Getting Ready for Another Alaskan Summer

[BrownBear]

Can't resist bragging about my latest prize. This is a spotless Hardy Marquis Salmon #3, big daddy of the whole Marquis line. At over 16 oz and 4" x 2" it's the perfect match for an old Hardy bamboo spey rod I picked up for cheap and fished lots last year.



How cheap was the reel? How bout $150 including the line, backing and shipping.

Can't help myself, even if it is more of that danged foreign made gear rather than all-American made.

[lucfish]

Looks good.

[Jimbo Roberts]

If you are going to fish bamboo, most don't understand how important a reel with some heft to it is to balancing out the outfit when it's in hand. Modern reels are made so light that they just don't work with your vintage bamboo rods as they will leave them tip heavy and tiring to cast. I used to have Marquis Multiplier and still have a tinge of regret for giving it away to and friend who really needed it.

Jimbo

[BrownBear]

... how important a reel with some heft to it is to balancing out the outfit when it's in hand. Modern reels are made so light that they just don't work with your vintage bamboo rods as they will leave them tip heavy and tiring to cast....

Oh yeah. A light reel turns even the sweetest bamboo rod into a broomstick. I've had to add weight to reels (under the backing) to balance some reels.

[Bob S]

Fabulous prize brown bear. That is a hefty fly line on that reel. I bought a nice looking partridge skin off e bay. Waiting for my great feathers to arrive this week.
Bob

[BrownBear]

That is a hefty fly line on that reel.

Oh yeah. I'll be moving it on to my modern rods and reels. Older bamboo rods have lots smaller guides than today's rods, so thick lines hang up badly. I'll be moving on to silk or to one of the new Wulff Bamboo Special lines. Cortland's Sylk isn't available in larger sizes, or it would be about ideal for its small diameter.