Sometimes you will notice the manufacturer’s claimed weight is well under our measurement, which is the reason we weigh the reels ourselves. You will see that in most instances their weight is the same as ours or within a tenth of an ounce. This is the weight in ounces that we got from the manufacturer, either from their website or on the phone with the company itself. In our chart on Objective Observations, you will see that we list our tested weight, the manufacturer’s claimed weight, and also the weight of the reel fully loaded with backing, line, and a leader. 1 of an ounce to make it easier to read on our charts. We weighed each reel several times and then rounded up to. the drag range is relatively weak), does the rest of the reel impress you so much you don’t care?Ĭategories Explained – Objective Observations Once you know what the chink in the armor is on a reel you like, (e.g. Take a look at the charts, not just to learn our rankings, but to understand the pros and cons of each reel. As such we are always facing equipment problems, the same kind every angler eventually encounters if they are stupid enough to fish year round. Surprisingly we’ve had some pretty good fishing on days blowing 45+ mph, torturing ourselves with frozen fingers and toes for no good reason other than we are being stupid and like beating our head against a wall repeatedly. Its safe to say someone from the shop is fishing every day: only the worst winter weather days keep us indoors. Before work, lunch breaks, after work, and weekends. It’s our job to sort through the claims and advertising hype, and to give you our honest and un-biased views, so that you can make your own determination of what reel is best, and best for your fishing style. Ultimately what you believe is what really matters. Every manufacturer believes that they have come up with the best reel in the world. We also felt that when possible we needed to come up with real world tests that you can duplicate. We were not willing to take the manufacturer’s word or specs as gospel.
Moreover, we are using a floating line most of the time and not changing spools.Īs in our other Shootouts and tackle comparisons, we felt that to get honest answers, we needed to be the ones taking the measurements, weights, determining backing capacity etc. The idea is to set your drag lightly enough so that if you hook a hot fish that burns out on 6X, you don’t get broken off on that first run. And for 5/6 reels, often using 5X and 6X tippets, this means setting your drag at only a half pound or less. Typically, when fishing a 5/6 weight outfit the angler will set the drag at one level and rarely change it. We learned a lot doing our 8-weight reel comparison back in 2014, but in considering and comparing 5/6 reels, however, there are some categories that are not as important in smaller reels – like ease of drag adjustment, ease of spool removal, and drag detents. The 2016 Yellowstone Angler 5/6 Weight Fly Reel Comparison