is anyone here a fly fisherman? familiar with the reels?

[Hardy Boy]

I know metric I'm from one of the modern colonies   !!! I was referring to some non standard thread sizes and left handed threads. My buudy has 8 or nine old English motor cycles and he has to order lots of screws or bolts or make his own.


Bottom's Up:

Todd

[festus]

I still have a Pflueger Progress 1774 fly reel given to me by an old man during the 1960s. It, teamed with a cheap 8' Zebco fly rod with L7F line caught quite a few redbreast sunfish, bluegill, rock bass and few largemouth when I was a teenager. My bait of choice 75% of the time was a white popping bug with a #8 hook after chumming an area with stale white bread.  Occasionally a big carp would grab the popper and the fight was on.  But I don't recall using a fly rod after the mid-1980s.

So my only experience would be with the Pflueger 1774, which doesn't have any drag washers to my knowledge.  I wasn't even aware that any fly reels had drag washers, figured they were designed similar to the Pflueger--clicker drag only.  But out of curiosity, if any fly reel tutorials were posted, I'd be game to view.

[foakes]

Let's do it, Alan --

Don't know a lot about fly fishing details -- but have a few reels, rods, and do appreciate and respect the passion of those who do live the sport.

And, there are crates and crates of fly-making materials out in the storage that should go to folks who will use it.

Plus, thousands and thousands of 100 packs of fly hooks from around the world.

When you get it set up -- I have my first post ready -- a DAM Quick bronze fly reel, New in the Box!  High quality.

Best,

Fred

[El Pescador]

Alan,

With or without a fly fishing forum...

I'm a wild trout, small stream fly fisherman at heart!!!



Lifelong buddy, Jerry, showed me fly fishing at age 14 on the south fork of the Rubicon river.

The Pflueger Medalist fly reel I purchased at age 14 by mowing lawns for $2 Each.  $2 for the Front, back, side and around the rose bushes - Yeah that lawn for $2!!!!



The Perrine automatic fly reel was given to me by Jerry's Dad. He grew up fishing the Madison river in Montana.  Mecca today for fly fishing folks.

Catching the evening appetizers is always guaranteed where we fish.  Wild, natural producing Western flowing streams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.



Seeing this stretch of steam will take me all day to check out, both up and downstream.



You want to talk about fly tying, let's do.



Here is last summer around the Downieville, CA area - the Pauley Creek to be exact.



Yes, I'm a Wild Trout Small Stream fly fisherman...  No Cal's drag grease on carbon fiber washers needed here.



Wayne

[Tiddlerbasher]

I know metric I'm from one of the modern colonies   !!! I was referring to some non standard thread sizes and left handed threads. My buudy has 8 or nine old English motor cycles and he has to order lots of screws or bolts or make his own.


Bottom's Up:

Todd

Gotcha Our old motor industry used countless different threads - BSC, BSF, and the original standardised Whitworh. And then you've got the various pipe threads - all available (at leat at the time) in left hand and truncated threads. Not counting 'special' threads made for a specific job/project. A while back I re-built an old 1920's lathe - finding the right size nuts and bolts was a challenge

[pjstevko]

I'm a fly guy at heart too!

I started saltwater fly fishing in Florida back in 2007. I used an 8wt rod and reel cf drags to catch evening from seatrout to tarpon and sharks! I was really into sight fishing big snook in inches of water by walking the beaches in the early am. It was such a rush to see a big 20# snook lazly coming down the waterline and trying to get in front of her to get a cast off from up high on the beach!

Since moving to CA I've gotten into trout fly fishing. It took a big of adjusting to get excited about catching a trout smaller than some of the flies I used to use to catch tarpon      but fishing is fishing and I love it all!

Here's a Kings River trout I caught on a double bead stone fly

[David Hall]

still have my first fly reel purchased in 1973, a Canadian Olympic reel.  Fished trout, steelhead and salmon when I lived in the PNW for 10 years.  I also carry a 12wt with an Orvis onboard my boat and ready to cast, I have been waiting for the opportunity to cast into a school of surface feeding Albacore. Also have a couple 3/4 wt and 5/6.  used to build my own flyrods and tie my own flies.  haven't made a cast in a few years but its like bicycle riding.  haven't fished fresh water in 10years either.

[Dominick]

A fly fisherman section could not hurt.  If fly fishermen want to hang out in the cold water with the mosquitoes let them have at it.     Dominick

[Jim Fujitani]

I was a fly-fishing only, non-purist, from about mid 70's till mid 90's; trout, steelhead, sea-run cutthroat, and king salmon.  

In the mid 60's, I caught a blue gill on a self-tied "fly", in a nearby creek.  I used feathers from a pet budgie, a small bait holder hook, my mom's sewing thread, and my sister's red nail polish.  The finished product looked like a bloodied house fly.  I cast my fly, with one small split shot, on a spinning rig.  I saw the bluegill shoot out from the undercut bank and inhale my fly.  I thought that this was a cool way to fish.  I bought my first fly set up (South Bend 7 Wt HCH) in about 1970.  

A lot of fly-fishers on the west coast are a little different breed from the east coast, since a lot of our rivers are pretty wide.  I encouraged novice fly fishers to learn how to double haul with a shooting head on at least a 7 wt. rod, and preferred to be wading at least waist deep.  Once you can cast with the double haul, everything else will come easy.

Most fly reels are basically "line holders".  So drag is unimportant, since when a substantial fish is on the hook, drag is applied to the spool with the other hand.  I would think that the drag on the spool was more to prevent over-runs when stripping line off in preparation for the casting motion.

I still have a half dozen fly rods in the garage, from split cane to graphite, and reels from assorted Pflueger Medalists (one of them a 'collectible') to a big Hardy Perfect.  I decided on a 5-day trip on the Shogun in 2005 to Isla Guadalupe, that I probably wouldn't be fishing for trout any more.  We used 2-4 pound live Pacific mackerel (bigger than any trout I had caught) as bait for yellowtail during a WFO night bite.  
And I haven't fished for trout since.    

[Hardy Boy]

A fly fisherman section could not hurt.  If fly fishermen want to hang out in the cold water with the mosquitoes let them have at it.     Dominick

Fly fishermen are still smarter than ice fishermen !! I've done both but not at the same time !

A lot of the high end mooching reels are built by high end fly reel companies and some are really nice reels with nice drags and beautiful finishes. A good large 11/12 weight fly reel can make a great mooching reel; I'm trying to get a new in the box International fly reel off of a buddy !


Cheers:

Todd


Todd

[Sharkb8]

A fly fishing section would be good to see on this site, I do a little salt water fly fishing but I am just learning.

Kim

[Midway Tommy]

I think it would a nice addition. It doesn't have to be extravagant & over done in the beginning, maybe just three or four basic sections and see how it goes.

I fly fish occasionally. I do it at farm ponds in open grass pasture areas because I've never taken it seriously enough to learn how to cast efficiently. I still have my original rod & reel from 1964, a Heddon Pal tobacco fiberglass rod & Shakespeare Automatic 1824 OK reel.

I've been into a few fly reels but am in no way a connoisseur or knowledgeable about the different designs. Most of the older examples are pretty basic & simple. I have a couple of cheapie single actions, one higher end original MI Harris made (Gapen Wild River III) 7/8 Wt and 25 or 30 various Shakespeare Automatics. Delving into autos will keep your attention or you may have a 5' spring slapping you in the face or wrapped around neck. 

Any holiers will get indoctrinated pretty quickly, I'm thinkin'. This place is too friendly for that type of attitude.   

[oc1]

One of the most informative forums about vintage rods (uhhh, circa 1950-60) is the Fiberglass Flyrodders, https://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/.  If you are interested in vintage rods of any type you will find things of interest.
-steve

[Donnyboat]

Hi Wayne, your picture of fishing @ Pauley creek, is the flowing speed of that creek, about right, or would you prefer it faster or slower, cheers Don.

[happyhooker]

Another "yes" vote here.

I should go fly fishing more often; not really sure why I don't; too easy, I guess, to fall into a rut and just pull out the old favorites and go from there.

Fly anglers don't have to have their noses in the air, with thousands of dollars in gear, trips to wherever, etc.  I'm not a purist when I go.  Crappies and bluegills on a fly rod are plenty of fun.  I can tie my own leaders and use non-traditional materials & tools to tie flies.

Lots of interesting reels we could all talk about.

Frank