Hi guys I'm obviously new to the board. I have a few questions about reels and line and the type of fishing they can or should be used for.

I'll begin by saying I'm an avid angler, both fresh and saltwater. I live in Los Angeles though I spent some time in Bozeman Mt. I have fly fished before though I am not proficient, more like a beginner or amateur. Alright now the Bios out of the way.

I have never outfitted myself, I've always had help. Now I'm on my own. Most of the gear I have was my grandfathers. He was avid, fished Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Ca, many other places as well. I have a lot of tying equipment and supplies as well but I'll get to that in another post.

I will list the reels I have and the one rod and see what help you can be.

1. Pfluger progress 1774
2. " " Medalist Diamolite Linegaurd 1492
3. Heddon 310
4. Hardy Brothers Ltd "the Flyweight"
5. Pfluger Medalist 1498cj

They are all lined I couldn't tell you with what but at least two are floating and two of the others appear to be a floating line.

The rod I have looks to be a custom hand wrapped rod.

It reads the Cliff Wyatt Rod wrapped for Bob Disse, who was my grandfather.
He was a member of several hunting and fishing clubs in the Los Angeles area and originally from Minnesota.

Thanks for any help you can offer and I hope to meet some of you soon on the water.

Mike Cimmarrusti

well you need to find out what weight you rod is (example: 5 , 6 , 7) then you need to match that up with your reels that will probelly narrow that down

Yes I'm aware of that. I don't know what Wt the rod is. I neglected to write its a 7' but I suspect its a 5 wt. Any suggestions as to how I could determine what weight the rod is?

I am primarily interested in the reels and what type of fishing they are best suited for and if they are high quality, middle of the road or something best left hanging on the wall.

Thanks

well the only thing i know you can do is to take your reels and put them on the rod and find the one that is the best balanced

If the reels are lined, how old are the lines? Then if they are of recent vintage you can buy a scale made by Umqua specifically made to weigh fly lines. If they are old lines, it would pay you to but at least one new line assuming that you find the rod wt. It would be nice to see if you could contact the rod maker. Silver Doc

The line is old along the lines (sorry for the pun) of fifteen maybe twenty years. The rod builder has passed on or moved away as far as I can tell. I talked to a local tackle shop owner who explained that this gentlemen was a fairly famous fly fisherman in our parts. Anyhow thanks for the advice I guess I'll have to look for a tackle shop around here and take them there. I've been sick for a few weeks and figured since I had some time I'd do some research.

Any help or advice is still appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Hithard,
Is there any other writting(just above the cork handle) on the rod? Without this info we cannot help you determine the wt. Since you live in LA and if you have some free time this weekend (1/28-1/29) I'd suggest you go to the Fishermen's Spot in Van Nuys. They are having an educational event this weekend. Maybe someone there will be able to help you out. Good-luck!

Hithard,
To answer your question, the Hardy is a well built reel, and without a doubt the pick of the litter. The rest of them are low end but usable if they have been maintained.

Great. Thank you guys. Thats just about exactly what my research has lead me to believe. It seems he got the reel to match the rod. He was a meticulous man and I'm sure that he wouldn't have used anything but the best he can afford. Having said that does that give you any clue as to what wt line the real should be used for. I'm not really into nymphing. Planning to start mostly with dry flies. Its more intriguing to me for now.

The other reels have been in a box in the original boxes. So not maintained but in no way abused or neglected. Any ideas on line size for the other stuff?

Its nice to have some spare equiptment for loner stuff.

I appreciate everyones help so far. The makers web pages have been of little assitance.

Thanks again

Well, I have to agree, all else being equal, the Hardy is likely the most desirable from a collectible standpoint, although there is quite a bit of interest out there for older Pflueger Medalists in very good condition from the original factory in Akron, Ohio. There are folks out there that like to match older, smaller Hardy trout reels to their bamboo rods, etc., and are willing to pay as much for one of these in pristine condition as they would for a new one.

Given the range of fly line sizes indicated by these reels, from the Medalist 1492/Hardy Flyweight to the Medalist 1498, the collection of reels alone gives absolutely no sense of what fly line size the rod takes. It is extremely unlikely he used all these reels on the one rod. Best way is to take reels with known fly line weights on them and see which one loads the rod best.

-- Mike

Mike,

Did you read my post on Anna's thread?

Matt

PS Go vote you lazy SOB.

I like you already. No I'll check it out now.

Thank you for your response it is very encouraging. I am sure that he didn't use all these reels with the one rod. I know he had others but I don't know where those ended up.

Your first paragraph is very helpful and informative, thank you.

So from your second paragraph, and I am assuming here... Is it far less the reel that will dictate what line to use as it is matching the reel and therefore the line to the rod. Which is to say one could put far more light line than necessary on a larger reel and still fish it with a lighter pole. And conversely place a small amount of a heavier line on a smaller reel and still match it with a heavier rod.

I understand that one may then be outgunned or way over prepared for the target. I also understand the importance of balance in a fishing rod, reel, the line used and the lure. But I guess what I'm looking for is a range of usablity.

For example the flyweight being a 3-5 wt and the 1498 being 6-9 wt.

Thanks again and I look forward to continued learning from you all.

Mike

Sorry, it's been yanked for some unknown reason. It was something, which I know you can relate to, that I spent 45 minutes crafting just right. Didn't offend anyone, that I could see. But it's gone. Snap! Like that. No more open dialogue?

Not cool. Hope you hear something about why. Do they have archives here? Maybe its archived, often a trick of moderators to political correctly hide something they don't want around. I don't know though I'm too new to be stirring the pot so soon.

Mike

Mike, I've re-read your post 3 times and I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. In the 2nd paragraph, I was merely commenting that your reels don't give us a clue what line your rod takes. There is a line weight that will work best for you and your rod for the typical casting distances you intend to employ. Your reels, however, don't tell us what that line weight is. That's all.

I assume you're aware that, unlike conventional fishing gear, we don't typically rely on the weight of the lure (i.e., fly) to propel the line for distance. Instead, it is the weight of the line, working in concert with the flex characteristics of the rod, that propel the leader and fly to the intended target. Or, to say it another way, we're casting the line, not the fly, and the fly just goes along for the ride, so to speak. Thus, we strive to match the weight of the line to the action/flex characteristics of the fly rod, not to the capacity of the reel.

-- Mike

Sorry if I'm unclear, it was like 1am or something. Anyhow, I'm wondering what kind of rods I should look for to match with these reels. According to their capacity. The rod I have will be matched with the hardy. It is what I've fished for most smaller stream trout. I'm wondering if I can buy a few less expensive rods to create rigs that can be used by friends once I'm started and get me started with types of fly fishing I'm not prepared for now.

Hope thats more clear thanks.

Mike

So just as an update for everyone whos helped out.

I've found out the club here in the LA area is called the Wilderness flyfishermen. It was run out of a shop in Santa Monica and has now grown into a larger club. The wrapper was the owner of the store. He would hand select the blanks from the manufacturer.

The rod is a harnell blank. It has not been confirmed but is either a 5 or 6 weight rod.

The flyweight Hardy is what he matched with the rod.

I have got in touch with the club through a tackle shop that just happend to have an old phone number laying around. Fortunately there was an answering machine and I've left a message and awaiting a response.

Thanks again for you help.

Mike

Mike,
Couple ways you can go on the rod.
First is find someone nearby with some various fly lines on reels already and cast it. (I know that seems obvious. but just had to mention it )
The second is to deflect the rod using a baggie with a paperclip and hooked onto the tip section and gradually add pennies(keep track of how many)until the rod deflects roughly 1/3. Then go to the Common Cents section at www.rodbuilding.org and you should be able to roughly come up with a proper line weight for it.
Email me if you want some more specifics.
Dewey

I glanced through that post and thats what I've been thinking about doing. Any ideas on what type of bag I should use? I didn't get a clear grip on that. Maybe just a plastic bag?

Thanks

Mike

Go here:
Common Cents info
Dewey