I have recently bought a used RPL+ 7 weight fly rod from someone on this board. I am now looking for a good fly reel under two hundred bucks. I fish both salt and fresh water equally. I am thinking of getting either an Orvis Battenkill or a Scientific Anglers System Two. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Ross cimarron C-4: $150.00
Bauer little Mac3: %225.00
Teton Tioga8: $130.00
sa system 2 7/8: $157.50
Orvis battenkill 8/9 not sure on price
any of these reels will be great for steelheading. I dont know anything about saltwater so i will refrain from commenting on that.
My favorite of the above reels it the bauer even though it's a little over the 200 mark i think its worth it.. but they are all great reels. dont agonize over the decision too much any of these ree; makers will take care of you with any problems you may have, and you wont have any trouble with any of them.
pick the one you like

I'm just getting into fly fishing so this is an interesting subject for me. From my limited shopping I am looking at a Cortland STH lever drag casette reel. The price seems O.K. It is on Cortlands web page www.cortlandline.com/factorystore/reels.html Is this a decent reel for an 8wt?

Iron,

It would be hard to spend over $100 and not get a good fly reel; there are so many choices. I think the Ross reels are a really good value for the money. And in my opinion a disc drag is unnecessary for an outfit in the 7 wt range, so you could save even a few bucks more with the Ross Colorado at about $110. Like Rob said, don't stress over it; it's hard to make a wrong decision. Get the one that strikes your fancy and then just fish it.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

You certainly don't need to spend a lot of money on a fly reel for steelhead. You don't even really need a disk drag. I've taken many steelhead over the years on click-drag reels like the Hardy St. Aidan and even on an old 1495 Pflueger. If you want a disk drag model you might take a look at Loomis' new Adventure series. They are made by Shimano and feature a drag based on that of the Shimano Quantum baitcasting reel. The Adventure 7 should do the job nicely and retails for $100. The only shortcoming I can see with this reel is that the drag is actuated by a roller clutch in the spool which will probably make spare spools a bit more expensive than with a more conventional system. But then, if you use a multi-tip line system you won't need spare spools.

[This message has been edited by Preston Singletary (edited 12-12-2000).]

Battenkill 7/8 Disc Drag model for line weights 6-9 is $115.

I've got the 5/6 ($98 and accomodates line weights 5-7.) Its an excellent reel with a very good drag system; I believe it to be one of the better values on the market. I bought it for cutts & silvers on a 6-wt. Have landed several silvers around the 7lb mark with it and found it to perform very well. Its only weighs 4.25 ounces, too. I'm very pleased with this reel.

Go with the Ross cimeron c-3 or c-4, lifetime warranty and it is good for the salt to...Personaly I think the Ross is buy far the best deal you'll find. They really stand behind there product...Jeff

The new Lamson Velocity from Waterworks is well worth checking out.It has a sealed conacle drag system that is smooth as silk,Super hard finish and a semi large arbor for quick pick up.This real is light for its size plus it has less moving parts than most reels out there.

I know you mentioned only reels for less than two bills, but the Litespeed 3.5 is the reel I've been fishing for over a year on the same rod you just purchased and it has worked flawlessly.

By the way ,you will dig the RPL+.It handles 150 grain heads up to 300 great.I really like the Mastery series Steelhead taper for a dry line on that rod.Casts great.Good feather flinging.ReiterRat.

Hands down, get the Ross Cimarron Series, C-4 is my choice, I know more Alaskan fly guides using Ross than any other brand. They take a serious beating, and perform flawlessly.
Go get 'em!


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C&R Works!

SHT Reels...gotta love 'em. Not sure who is branding them in the US, but they rock. I have both the MR-POP (size C3 holds 200+ yards of baking + flyline) and the Cayuga. Swapping lines is a snap on the MR POP especially if you want to use it on different weight outfits (I use mine on my 6 and 8wt. rods). It has casetts for the line (about $20 each, but the reel comes with 2). The MR is about $70 and has disk drag. Excellent reel, smooth (and it can take a beating). The Cayuga is $100-$120 and is corrosion protected (may make a better salt water option).

Here is a site with STH reels (all of them and spare casetts)...http://www.traflyfish.com/equipmnt/sth/c_sth.htm

Can you tell I like STH?

Fish on!

Sorry about this Dino, after selling fly reels for 10 years plus. I would have to disagree with you about the STH reels. They have the WORST track record of any reel I have ever sold, to be quite blunt, they are crap. The Lamson Velocity reels are awesome, problem is that the size that will fit a #8 line is still aways off.
I would go with the Cimarron #4 from Ross. Awesome track record, The BEST customer service, and super warranty.

I have 3 STH reels. Have had drag problems with a couple of them in the past and have had to send them back for repairs (one on 2 seperate occasions). What I do like them for are stillwater fishing situations where you might use 4 or 5 different lines depending on the depth of fish etc. All of mine are the $100 IM models with the interchangeable cassettes for about $10 a piece. Cabela's recently had them on sale for $50 (probably because of all the rumors about the drags)and I bought a 5 weight. It is not a great $100 reel unless you have many lines to go with it but it is a good $50 reel. If you were to buy extra spools for 5 flylines such as a Ross or Tioga, you would have quiet an investment. With STH, you can buy two reels and a bunch of cassettes (because you probably will use it while one is in the shop) for the same price. I believe that Cortland Flyline Co. recently bought the STH Co. which originated in Argentina. For strictly river fishing situations, I would buy a good quality reel and perhaps a spare spool but would concentrate on using lines with interchangeabe tips so as not to buy a bunch of extra spools.

DaveD

I have to agree with an above post STH reels are as he said crap, Buy your reel from a fly reel manufacturer or a company with a long history of fly fishing gear.
the new loomis reels as another poster pointed out are very nice. Tim brought us some of these reels to look at last summer i think they will be a great reel for the money. Again on the sth our shop had 10 of them or so we used for casting demos they ALL had problems

Egad! I have had no troubles, but I think the STH reels I have will be the last ones I buy...

Anyway I have my cheepo Pflugers if the STH reels crap out

Maybe I don't just love STH...maybe I have an attraction for cheap gear

Thanks for the FYI.

Hey Ironfisherman, even if we can't agree about spinning/casting reels, I can offer another reel that isn't too expensive. I have an Okuma Sierra on my 7 wt. It has a nice smooth disc drag, plenty of capacity (holds 150 yds of backing) and is pretty well made for around 50 bucks. I caught several big chum last month on the Satsop with it, up to nearly 20 pounds and the drag worked great. It looks identical to the reels that Cabela's is selling as their Prestige model.
Greg

Hey, Ironfisherman, you don't need to spend a bunch of money on a fly reel. I've caught lots of heads and salmon on a pflueger medalist.It's just there to store line and provide drag and the pflueger does just fine.

I agree with the fact that STH reels are great for the stillwater situations. I've used an IM Cassete for over 10 years and adaptability of the reel and cassetes is great for the price. No way could I spend the cash for 8 Lampson spools or Loomis spools. I've had to send it in twice for TLC however.
I've used the Cimmaron C-4 pre-98 and never had a problem with it. This year I sold it and my 9-weight IMX and bought some different gear. One reel I picked up was the Reddington Large Arbor for my 7-weight. Pieced it together with a Rio Versi-tip and went hammering on everything I could find in the Bristol Bay drainages. I have no complaints about the reel or the line system. I have more reservations about the reel since the Redingtons aren't time tested yet, but hey, for $160 bucks, it looks and feels great. AND nothing tore it a new butt up to 35 pounds! If you want bulletproof spend $800 on a Charleton.

Dragonfly 395 Cartridge reel on a St. Croix 9' 8wt rod. Mmmmmmm... Steelhead....

Take a look at Fly Logic reels.. killer disk drag for right around 100 bucks.. About STH reels, ever see anybody get the line caught between the cassette and the rim?? talk about pissed off. I have also had real good luck with Lamson, its my favorite right now and was about 200 bucks