Must You Know About Fishing

All you need to know about fly fishing reels

Author:

david

Fly fishing is the oldest and probably the most beautiful form of fishing on our planet? Fly fishing is usually done by using fly fishing tackle such as fly rods and fly reels, or by using a fly rods alone. And although the importance of fly reels has been debated over the years, it is worth saying that fly reels contribute a great deal to the cast and to playing the fish.

There are two kinds of fly reels which you can purchase. The first one is a freshwater fly reel and the second is a saltwater fly reel. Freshwater reels tend to be cheaper than saltwater reels mainly because they are designed for catching smaller fish and for this reason they are made out of much cheaper materials. Saltwater fly reels on the other hand are designed in mind with the fact that most salt water fish species are strong and heavy and put up a much bigger fight compared to freshwater fish. This means that saltwater fly fishing gear needs to be much stronger. For this reason saltwater gear is made out of only the strongest yet still light materials available.

If it is saltwater fishing which you are planning to do then you should not cut corners when it comes to fly fishing tackle as the cheaper one may not be the one which will do the job for you.

As regards to functionality, fly fishing reels can be either single action, multiplying or automated. As you may have already guessed, single action, also known as manual reels, are generally quite basic and simple to use, nevertheless they are widely used by professional fly anglers. The spool in such reel turns with each rotation of the handle, no more, no less. They are usually considerably lighter in weight when compared to other reels mainly because they are much simpler in design and have less of moving parts which also means that they are considerably less likely to break especially compared to automated reels. The line capacity is also much greater and the drag is usually quite good. It is a great gear to use for fly fishing.

Multiplying fly reels, also referred to as semi-automated fly fishing gear, slightly differ to single action fly fishing tackle. The spool in such reels turns up to three times with each rotation of the handle which delivers a faster retrieve of the line and consequently the fish.

Automated reel is really self-explanatory i.e. you press a button and it does the job for you. But I have to say that automated fly fishing gear really take the fun away from fly fishing. More often than not, such fishing tackle would lack good line capacity and be quite heavy due to all the extra bits and bobs. Also, most automatics would not be the best choice for saltwater fishing mainly because of luck of control over retrieve and any reasonably large fish may quickly win the fight to such reel.

No fly fishing tackle would do the job without a good quality fly rod. Fly rods vary in size, composition and material from which they are made out of. But this is the subject for another time.

So now you know all about fly fishing reels, let\'s talk about where you can get one. Well, if you have already decided on which fly reel you want you can always try Angling Direct fly fishing tackle store. They have a great selection of fly reels and other fly fishing gear to suit every budget. fly fishing tackle , fly fishing gear , fly reels

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/all-you-need-to-know-about-fly-fishing-reels-5404874.html

About the Author

Herb Proctor has passed away...

RIP my friend. You will be missed, but we all know you are in a better place. Here is a picture of Herb (on the left) with Chris Labuz, from 2009.



The world is a little bit sadder place today.

-- Dr. Todd

1000 Words

1000 Words

We continue our series on Hollywood Goes Fishing with a photo of Gary Cooper, the legendary star of movies such as High Noon and Pride of the Yankees, holding a stringer of fish in the late 1950s, not long before his passing. Cooper was a dedicated fisherman who spent as much time outdoors as he could. I must confess that Cooper is one of my favorite actors, and his portrayal of Alvin York--for which he won an Academy Award--is one of the great performances in Cinema history.



-- Dr. Todd

Deconstructing Old Ads: Introducing the Best Selling Al Foss Lure of All Time!

Introducing the Best Selling Al Foss Lure of All Time!
 


This full page advertisement from the June 1920 issue of Outdoor Life introduces what has to be the best selling Al Foss lure of all time. The Shimmy Wiggler certainly outnumbers any other of Al's lures that I have seen in tackle boxes and at lure collector shows over the last thirty years. This advertisement for "our latest invention' contains the typical humor displayed in many early Al Foss ads. Unlike the old pictures so often seen on magazine covers and calendars, the "huckleberry patch" boy with the pole and worms will no longer catch more fish than the "city chap with the up-to-date tackle" --at least not if he is equipped with Al's porkrind minnows! Another of Al's quips is reserved for the dealer that does not stock his minnows, whom he describes as "dead from the neck up."



I have spent much of my life collecting and reading pre-1960 bass fishing books and magazine articles and the Al Foss Shimmy Wiggler almost always receives high recommendations from many authors. I have also spent a good portion of the last twenty years experimenting with older bass lures and many have proven quite effective. However, despite overwhelmingly positive reviews from many famous authors and older fishermen, I simply cannot get bass to bite on this famous lure. In fact I must admit that I have yet to catch the first fish on one.

-- Bill Sonnett
 

The Friday Funhouse

The Video of the Week

Why did the salmon cross the road?



12 Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them

This is a superb box of English snells.


For the tackle collector who has everything: a Schemlzer hunting vest being sold as a fly fishing vest.


You won't find a nicer Revolution than this one!


This is a super rare Truline saltwater glass rod.


The bizarre CCBC Wee-Dee is a strange lure indeed.


Merry Christmas from Doug English!


This Swedish Arjon Commander is a great reel.


This Louis C. Ewer painting of a brook trout is pretty neat.


A Heddon "O" is a great lure.


How about this cool Lucky Strike Better Luck wobbler in the box?


One of the most desirable of all tackle box collectables is the Waltons Thumb.


A really neat Midget South Bend Surf Oreno with Bing's hooks in Green Crackleback is just fifty different kinds of awesome.



As always, have a safe weekend, and be good to others -- and yourself.

-- Dr. Todd

Thursday Review: An Hour of Wacky Fishing Secrets, Bad Jokes, and Great Gadgets

Dick Streater on DVD!

Well, the mail brought a special surprise the other day. My fellow Gopher alumnus and the Henny Youngman of Fishing Dick Streater sent me a DVD copy of his classic one hour presentation Dick Streater Presents: An Hour of Wacky Fishing Secrets, Bad Jokes, and Great Gadgets.

Anyone who hasn't seen this is in for a real treat. Not only do you get Dick's inimitable presentation and style, you also get to see a few dozen of the most bizarre tackle ideas to ever invade an angler's brain.

The DVD runs 60 minutes and I can't recommend it highly enough. If you're interested in a copy, email Dick at lureguru@ aol.com or call him (his number is in the NFLCC Directory).

-- Dr. Todd

52 Trade Houses Part 35: Kelley-How-Thomson of Duluth, MN

Over the course of the next year, we'll be detailing the history of 52 companies that sold branded fishing tackle. 52 trade houses in 52 weeks -- some obscure, some famous, and all available exclusively here on the Fishing for History Blog! If you have any items from the week's entry you'd like to share with us, please send it my way and I'll make sure it makes it on the blog.

For a discussion of what exactly trade tackle is, Click Here. Enjoy the 52 for 52!

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Trade House Tackle, Part 35:
Kelley-How-Thomson of Duluth, MN


Growing up in Duluth, it is nearly impossible to escape the influence of Marshall-Wells Hardware. The company, founded in 1893, was one of the largest and most influential wholesale hardware firms of the twentieth century, serving nearly half the country and all of Canada through its five massive terminals in Portland, Winnipeg, Spokane, Edmonton, and Vancouver. The waterfront headquarters of Marshall Wells on Park Point in Duluth is still one of the largest buildings in the city.

Almost always overlooked and in the shadow of its big brother was Duluth's other large wholesale hardware merchant: Kelley-How-Thomson. They competed alongside Marshall-Wells for over half a century. The Kelley-How-Thomson Hardware Company was founded in the l890s as a tool and hardware jobber for the northern lumber and logging industries, and by the 1900s was shipping a large line of products marked Hickory, its most famous trade name, out of its South 5th Avenue warehouse in the waterfront wholesaling district of downtown Duluth.

K-H-T also had branches in a number of nearby small towns, including Proctor and Cotton. One of K-H-T’s traveling salesmen in the 1920s was John Cotter, namesake of the Cotter & Co. that would later purchase Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett. He would later write favorably of his time spent working for K-H-T.

The K-H-T branded tackle is usually found with the word Hickory spelled over a diamond. Marked Hickory reels, lures and hook folders have been found, and date to the pre-WWII era. It is most often found on fluted spinners, but all marked Hickory tackle is rare. K-H-T also utilized the Sportland trade name on both rods and terminal tackle.

Here are four different Kelley-How-Thomson line spools. They are presented from oldest to newest.




This is the uncommon Hickory marked K-H-T fluted spinner.


Kelley-How-Thomson was purchased by Marshall-Wells in November, 1955, after which it was to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under its own name. It met the same fate as its parent company when Marshall-Wells’ wholesale hardware business was liquidated in 1958.

There is an interesting footnote to Kelley-How-Thomson history. In order to boost its exposure, the team sponsored a professional football team in the 1920s known as the Duluth Kelleys (after founder Martin Kelley). They became part of a fledgling organization known as the National Football League, playing such legendary teams as the Green Bay Packers and the Canton Bulldogs. With their hall-of-fame halfback Ernie Nevers, for a short time they lit up the football world, but were gone by the end of the decade. The Duluth Kelleys were immortalized recently in a movie starring George Clooney called Leatherheads, based on a history of the team called Leatherheads of the North. Its actually worth checking out sometime.

-- Dr. Todd