FLY FISHING REELS

Although the fly fishing reel is some what over looked and kind of boring, it is a very important part of your fly fishing system. This realization will become evident if the reel fails while trying to land that trophy fish.
There are several things to consider when buying a fly fishing reel;

 1. Cheap reels generally break down quickly and have an uneven drag.
 2. If salt water fishing, a multiplying retrieve or automatic retrieve will work well while for fresh water fishing get a single action reel, which is the most common.
 3. Although a click and pawl are nice they are rarely needed anymore. A good disc-drag fly reel is a good choice for all around use.
 4. Since fly reels get wet, insure the reel you purchase is rust proof.
 5. When purchasing a fly reel, it is important to match the weight of the fly reel to the fly line. Match 5wt. fly line with a 5 wt. reel.
 6. Buy an extra spool when purchasing a fly reel, switching from a floating to sinking line can be done quickly and easily, not to mention that if you decide not to get an extra spool, they are usually not available when you do decide to get one.

There are two types of drag systems and three types of retrieval systems.
The original drag system is the spring-and-pawl, and is a very good drag system. With the use of gears inside the fly reel, this allows the fly line to exit the fly reel at a uniform and steady rate. Making it a good drag system for smaller fish and trout. Although the spring and pawl is a very good drag system, it is rapidly being replaced by disc-drag, where a pad inside the fly reel can be adjusted to put more or less tension on the fly line. Using a disc-drag, the tension can be adjusted to almost infinite levels.
For the new or inexperienced angler, the disc-drag system would be the best choice, because the spring-and-pawl are difficult to find and a disc-drag fly reel is equal to or better than the most hideously priced spring-and-pawl model available.
  The SINGLE ACTION reel retrieves the fly line back at a 1:1 ratio. That is one turn of the spool is equal to one turn of the handle. This type of retrieve is the most common, most reliable and the simplest to use.
  A MULTIPLYING FLY REEL with it's confusing network of gears enables the fly line to be retrieved back onto the fly reel significantly faster. One turn of the fly reel handle can equal two or more turns of the spool. At first this speed may seem nice, but these reels can be a bit of a pain when fishing in rivers. Multiplying reels have earned the reputation of being temper mental and awkward to use at times, and make it needlessly difficult to change spools from floating fly line to sinking line.
  The third type of retrieve is the AUTOMATIC fly reel. The fly line is retrieved with a touch of a trigger rather than turning a handle. An automatic reel isn't needed or even wanted when fly fishing in fresh water such as rivers, however it can have uses when fly fishing in salt water or large lakes