Spey Reel of Choice?

[tackleman]

This may be a reason for "warped reels".
When reeling in fish under heavy tension, the backing line or monofilament is applying pressure on the line wrapped around the arbor. The pressure forces the line on the arbor to the outside exerting force against the sideplates of the spool. Line under heavy tension stretches and becomes thinner in diameter which is contrary to its natural diameter. Backing line, monofilament especially, wants to return to its normal dimension, meaning it must return to its original non-stretched length. This action of shortening itself further increases pressure against the line beneath it which increases pressure against the sideplates of the spool.
The pressure generated can be enough to distort or warp the spool so that it makes contact with the frame or consumes other operational clearances. Built spools, ie. sideplates built onto the arbor, have been known to 'explode' from the pressure.
Sometimes unwinding all the backing, releasing the pressure, will allow the spool to 'relax' and to 'un-warp' itself. Sometimes the pressure damage is permanent.

[Golden Oliver]

I use the Bauer M4 on my 12'6" 6 wt. and 13'6" 7 wt. I use the Solitude V (Harris Reel Co.) on my Sage 14' 9 wt.

Solitude reels are nice for the money and free spool smoothly to pick up line in a hurry. They make a larger model call ed the SOlitude VI as well.

John Kleusing is a Michigan guide and former partner of the Harris Reel Company before they were bought and moved out west. I bought mine at BBT in Baldwin.

http://www.solitudereels.com/Pages/Specifications.html

[JR SPEY]

I agree that the Solitude is a great choice. I've been a Solitude dealer for well over ten years. However, the Washington company that bought Harris has yet to actually produce a new reel. They've had a website up for quite some time, but no reels are available that I know about. They've been working on updating the reel. I've seen the results in a prototype, and I like what I've seen, but they've gone about three years now without having reels available. One has to wonder if it will ever happen.

[danimal]

Antique pricey clickers--super HIGH DOLLAR fancy state of the art bestest-------- All I can say is ROSS REELS is my answer. CLA 7--under 3 bills , got one love it!! Run canyons too!! LOVE EM!! Heard about the drag problems people have complained about with the canyon big game..Ya got dirt or most likely tippet in the drag.. Took apart the one culprit giving me problems and pulled tippet out--cleaned it up and good as NEW!!!!!! Have dropped a Big Game on concrete-- Not in a reel pouch either,, not a problem.. Best reel for the money- THAT IS OUT THERE!! IMHO..........AND IT IS MADE IN THE USA..............

[JR SPEY]

Antique pricey clickers--super HIGH DOLLAR fancy state of the art bestest-------- All I can say is ROSS REELS is my answer. CLA 7--under 3 bills , got one love it!! Run canyons too!! LOVE EM!! Heard about the drag problems people have complained about with the canyon big game..Ya got dirt or most likely tippet in the drag.. Took apart the one culprit giving me problems and pulled tippet out--cleaned it up and good as NEW!!!!!! Have dropped a Big Game on concrete-- Not in a reel pouch either,, not a problem.. Best reel for the money- THAT IS OUT THERE!! IMHO..........AND IT IS MADE IN THE USA..............

Not to be argumentative, but only to show that different people have different experiences---my buddy took two Ross BG Canyons and a spare spool to Guatemala. His duffel bag fell off the luggage cart the baggage handlers use. The duffel bag had a tear in it, but everything inside came out fine, except his Ross reels. The spare spool (in a neoprene case) had the sidewall bent out of shape and one reel (also in its neoprene case) had a severely bent handle and also had the frame knocked out of round. The other came through OK and that's what he ended up using. Though Ross repaired both the reel and the spool for him (at a $$$), he sold them and bought something that he hopes will stand up better in tough conditions. My experience is that Ross builds good reels for the money, but are far from being as rugged as many other reels, including some that cost less. In addition, from what I've been told the drag problem was a design problem which several guys experienced during use and the bad pub from that is the main reason they dropped the BG and introduced the Momentum.