After posting the first entries on Frugal Fly Fishing, I emailed a couple buddies to get feedback. They responded pretty quick. After pointing out the typos and such, my buddy Pete made a comment about reels. He is the best fly fisherman I know and a genius fly tyer. His fishing exploits include trips to classic rivers in the west, east, south, north and a trip to fabled Christmas Island for bone fish and travail.
It was from this experience that he pointed out, "though I tend to deviate somewhat from your uber-frugal philosophy... when you've got a 30" bone fish tearing out 200 yards at the blink of an eye, the importance of a reel goes way beyond just holding line:)."
I agree.
Although I believe in being frugal, being frugal also means being smart. I have owned a variety of frugally-priced reels and caught many fish on them. However, I know that being frugal means choosing the right tool for the job. I have always bought the best basic reel I could afford and have been give some real gems as gifts. In the past 30 years, I have used reels by Sage, STS, Diawa, Okuma and Tieton. Someone even gave me a Hardy Angel. Some of my reels were beautifully crafted machinery, but most were simply good solid reels.
to be continued...
