"Wayne Knight" wrote in message
. ..

"BobS" wrote in message
...

Got my brother a 9', 9wt, 5pc rod for his birthday this past week but
didn't get him a reel to go with it since I'm at a loss as to what would
be a good match - for him.

He will use that rod for steelhead and salmon and some big LM bass on
large lakes and rivers in upstate NY or Maine. Should I get him a
mid-arbor type reel or a large arbor reel? My thinking is that he
probably would get better mileage out of a mid-arbor reel since he would
have more backing than on "most" large arbor reels I've looked at. The
local shop is doing their best to hook me into an Abel... Nice but I
just want a decent gift for my bro - not a second mortgage.

I'm looking at the Orvis line since all but two of my reels are by Orvis
(BRF) and the fact that I know a shop that still has a few "Made in
England" reels available which I'm partial to.
I know there are lot's of manufacturers of reels and everyone has
favorites (like I do) and I would like to get him another Hardy

My understanding is that it's been several years since Orvis's BFR
subsidiary made a reel in England and they now are made in Malaysia, it
that's not important to you then fine. Personally, I just had one of their
new model CFO reels' drag fail on a foot long smallmouth bass.

My two cents worth is to get a reel with a sealed drag system or one of
the delrin drags or old fashioned click and pawl drag system . Avoid Cork
for NY winter steelheading. You're bypassing the Abels for the wrong
reason. Abel makes one of the finest reels on the market and that comes at
a price. But unless something has changed, and it's possible, the drags
weren't sealed and winter steelhead fishing and wet reels sometimes means
a small film of ice can settle between the drag, making all that money
wasted until it thaws.

There was a reel line made just for great lake steelheading, It's the
Harris Reel. The original company went under but now someone in Washington
is making them. That's where I would start and I would also consider one
of the Ross series of reels.


Wayne,

Thanks for the advice and your suggestion about not having a cork drag was
taken to heart. Please see my other post "Decision Made...".

Appreciate the time you took to answer my questions.

Thank you,

Bob S.