On Mon, 1 Sep 2008 19:53:44 +0100, "Charles Turner"
wrote:

Am I right in thinking that virtually no-one uses the drag on a reel to play
the fish? I've certainly never seen anyone doing it, so is there any point
in paying £200+ for a reel?

I was in Kamchatka, Russia, fishing the Zhuponava River with Herb
Hammer (nephew of Armond Hammer). Herb was using a six weight Orvis
rod, the first carbon fiber model rod they made. It was ancient!
Herb's reel wasn't very good either. In fact, it fell off the rod
while he was fighting a very big rainbow. In the two pictures below,
the Russian guide, Antoine, is putting Herb's reel back on the rod
during the fight, and reeled in half of Herb's line. In the second
picture is the rainbow trout Herb landed with some very crappy
equipment, especially the reel (it had NO drag).

Click on "See al 83 pictures"

See pics #30 and 31

http://dlacourse.shutterfly.com/

Although a reel is very important to me, obviously it is not to other
fishermen.

Dave