old f--ts with flyrods

[trapper2000]

the  fall  feeding   binge  will soon  be  here  ,  a  great  time  to  be  on the  water  along  with  mr  steelie   finding  his  way  up  the  tribs  .....  i  hope  i  have  as  good  a  fall as  i  have  summer 

[1fish@atime]

You keep after'em Trap. I want to see pics of the steelies you find!!

[fishing mechanic]

Been yard fly fishing alot lately (at night after work) with my friend and neighbor Walleye1, watch out guys....here we come. He even dug out an old vice and a bunch of tying gear for me to start playing with. (I think he said his grandfather turned it all over to him before passing) Here comes the questions very soon Trap, RG, and 1Fish.

[rgfixit]

We're here for ya bud

I just finished repairing the exhaust on my little red truck...I'm headed for the bench after lunch. Need some more hoppers for this evening and tomorrow.

RG

[fishing mechanic]

Thanks RG....Continue posting tying info. and pics if ya would, gonna come in handy for me. Do you have any suggestions why my SA reel with a single drag, and Walleye1's Martin reel with a single drag (cam and spring system on both). Neither one of them seem to work well at all. Is it just inferior gear?

[rgfixit]

Have you cleaned them? Disassemble to the last component.

Clean and lubricate with good quality reel grease. I use Berkley. Make sure you rinse the parts thoroughly in isopropyl alcohol to remove any solvents. Not good to transfer to your fly line.

RG

[1fish@atime]

Yup, what he said FM. That's the major problem with most peoples fly reels. I have an old Martin, bought in '81.
It needs a complete cleaning every year, and a good spray down every few times out.
My son bought a Cabelas 5wt. With a dual drag system on it. It works a little better, but not a lot. Plus he can't turn the dang clicker off on it...Drives me nuts!!

[fishing mechanic]

The answer is yes RG, and 1Fish.....Both reels are very easy to split, and then disassemble. when I got to the spring and cam mechanisms on both reels......My thoughts were "Who was the Engineer on this cruddie system" I did clean all of the factory grease from both reals(SP4820 Unchlorinated parts cleaner). Consumed a couple cocktails as I analyzed the wanna be spring/cam drag system on both reels. Why even place that option on a fly reel in my young opinion? If ya want a drag system, then stick with spinners. That is the way I am starting  to feel regarding fly reels and drag systems. Let my fingers and hands do the work.

[1fish@atime]

The one nice thing about them is (especially in the river where I fish mostly) when stripping line to cast you don't have the whole spool dumped at your feet. What a mess if it does and catches the current and swirls....
Other than that yes you right, worthless....

[rgfixit]

I probably should have known better. Keep in mind that it's not really a drag system. It's a "spool slower downer" system   It does, as 1fish explained, keep the spool from over spinning and tangling the fly line. An absolute disaster.

On a positive note, I spent the entire day in the stream

9:00 this morning, I threw my vest, wading sneakers, some water and a plum in my little backpack...grabbed my flyrod and hiked down to the crick. There was a section of my backyard stream that had never fished, so I got in and fished it to the next bridge East. About 4 miles of stream. I found several good holes and had a ball with bluegills and smallmouth. I gave some new terrestrials a thorough testing  but had the best luck on my "Mini Clouser" in black/red/white. I got out of the stream at 3:30 and walked the few miles back home.

All I can say is ...I had fun

RG

[trapper2000]

without  some  kind  of  drag  or "spool  slower  downer"  otherwise  known  as  a  ssd  system   one  you  pull  line  and  get  a  birds  nest  or  two  a  fish  makes a  run stops  and  you  have  a  mess! i  palm  drag  a  big  fish (just  used  to  it)  martin  reels  really  work  well  if  you  work  with  there  limitations !  you  can  spend  what  ever  ya  want  ,  i  have  two  really  good  reels  in  my  cabnet  i  usually  take   my  old  medelist  ...totally  personal  preferance

[fishing mechanic]

AHHH...thanks guy's, A spool slower downer. Now that makes more sense. I think they are working properly now ya's explain it that way.

[Chainsaw]

I got that new Pflueger Triton 1990 to try this weekend and with the problem(s) I have with my hands I'm just picturing that ''...beautifly polished Rosewood handle.'' knocking the daylights out of my fingernails when a 20lb fish takes off and I'm tryin' to palm the spool. I'm thinking light leather glove here but am open to suggestion. I still gotta finish setting the system up though as I always find something going wrong if I don't stay ahead of the game.

See ya in Altmar Saturday(?). I'm hopin' Thursdays Chemo session won't make my feet too heavy to move to the good holes. Hope to see and meet some of you there. I'll be the Old F**t with a flyrod, (and maybe a spinner backup).

[1fish@atime]

Go get'em Chainsaw!! Heck a couple bruised knuckles would be fine with me for a 20+ pound fish....LOL

[fishing mechanic]

I'll be there Sat. and/or Sunday Chainsaw. Hope to run into ya. I'll be bringing my 13' 8wt. St. croix and a spinner also, in case the fly is too much right now.