Large arbours are the answer
Lots of things
have changed since I first began to fish with a fly rod well over 60 years ago.
Tackle is better, and techniques too, and permits are cheaper and more abundant.
One innovation is, in my opinion, more of an improvement than anything else: more
of advantage than carbon rods.
I refer to the so-called large arbour fly reels that lots of anglers are using
now.
Instead of having your precious fly line subject to twisting and distoring after
being wound onto silly old fashioned fly reels with narrow spindles and inadequate
line capacity large arbour reels house the line in wide coils and this has several
advantages.
Faster winding in for a start, and the ability to fish shooting heads with no
twisting or tangling of the thin backing line behind the main head of the fly
line.
Best of all though is the drop in prices. The reels were quite expensive when
they first appeared in the shops but they have now been joined by several much
cheaper, but still quite serviceable, large arbour reels.
Plenty in the £20 to £40 range and I even came across such a reel
at a mere £10 including a spare spool.
While on the subject of fly reels I want to correct a missaprehension that many
novice anglers have.
When you are advised to use balanced tackle it simply means that you should match
the size of the fly line that you use with the right rod for that line.
It does not mean that you need to use a reel that is heavy enough to balance the
rod.
No, all fly rods work best when used with the lightest reel that you can get,
providing that the line capacity is adequate enough.
If you wish to prove this to yourself do a little test to see how much easier
it would be, and less tiring, if we could fish without a reel on the rod at all.
Tackle up as usual, but then put the fly reel into your pocket and try casting
without the weight of the reel on the rod handle. You will be surprised.
You cannot actually catch fish that way of course but I did once see a one-armed
angler fishing with the reel not on the rod but on a special harness attached
to his chest.