketing wierdities between Redington and Orvis, and
the bottom line is there's cheap (maybe discontinued) reels out there,
marked for no warrantee.

Okuma also makes a reasonable reel. I haven't used them, but the drag
seems like the Redington.

You'll hear some people talk about "large arbour", which means the reel
has a larger diameter, and you can reel in quicker. The RS/2 is sort of
a "mid-arbour". Personally, I think there's more marketing to convince a
few generations of reel-owning fishermen that they need to buy new reels
than utility in these different arbour sizes.

--
Scott
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