The best fly reel I ever had was a no-name cheapie I bought from a tackle shop in the UK. It was mainly carbon fibre with a bit of allow but it seriously rocked and if memory serves me well if cost all of 12 quid…
I’ve nearly given up finding a replacement for the reel and have come to the conclusion that the only way I’m going to replace it is to simply build one from scratch.
As it happens, apparently I’m not alone in being dissatisfied in what passes for reels these days and a lot of folk are cobbling their own instead of paying silly prices which are more collectible than serviceable… A tool as opposed to a toy.
Which is why I want the dude in red with the beard to drop a copy of “The Reelsmith’s Primer” off on “So It Goes”…
Do you think reindeer like rum?