Jump to content

formula1

BST Users
  • Posts

    2,907
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. FYI for everyone, it's Andy Mill, not Andy Mills...
  2. Huff moved out of the Keys years ago. He calls Everglades City home now.
  3. To add to the Tibor/Abel comment, I was a die-hard fan of cork drag reels, especially Tibor and Abel. I defended the smoothness and game fighting qualities on this very board. A poster on SOL challenged my beliefs and in response I went out and bought a Charlton 8550C with tarpon spool and went fishing to prove him wrong. As the saying goes the rest was history and my cork drag reels were relegated to backup and loaner status...
  4. I'm terrible, I submerge my Makos all the time...so far so good. I would disagree about Charlton's claim to fame...Jack always said (in my conversations with him) that the game changing feature of his reels was the amazing drag. When I go to an exotic location I will probably bring my Seigler reel (or reels, I see some more purchases in the future) for the same repeatability as the Makos but with a lever drag...and they can be opened up and worked on with very little in the way of tools. I won't bring the Makos because I value them too much to fly with them in check-in luggage (I too have Charlton Makos as well as Charlton reels).
  5. Like Fergal says it's the precise repeatable drag. I've kept records of my big game fishing from the time I started and although they can be varied (species, location, tackle) the on species I've been super consistent on is tarpon on the flats...and in that my records show that my average time to boat decreased substantially when I put my Charlton reels on my rods to replace my Abel Super 12s and Tibors. The ability to be able to precisely adjust my drag in one revolution allows me to put maximum pressure on a fish throughout a fight depending on the stage of the fight, the strength and condition of the fish, and my own judgement. The Mako and Charlton reels have proven so superior in my hands for fighting big fish that my Tibor and Abel reels have become my loaner reels that I put beginning anglers on or if I'm pursuing small fish where I don't worry about precise drag adjustment.
  6. When I was chasing big game world records I only used Mako and Charlton (I was after the mako and thresher shark records). The one revolution drag is game changing, and a huge factor in record hunting. Jack Charlton reels hold a disproportionate number (with regards to the total number of reels out there) of big game world records on fly for a that reason. Nathaniel Linville, probably one of, if not the, finest fly fisherman in the world uses Makos to set his 140# tarpon on 6# tippet with a Mako...it would have been much harder to do that with any other reel that didn't have a similar drag. I'm with Thaistick...pricing is what you are willing to pay. Some things are a waste of money for me but my nice fly reels are, to me, money well spent, and those reels will be passed onto my kids (both of whom are avid fisherman and hunters). Not for everyone but we all have our vices, enjoy what you like. As I've said before, I keep a fly reel or two at my desk and during the winter months I pick up those reels (these days it's either a Mako or Seigler) and play with it during meetings when the winter doldrums get to me...
  7. Tropic line tends to get very stiff in colder temps to the point of coiling. Cold (or normal) line is fine in cooler even cold temps but if you use it in tropical temps the coating can get soft and even sticky. In extreme cases like on the bow of a flats boat where the sun is relentless in the tropics a line can even melt.
  8. Sweet looking reel! Although I'd have to get more details as to what are the exact differences between the Tournament ready and standard reels. I haven't found the standard drag dial to be "imprecise" at all...I mark the drag on my Makos with the drag setting and I've found them repeatable year after year. Thaistick, do you have any details as to how the reel is tougher? I haven't talked to the Mako guys at all since Jack passed away and Judy retired from the business. @Surflyguy big saltwater fish are fun, go get some makos and get cooking!
  9. Except for small trout I'm not into click pawl reels...I just think it's cool that there's someone on these forums that makes a well known reel. Only other person here who does is Bob from Colton reels.
  10. Wait, what?!?! HillTop is the manufacturer for Valentine reels??? If so, that is so cool!
  11. Brian, I have no idea how they performed. Their big game reels were solid (also a bit heavy IIRC). I handled on at Nathaniel Linville's shop that he had in the display case. Cool looking reel. I really liked the concept of the lever drag and I debated buying it. They are German made so I would expect that they were well made and a lever drag is not rocket science to build but the devil are in the details.
  12. Steelfin had models with a typical draw bar as well as lever drag.
  13. Hey Brian I'll save you some time...Hayden retired from the reel making business about 7-10 years ago. He still will do warranty work on his reels but that's it...
  14. Hey Brian, I don't know if a Seigler conventional reel offers anything beyond what a Daiwa or Shimano product offers in strict terms of features, however what they do offer (and the gentleman who had an issue with his Seigler - I'd be interested in knowing if they reached out to Wes Seigler to see if the issue was resolvable) is essentially a hand crafted reel (a lot like many fly reels actually), almost a bespoke piece of gear. I remember Terry Hayden chiming in on a thread about his reels that were made by TFO vs his own line of reels and it was along those same lines that when you bought the reel from him you were getting a bench made reel. The great thing with Wes (Seigler) is that you can talk to the man who designs and builds the reels. Wes has updated my reel to fine tune it with the latest update (at a small cost) - good luck getting Shimano or Daiwa to do that. A big manufacturer like these will provide you with updates - the only cost is the purchase of the latest and greatest reel. @Brian about Max Garth, I remember his multiplying fly reel that he got Terry Hayden to make - I wonder what they're worth now. From what I understand only 2 of those multipliers were ever made.
  15. In his earlier days he did but these days his reel of choice is the Hardy Fortuna that he helped develop, and that reel goes from less than 2# drag to max drag in 1 turn of the drag knob, a feature which he does use when he fights tarpon. I'd disagree, a C&P drag, even with a good angler, is not an efficient way to land a big fish. Being able to crank up the drag and keep constant pressure on the fish helps beat them very fast. I guarantee no matter how good someone is, with a C&P reel you frequently end up with zero pressure on the fish. With a real drag (no pun intended) you can fight a fish with constant max pressure on it. That's critical to beat a fish fast with minimal harm to them. There's also a big difference between setting the base drag on a reel at 2-4# and the zero drag of a C&P. You can palm a reel but to paraphrase someone I respect, adjusting a drag by palming the reel is as accurate as adjusting a Rolex watch with an air wrench. There's a reason why all the really big fish records on fly have been caught on drag equipped reels and not C&P.
×
×
  • Create New...