Before my last great bass fishing trip that wasn't, I headed over to the fly
shop to buy a new reel for the 8 wt. I've been learning what I wanted in a
reel, mainly solid feel and quiet operation, before using Roger Ohlund's rod
& reel at Penn's while he was testing my Orvis Clearwater 4 wt.. rod and
Battenkill reel and proclaiming it a piece of crap (while I recognize some
'differences' with that set-up, thanks to DavePA's streamside instruction, I
am more comfortable with the rod than ever). Using Roger's Guideline Sense
reel, I was confirmed in what I thought I wanted in a reel.

The shop owner didn't carry Guideline, nor had he heard of it (for that
matter, I can't find it online either. Roger, that was Guideline all over
your equipment, yes?) I knew the other demands I had of the new reel -- the
same thing I ask of all my new fly fishing equipment -- perform the widest
possible range of tasks and perform them all reasonably well. This rod/reel
will likely be used for largemouth and steelhead, hopefully for
muskellunge...and just maybe if the stars align correctly, some salt water
duty sometime in the future. I decided on the Ross Big Game 4 Reel. It
seems solid, the drag seems easily adjusted, the spool comes off quite
nicely, and it was the quietest of the few brands the shop carries (I tried
a Bauer, Abel, Ross & Orvis)...though there is a slight high pitched
metallic sound that is destined to either become music to my ears or will
always be just that one thing I'd always like to change about it. I tried
the Big Game 5 on the rod, thinking that it might offer a better range of
possibilities, but it seemed a bit too heavy for the rod and the 4 just
seemed to fit much nicer.

The question, then, is, does anyone have any experience with this reel? Any
problems/quirks/praises? I know this is something one would normally ask
*before* buying the reel, but since there just aren't many fly shops in
Columbus, OH, I wasn't expecting to have a large selection to test and
choose from anyway. The only complaint I have as of now is so minor it's
ridiculous, but I'll mention it anyway...the reel case is a neoprene case
with a Velcro attachment that has a large, somewhat garish, in my opinion,
logo printed on it. I would prefer something that zips and is a bit more
refined looking.