On 8 Feb 2004 14:19:36 -0800, (zoranlee) wrote:

I am lookinginto buying an 8 wt reel in the up to $200 range.
Mostly for steelhead/salmon and stripers with some light sal****er
usage once in a while.
Tioga Reels seem to be very popular and I was ready to buy a LA one
but than a friend pointed out a Lamson Velocity 3.5 in a local shop.
Most people here seem to like the Velocity reels.
Last night a browswed through a book - Lefty Kreh "Presenting the
fly"- and in the section about reels he says:
"A low starting drag is vital to prevent fish from breaking off"
I could not remember hearing or reading about this but than again I am
pretty new to fly fishing.
I figured that is just something the reel manufacturers are not happy
to talk about. I was sure I would find a lot of info in ROFF.
Not so. I did a search on "startup drag" and "starting drag" and
"startup inertia" and pretty much the only useful info I found was a
post from May 2002 talking about a Fly Fish America magazine test.

The Lamson Velocity 3.5 with a startup velocity of 14.3% was the 2nd
WORST. The LA Tioga was not listed in the post.

How come there are no discussions on this in ROFF ? I mean if Lefty
talks about it there has to be SOMETHING to it.

Any opinions ?

Thanks

ZL


Just pulled out my V3.5 and gave the drag a few tugs -- smooth as
silk, no noticeable startup stickiness at all. (Mind you, it's well
broken in. G) Anyway, your drag should only be tight enough to
prevent overspooling on a hot fish.

Startup stickiness can cause an ugly pulsing as the drag alternately
grabs and releases but, other than when using light tippets, it's not
really a big deal unles it's excessive.

Peter

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