Fly reel/line help

[Scandially]

Do not cast a line on a river with any less than 50y of backing.

 

[Bowland blades]

Afternoon all,

During lockdown(s) I couldnt get out stalking so began to learn a bit of fly fishing (trout on still water lakes). I was lucky enough to have some kit on loan but have returned that and been given some odds and sods of my own. I have a 2.85m rod that is 7/8 weight, I get on very well with the rod and have been given a reel to go with it (pictures hopefully attached). Now its an old reel but will do the job for me. I want to fish a #7 WF floating line, its all i have used.

Is this reel suitabe for that kind of line? How much line and backing line should I put on?

My internet searches have only been able to inform me that the reel is a Pridex lightweigh fly reel.

Any help appreciated

The backing depends on what yourvfishing for and where . No point having 100 yards cramed on if your shingbaxlittle overgrown beck , no point havingb50 yards on a big salmon River
Many anglers never see thier backing pass the tip top

 

[Scandially]

Rubbish.... I fish with the shooting head-running line-backing. Scandi style. Forget WF & DT. They are so 1990's. One flick and you are out 40y.

 

[Scandially]

He used a Pridex too....

 

[Bowland blades]

Rubbish.... I fish with the shooting head-running line-backing. Scandi style. Forget WF & DT. They are so 1990's. One flick and you are out 40y.

The tackle depends on the venue end of!

 

[Foxyboy43]

If you hook a salmon or a big sea trout you will need at least 100y of backing and be able to walk on water quickly.

I thought that was a prerequisite to hooking a salmon in the first place!

 

[Foxyboy43]

Fishing goes well in combination with stalking and always opens up the possibility of combining the two on a trip away or holiday.

Don't get too caught up on gear - I love my fishing and will go fishing with whatever you give me as the choice is fish, or don't fish, and I'm always going to fish when I can.

If your fishing is just for "stocked" trout in stillwaters then I'd be sure that reel will do your job. People will get caught up about backing and how much you need and what it says in a book or on the internet but in the end humans are fairly flexible and adaptable creatures. I sometimes fish for grilse (smaller salmon in the 4 - 6lb sort of size range) and I've only once been into the backing with one of them and it was because I made a mistake and let it get well downstream of me in heavy water so I can't blame the reel for me not thinking things out. That I can see many people on the internet, and perhaps in the magazines, like their fish to run a long distance so they can be seen to have the fish take them into the backing, it all looks so dramatic. My experience is that if you use your brain and do it right then there is almost never any need for such dramatic displays. Even Spring salmon can be stopped and "encouraged" not to go too far and I fish for Spring salmon with an 11 foot 7 weight, so basically the same setup as you will be using for trout. It is also the case that from the info it looks like you will get some backing on that reel and even 30 yards of backing is a lot, you will be on some seriously big rivers with seriously big fish before you will see 30 yards of backing go out the rod tip.

So get a line on that reel and get out and enjoy yourself, learn how to fish with what you've got rather than with what other people think they'd like you to have.

You might enjoy watching this little video of some salmon fishing from last season, there are 4 salmon of varying sizes caught in this (plus a foul hooked one that doesn't count, but that did take some line off me as he was hooked in the tail which makes for a very strange fight indeed) and you will see that even in quite strong currents if you bully them a bit and don't encourage them to run then the backing never even leaves the reel. I could, of course, have played them a lot easier and set my check lighter and allowed the internet to see that the fish were fighting me into the backing but that wouldn't have done me or the fish any favours:

Love the videos and thank you for the write ups. I think I detect a hint of the “Morr tongue”?

 

[willie_gunn]

Rubbish.... I fish with the shooting head-running line-backing. Scandi style. Forget WF & DT. They are so 1990's. One flick and you are out 40y.

Not much use then on some of the rivers I've fished - 40 yards would put your fly on the opposite bank

 

[Scandially]

Not much use then on some of the rivers I've fished - 40 yards would put your fly on the opposite bank

Better to have and don't need than need and don't have?

 

[willie_gunn]

Better to have and don't need than need and don't have?

Personally I'd be more inclined to do as @Bowland blades suggests above, and gear the tackle to the river.

I remember watching fish on the Shee, where you could sit at the top of the bank and see the lies where the salmon stacked up. When the water was clear you could see the fish spread right across the river, many almost literally under the near bank. For some reason most anglers however appeared to catch a bad case of "other-bank-itis", and would almost invariably start by throwing a line right across to the far bank. A couple of casts and the fish disappeared, particularly when the water was low. Taking a creepy-crawly approach, however, and using a delicate cast with lighter tackle could often reap rewards. I wouldn't particularly want to be trying that with a shooting head!

Fishing the Tay and the Lochy, however, I found it was much more about covering the water - whether by wading from the bank or from the boat. The width and depth of the river demanded different tackle and a different approach to the subtlety on the Shee.

As the old military maxim goes, "time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted".

 

[caorach]

Yep - half a line is certainly better than no line.

Our last salmon fishing trip is at the end of next month. Both trips earlier this year have been ruined through a complete lack of water, but it’s still better than being in the office!

We always used to fish in September, and correspondingly it’s a time of year that I love. If there’s water in the river it can be a wonderful time to cast a fly.

You are right that it is better to be out than not, no matter the water or the gear

We are very lucky in that we have good salmon, sea trout, and brown trout fishing and I'd always advise that people follow the sport rather than, for example, fishing for salmon in hopeless conditions when the trout might be going well, or a high tide might have good numbers of sea trout into the saltings. I do understand that people feel if they are going "salmon fishing" that they have to fish for salmon but sometimes it pays to look at the options.

Maybe we should do a sticky thread for people interested in fishing where we do a short list of "affordable" gear suitable for various types of fishing? I love my Leeda Volare rods, for example, and they were about £60 and come out of the car almost every time in preference to my Sage rods so such a list might encourage people to get themselves an affordable setup and give fly fishing a try. Maybe I will try to start a thread?

 

[Klenchblaize]

Not a fly reel but I’m just awaiting a new set of bearings and then I’m off to my local river for some Chubb and Pike trotting:


K

 

[Sash]

The problem with these older reels...and Hardy reels of a certain age are no exception is that old silk fly lines were less dense than, particularly WF, today's "floating" fly lines. Indeed from recollection a silk #6 would have been about the same diameter as today's modern plastic Wet III sinking lines of the same weight. So even with a dacron or similar small diameter backing using a modern plastic line especially a floater doesn't leave much room on the spool for much else of anything. So if the OP is truly bitten by this new pastime I'd look for a good modern reasonable priced reel designed with the capacity for plastic lines.

I think this is the nub of the OP's problem: nothing wrong with a Pridex, but they were definitely designed in the silk line era, and that one is a narrow arbour one, so challenged in terms of capacity.
My recommendation would definitely be to buy a new reel: the Maxcatch ECO 7/8 should work fine, and they are <£20 on the auction site. Go direct on Maxcatch's website, and the OP could even get a brand new line for a few quid as well: they are shockingly cheap!

 

[Scandially]

Let me know what line you need. I have loads of DT & WF here. All good makes. £0+postage.

 

[enfieldspares]

I think this is the nub of the OP's problem: nothing wrong with a Pridex, but they were definitely designed in the silk line era, and that one is a narrow arbour one, so challenged in terms of capacity.
My recommendation would definitely be to buy a new reel: the Maxcatch ECO 7/8 should work fine, and they are <£20 on the auction site. Go direct on Maxcatch's website, and the OP could even get a brand new line for a few quid as well: they are shockingly cheap!

Much as I like my Hardy Marquis reels and spools and have then in #7, #6 and #4 sizes for putting on a thick diameter plastic line and lots of backing then nothing compares to a wide spool Grey's GRX reel or today's equivalent by other makers. I use such the 9 foot three piece #9 rod Grey's GRX rod I have for mainly using three weighted Montana flies and a sinking line for reservoir fishing when it's hot.

 

[Scandially]

My Hardy collection is now over 40 reels & spools. My go to are my Marquis... made in England of course.

 

[Dave RG]

Some really interesting points made and advice given, thanks. As a very green fly fisher its all very useful. For now I am learning on a few lakes up here in Cumbria (my introduction was a few days in chalk pits down south). Its all interesting learning and hopefully i can have more tight lines than tangled lines! Will step up to rivers when i have a chance.

 

[willie_gunn]

Maybe we should do a sticky thread for people interested in fishing where we do a short list of "affordable" gear suitable for various types of fishing? I love my Leeda Volare rods, for example, and they were about £60 and come out of the car almost every time in preference to my Sage rods so such a list might encourage people to get themselves an affordable setup and give fly fishing a try. Maybe I will try to start a thread?

I like this idea.

I will confess to having gone through the stage of being a tackle-tart, believing that the latest or most expensive rod, reel, gizmo or gadget would improve the odds of me catching fish. I eventually emerged - wiser but poorer - on the other side.

Despite still owning some lovely rods, my salmon rod of choice is a 15’ Orvis that cost me £50 and my favourite trout rod is a pre-production prototype that cost less than half that, both bought secondhand from eBay. The reels were similarly priced and sourced.

Together they’ve accounted for a good few fish, and I’ve never found them wanting.

That fish neither know, nor care, what tackle is being used at the other end of the fly line should be written in bold at the top of every fishing magazine and website.

 

[Scandially]

I have a Hardy rod here that would suit loch/lake fishing here you can have for free. It would need to be picked up. I think it is a 9-6"Hardy Fibalite Perfection #6 or #7. Used half a dozen times. Bag etc.
Central Scotland.

 

[Foxyboy43]

I have a Hardy rod here that would suit loch/lake fishing here you can have for free. It would need to be picked up. I think it is a 10' Hardy Favourite #6 or #7. Used half a dozen times. Bag etc.
Central Scotland.

Good man! Exactly in the spirit of this site. Well done sir.