Thread: auto fly reels / garbage

does anyone still make one worth taking home? dont tell me martin because i have tried four in the last two years and they will not keep enough tension to reel in line ! have used one pluogher(spell ?) no much better . martin use to be my favorite . I still have one made in U.S.A. about fourty years ago that works great but the new ones are a joke !

There's an excellent Italian automatic called the Vivarelli-- but they're not cheap:

https://www.dan-bailey.com/Via/viaLa...VIAUSERDOCLIST

Your best bet would be to find an old Martin on ebay.

I use Perrine automatic fly reels have several and not any trouble with them.They are no longer made but are almost always on E Bay search automatic fly reel

Auto fly reels have no place in flyfishing.

I won't go quite as far as Flyrod Man, but agree that the Auto's I have are collectors pieces(gathering dust). Especially on the rods made today they are too heavy and makes for a very unbalanced rod.
Just last night my grandson was saying he wanted an auto.
I took him out in the backyard and let him try my rod and then put the Auto on it and showed him why he did not want one.

Auto reels used to be really popular, especially in the south. Their "one hand" operation freed up your other hand to scull the boat.

I don't see too many people sculling a boat anymore.

Flyrod Mans negative reply to automatic fly reels realy upset me I was not going to answer but I think I need to. I will probably never will have the knowledge that Flyrod Man has about fly fishing. I am 70 years old and have been fly fishing sense I was 10 that makes 60 years. I have fished fresh water all over the US and salt water fly fished from Maine to Florida. I have 87 fly rods from 3wt to 10 wt about 20 of those are old fiberglass rods. I have Orvis CFO reels 3wt to 7 wt ,8 to 10 wt reels I have SA system 2 and Orvis DXR reels. I use automatic reels and my old fiberglass rods in the boat for bluegills. I really like them I don't think there is a balance problem ( my opinion ) I think if I can't say anything nice I won't say anything.

Originally Posted by ausable riverboat

Flyrod Mans negative reply to automatic fly reels realy upset me I was not going to answer but I think I need to. I will probably never will have the knowledge that Flyrod Man has about fly fishing. I am 70 years old and have been fly fishing sense I was 10 that makes 60 years. I have fished fresh water all over the US and salt water fly fished from Maine to Florida. I have 87 fly rods from 3wt to 10 wt about 20 of those are old fiberglass rods. I have Orvis CFO reels 3wt to 7 wt ,8 to 10 wt reels I have SA system 2 and Orvis DXR reels. I use automatic reels and my old fiberglass rods in the boat for bluegills. I really like them I don't think there is a balance problem ( my opinion ) I think if I can't say anything nice I won't say anything.

Riverboat, I commend you - for your gentlemanly response as well as for your dedication to fly fishing. Apparently uneducated responses from the philistines don't bother you.
Good - it's better for the ol' heart that way! Wish I had better control!Incidentally, the first saltwater fish I caught on a fly - ladyfish in 1958 off a Rockport, Texas pier - were caught on a Martin automatic reel.
'Course, it didn't live very long thereafter, but that's not the point! :D
Bon chance, cher.
Pete

Originally Posted by Flyrod Man

Auto fly reels have no place in flyfishing.

+1

I completely disagree. Being a casting instructor, I have been fly fishing for a long time. I have used auto's for many years for bream and other panfish fishing.

I have several Martin's which I have voluntarily made into retired conversation peices.

The Pflueger 1195 is probably the best choice now available and I own four of them and have gifted several of my close friends with them on rods that I purchased for them. I have one attached right now to a $300+ rod. It catches bream like no other. When you are catching 150 or more in a day. You do not want to hand reel that many in to release. I do not keep any bream and am fishing for them merely for sport. (Crappie taste better) I wish that those green trout (Bass) could fight half as much pound for pound that a bream does. I also wish that some of the stocker trout that are available to me to catch locally would fight one fourth as much pound for pound. I've never been known to be a purist, but just my opinion.

Zero