Fly Fishing Reels

What a fly reel does, and what it does not

In most trout fishing a fly reel is a place to store line and backing (the thin line that sits under the fly line), a counterweight for the rod, and a gentle brake for the days a fish actually runs. It does not cast the fly. The rod and the fly line do that. The reel just needs to hold what you give it and let go of it without a fuss.

A fly reel is a spool, a frame, a handle and a drag, so almost every difference between models lives in a few columns of the table above.

The data behind the table covers 274 reels from 31 brands on Amazon US at our last check (October 2026). The list moves each week as availability changes.

How to read the table

The table is sorted from the lightest line weights up, so ultralight reels for tiny streams are at the top and heavy saltwater reels at the bottom. Each value has a small mark under it:

• Maker means the value comes from the manufacturer's own product page.
• Claimed marks a maker's own claim with no independent lab or standard named.
• Listing means the value comes from the Amazon listing, and the maker's page does not confirm it. Treat it as the seller's statement.
• — means we could not confirm it anywhere. We do not guess.

Many reels carry the listing mark in the Line weight column, because plenty of Amazon sellers print the weight in the title and nothing else. A dash in the table does not mean the reel lacks the feature. It means the number is not confirmed.

Under each model name, a "More specs" toggle shows the other values we hold: material, construction (cast, machined or a mix), diameter, backing capacity and retrieve side. The line weight column shows a one-to-twelve ruler so you can see where a reel sits at a glance, and you can filter by line weight band, up to three spec selects and brand, then sort by any column.

Line weight comes first

Everything starts here. A fly line is sold by weight, from 1 for the lightest to 12 for the heaviest, and a rod is built to cast a particular weight. The reel needs to be rated for the same weight. Orvis puts it plainly: your line weight should match your fly rod weight, and you can get by within one or two weights of the ideal. Mad River Fly Company adds that many reels accept about two line weights, such as 4/5 or 7/8, and that you should match the reel to your rod so the outfit balances.

In our data, the most common starting points are 5 weight and 7 weight, with a long tail from 0 up to 12. Roughly speaking:

• Light reels (0 to 3 weight) belong with small-stream rods. The trout fly reel page covers 3 weight to 6 weight, and a 3 weight fly reel will usually be a small, light model.
• Mid reels (4 to 6 weight) are the all-round trout range. A 5 weight fly reel or a 6wt fly reel is the one most people mean when they say "a fly reel". Orvis calls a 4-, 5- or 6-weight rod in 8-foot-6 or 9-foot length the best all-around range for freshwater.
• Heavier reels (7 to 12 weight) are for bass, steelhead, pike and salt. An 8 weight fly reel (the search "8 wt fly reel" gives you the same thing) is the usual entry point for those. See the saltwater fly reel page for the sealed models.

Our fly reel size guide and fly rod weight chart explain the labels, and the line weight chart shows how the numbers map to line.

Arbor: large, mid or standard

Arbor is the diameter of the spool's core. A large arbor reel has a wider core than a mid arbor or standard arbor reel. Mad River Fly Company says saltwater reels tend to have larger arbors to hold more backing for long runs. The general benefit of a wide core is that line comes off in looser coils and each turn of the handle picks up more line.

In our data, 170 reels list a large arbor, 20 an ultra large arbor, 18 a mid arbor and 3 a standard one, and 63 do not confirm it. A listing without the words "large arbor" now looks like it forgot something. I would not treat it as a quality mark. It is a design choice with a cost: a wide spool can mean a heavier or larger reel, so check diameter and weight under "More specs."

Drag: click-and-pawl, disc and the rest

The drag column is where reels differ most.

• Click-and-pawl. A toothed gear with a spring-loaded pawl makes the familiar click and stops the spool from overrunning. Mad River Fly Company calls it the older design. It is light and simple, and in our data it appears mostly on small and classic-style reels. The click and pawl fly reel page lists them and explains how they work.
• Disc drag. Stacked discs press together to give adjustable resistance. The table shows this as disc carbon, disc cork or disc other. These dominate the list: 78 reels list a carbon disc, 79 an unspecified disc and 17 a cork one.
• Conical drag. 19 reels, mostly Lamson, list a conical drag, which is a different kind of friction surface. The maker's page is the place to read about it.
• Automatic. A spring takes up slack line when you press a lever. Three reels in our data are automatic, and they have their own automatic fly reel page.

A sealed drag is one the maker says is protected from water and grit. We show it as "sealed" under the drag value where the maker or listing states it. Sixty-seven reels in our data list a sealed drag. Salt is hard on unsealed parts, and sealing is the first thing I'd look for on a reel that will see the sea. Drag strength is shown in pounds for the models whose maker publishes a maximum, which ranges from 0.5 lb on traditional click-and-pawl reels to double digits on the heavier saltwater models.

A drag figure says how hard a reel can pull. It says nothing about smoothness, which only buyer reviews on the product page can hint at.

Weight, material and warranty

Reel weight is listed in ounces, and it matters because the reel counterbalances the rod. A very light reel on a long rod can feel tip-heavy. The lightest reels in the table are about 2.5 to 3 ounces (the Galvan Brookie B 0-1 at 2.54 oz and the Lamson Purist II at 2.7 oz, both per the maker). Heavier saltwater reels run past 10 ounces; the Sage Enforcer 9/10 lists 10.8 oz.

Material is aluminum for 197 reels and composite for 24, with 53 unconfirmed. Construction describes how the frame is made: cast (poured into a mold), machined (cut from solid aluminum) or a mix, such as cast and machined, or forged and machined. I'd treat the words as descriptions and not as scores. A well-made cast reel beats a carelessly machined one.

The warranty column deserves a read. Hardy states five years for the original owner, with registration within 60 days and a service fee for failures that are not manufacturing defects. Lamson states a limited lifetime warranty for the original owner, covering defects in material or workmanship. Greys states 12 months, and Echo one year for manufacturing defects. Lifetime, limited, original owner and register-within are four different promises.

Left hand retrieve, loaded reels and spare spools

Two small details come up in searches.

Left hand retrieve. This is about which hand turns the handle. Most reels are convertible, so you can flip them to your preferred side with a few turns of a screw or a pawl. In our data, 165 reels list a convertible retrieve. For the other 109, the maker or listing doesn't say, so look at the manual.

Loaded reels. "Fly reel with line" means the reel is sold with fly line on it. A loaded fly reel or pre-loaded reel is convenient if you want to start casting the day it arrives. Twenty-four reels in the data list preloading, and several of them are under the Aventik name. If you want to choose your own line, buy a bare reel and use our spooling guide and the backing page. How much backing a reel holds is on the how much backing guide.

Lamson lists a 3-pack of spools for the Liquid S. Extra spools are handy when you carry two lines. Spare spools have a way of ending up in the Hook Drawer, next to the manuals for gear that no longer exists, and never being the one you need.

How to choose

By fish and water. For small trout in small water, a light reel with a click-and-pawl or simple disc drag is plenty. For bigger trout, steelhead or any fish that can run into your backing, choose a disc drag and think about sealed. For salt, choose a reel the maker says is made for it. The trout and saltwater pages apply written rules to the data.

By rod. If you already own a rod, read its line weight and buy a reel that covers it. If you do not, a kit is easier: our fly rod combos page lists outfits that bring a rod, reel and often a line together, and the best fly reels list applies a written rule to the reels.

By budget. I will not talk prices, because we do not show them. What I will say is that a cheaper reel can be a fine answer if you know what it is for. The thing to pay for first is a drag that works at the weights you will actually fish, and then a warranty that matches how long you want the reel to last.

Common mistakes

• Buying by looks and not by number. A handsome reel rated for 3 weight on a 6 weight rod is still a reel that does not fit the line.
• Ignoring backing capacity. The label tells you what line fits, not how much backing sits behind it. Capacity is under "More specs" where the maker publishes it.
• Treating "large arbor" as a rating. It is a design, not a grade.

Care and maintenance

Fly reel maintenance is a short list.

1. Rinse after salt, or after silt. Use a gentle spray of fresh water. The MidCurrent maintenance guide's advice is to spray, not blast or submerge, because a hard stream can push salt into the bearings.
2. Dry before it goes in a pouch. A damp reel in a pouch is a slow corrosion project.
3. Back the drag off. On a cork drag, the guide says a drag left cranked down can lose its tension and come back weak.
4. Know your drag. The same guide says sealed disc drags resist salt by design and are best serviced by the maker every few years, while open cork drags need to be stripped and lubricated with the maker's specified lubricant. Which one you have decides what you do, so keep the manual.
5. Remove the spool now and then to clean out grit, then follow the maker's instructions on what to oil, if anything.

For a deep clean of a specific model, the maker's manual is the authority. Those five steps are as far as I'd go without it.

Brands in the table

The table is led by Hardy (28 reels), Greys (24), Lamson (21) and Ross (20), then Redington (17), Galvan (16), Sage (15), Aventik, Maxcatch and Okuma (14 each) and Echo (12). Browse the brand catalog, or go straight to a maker: Hardy, Greys, Lamson, Ross, Redington, Galvan, Sage, Aventik, Maxcatch, Okuma, Echo, Hatch, Snowbee and Orvis.

Reviews, and what we do instead

People search for fly reel reviews, and it is fair to want them. We do not test reels and we do not publish star ratings. We publish what the maker or listing states, plus the written rule behind each list, so you can see why a reel is in the table. Buyer reviews on the Amazon page are worth reading for fit and feel, and the long ones tell you more than the stars.