Unusual Fly reel - No Spindle

Started by Tiddlerbasher, May 14, 2020, 02:48:01 PM

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Tiddlerbasher

I picked-up one of these from fleabay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-MACHINED-ALUMINUM-CLASSIC-CLICK-STOP-FLY-FISHING-REEL-5-6-LIGHT-WEIGHT-86MM/223273319856?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

I was just curious as to what makes it tick, or should that be click.







It is very light at 102 gm / 3.6 oz. 3 3/8 in diameter. This is not a heavy duty reel, it would be very easy to damage this.
The spool runs on a large diameter/ultra thin bearing in the frame - and yes there is no spindle - just a hole :-\ It's certainly a quirky design.
The spool is held in place by the large diameter thumb wheel.
The machining is fairly good for the money - I will certainly give it a try one day.

jurelometer

There was a hubless reel trend for awhile.  Loop was one of the big ones - check out the Model 3 and Salmon 4. The Salmon 4 looks like a high tech squirrel cage  :).  I think Sage was even selling the Loop hubless reel under their brand. 

TFO had a hubless reel too (Atoll). There are several others.

Kind of hard to find a place to put a disk drag on those reels,  but sort of works if you want a super large diameter, super large arbor, very light weight, and just a clicker. 

I think that this design trend has mostly died out.  It s hard to build one that is rigid and durable enough for general use, as you pointed out.     But it could be just the ticket for a lightweight freshwater outfit where you want an extra large arbor.

-J


Tiddlerbasher

Yup - totally agree Dave - but I had to have a look ;)