Reel advice.

[slaphead]

Can anyone offer me advice on the usefulness and worth of a reel I've been offered which has seen a lot of use.

It's a Shakespeare Beaulite 3.5in fly reel, complete with some white coloured line that looks like it has been there for years. Research suggests it was made by J W Youngs and it is an older model but not vintage.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul Boote]

A reasonably adequate though pretty crude, mass-produced, bargain-basement fly reel in its day (30 plus plus years ago), Slap, but there are far better reels about now, and not expensive either. I had several at one time in the early-mid 1970s until I could afford better. Suggest you do, too.

 

[slaphead]

Ta for that.

 

[jacksharp]

Too much hype about reels nowadays. The two main advantages of modern Large Arbor reels are 1) less backing needed (you don't need 300 yds of backing for trout fishing in the UK) 2) the line is stored in larger loops leading to less memory.

The reel is probably the least important part of your average UK setup as the rod, line, tippet and fly are more crucial to good casting, presentation and playing a fish. The reel is just there to store the flyline.

The Beaulite is a perfectly serviceable reel with a click-pawl check. You don't need bonefish drag capability in a UK trout fishing reel.

If you are on a budget It may suit your purpose but I wouldn't give more than £15 for it and I would definitely replace the line with a half-decent WF. The existing backing will probably be fine.

 

[slaphead]

Thank you.

 

[slaphead]

Got it today for £10, will now replace the line and try to refurbish.

 

[jacksharp]

Got it today for £10, will now replace the line and try to refurbish.

Good price Slap! Take the old flyline off but keep the backing and replace with a WF7 (if your rod is rated for that weight)

Take the spool off and clean out any old oil or muck from inside the backplate with petrol or a cycle-degreaser like Muck-off. Re-lubricate the spring, tooth, pawl and sprocket with a grease, not oil, and put a little grease on the spindle. If it is the type with a little knurled wheel on the reel rim to control the tension of the ratchet then slacken or loosen until you can strip line off for casting without it overrunning. This is the main function of that spring and not for any drag when playing fish.

Keep us posted on your progress. :thumbs:

 

[slaphead]

Thanks for the advice, jacksharp.

I bought a Shakespeare President 1735 AFTMA 8 9ft 6 fly rod, not a top of the range I know, but something I hope will suffice to learn on.

I also bought a Hardy fly box with a load of mixed flies in it.

I'm trying to build up ready for the new season. (seems like months away).

Jim

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Where are you planning on fishing Slap?
Solid enough reels Beaulite/JW Young. I have one of each for salmon, not used much but there if I decided to go. The biggest problem will be loading with sufficient backing. If the present line looks to be loaded okay/fills to just short of the reel rim, just check the backing isn't perished. Then good to load any new line provided it's the same weight that's being taken off. I.E, if you have removed a 8 # line, then replacement of a new 8# should be straight forward.

 

[jacksharp]

Over filling a fly reel is a common fault. People think they have to fill the spool and proceed to wind a flyline on carefully to within a mm of the rim. What they forget is that when they try to get that line back on, often excitedly while playing a decent fish, they are not carefully layering it and it humps and jams in the cage and damages. At least 3mm from the lip of the spool and 1/4" is not too much.

Attach your new line to the existing backing then wind it on. If it looks like it is going to overfill the spool just pull it back off and lay it out in big coils or better still straight in the garden then pull some of the old backing off and start again.

Flylines can be a pain if you get twists in them or kink them.

 

[slaphead]

I will be targeting my local fishery (Hillside), which has rainbow to 15lb supposedly, or Pendle View which has fish to 8lb. Or the local Irwell which holds smaller fish.

I understand that backing on the reel can be any coarse line, it is just to pack out the reel. Seems pointless to me as a complete novice, why not make the reel smaller to eliminate the need for it. mg:

Thanks

 

[jacksharp]

I will be targeting my local fishery (Hillside), which has rainbow to 15lb supposedly, or Pendle View which has fish to 8lb. Or the local Irwell which holds smaller fish.

I understand that backing on the reel can be any coarse line, it is just to pack out the reel. Seems pointless to me as a complete novice, why not make the reel smaller to eliminate the need for it. mg:

Thanks

Because the line will be coiled tightly on a small spool and will get memory and not lie straight on the water. Plus you may be in need of some backing if one of those 15lb rainbows is awkward and decides it wants to run more than 30 yards. Large arbor reels solve this problem somewhat but you need a minimum of 50 yards backing. Also mono is not a good backing, 20lb braided fly backing line or dacron is best.

 

[nicepix]

Because the line will be coiled tightly on a small spool and will get memory and not lie straight on the water. Plus you may be in need of some backing if one of those 15lb rainbows is awkward and decides it wants to run more than 30 yards. Large arbor reels solve this problem somewhat but you need a minimum of 50 yards backing. Also mono is not a good backing, 20lb braided fly backing line or dacron is best.

I'd got with braided fly-line backing. It lasts for years and is a lot easier to handle than mono' if you need to sort a tangle out with a fish on.

 

[slaphead]

Thank you for the advice, I will have a re=think re the braid/Dacron. Will the fly line and leader still need to be around the 8 #?

Thanks for all the help you are giving me.

 

[jacksharp]

Thank you for the advice, I will have a re=think re the braid/Dacron. Will the fly line and leader still need to be around the 8 #?

Thanks for all the help you are giving me.

If your rod is rated #8 then get an 8WF line. Leader can be anything you like. I would go for a 9ft tapered leader of 6lb BS, attach one of those tiny leader-rings to the tip, as I suggested earlier in the thread, and then 2ft of 5lb mono as a tippet. Try with one fly to start.

If you get your flyline from a dealer see if he can fit a braided loop to the end to attach your leader loop-to-loop. So much easier than needle or nail knots. Alternatively you can probably do it yourself.

BE CAREFUL when buying your braided backing. Proper fishing braid for boat and lure fishing is expensive and wasted as flyline backing. Go for specific 20lb flyline backing. You should get 100m for around a fiver.


.

 

[nicepix]

I've just spooled up a fly reel to use this spring and summer for wels catfish. 150 metres of braid backing and half a DT9F fly line fitted back to front, i.e. thick and to leader so as to turn the bigger flies over. The Cortland backing was about £30.

 

[slaphead]

If I was to load the reel now and not fish with it for a while, would it get memory?

 

[jacksharp]

If I was to load the reel now and not fish with it for a while, would it get memory?

It entirely depends on the quality of the flyline. I use Snowbee Prestige or XS floating flylines and I once had cause to leave it 12 months between trips and the line peeled straight off the reel and lay straight on the water. Other, cheaper, brands will have memory and look like a spring when not used for any length of time. I wouldn't touch Airflo floaters with a barge-pole.

You can always stretch a cheaper line by pulling it off the reel and taking a metre or so at a time and doing a "chest expanders" with it. A really good way to stretch a flyline is to tie a loop of heavy mono to the tip and loop it over a fence post. Then walk away, paying out the 30yds of line as you go. Then merely give it a good stretch (you will be surprised at the amount of "give" in it) then wind it back onto the reel and fish with it.

 

[slaphead]

Cheers. :thumbs:

 

[slaphead]

I've ordered 50m of Dacron 20lb backing and once it's arrived will sort out some WF floating fly line.

Does the colour matter?