8wt reel help

Im looking for a reel for a TFO TiCRx 8wt. Most use will be for bass but I want to be able to catch reds, trout, bones and other hard fighting saltwater fish. I dont mind spending extra on a reel that will hold up or buying used. So what do you guys think would be a few good reels to start tracking down?

Sage 4580CF. (this is a sweet a** reel and the price is good as well)

Sage 2580.

If you have the money to spend the 3400D is a bulletproof reel.

thanks for the help, Im going to check them out, see if there are any deals to be had on ebay

Put a TFO 375 Large Arbor on it.

Sage makes rods. Reels, not so much.

I'll check it out

The TFO 375 is a nice reel.

http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/products/reels.html

Rex

TIBOR RIPTIDE-

I like the albright GPX

Okuma Integrity on E-bay all the time. My 6-7(or7-8) handles hard running hybrid stripers from the bank with a yawn.

Lamson Guru, konic, or orvis battenkill

Reds and trout won't test your drag too much but those bonefish will. If you are mostly fishing the Texas coast, and only going to Florida, Mexico occasionally, you don't need anything too beefy. (expensive). You might check out the G Loomis Venture Reels. Reasonably priced and the ones I've handled were well built.

Unless you're crazy like me (it's a short trip...) and tackle jacks from the beach and kings from the jetty, you can get by easily with an Integrity, or the Loomis reels that spiny mentioned. Inshore fishing is more about corrosion resistance than backing capacity and drag - fishing the surf and blue water for big fish requires all three of those in spades.

I do issue a warning about Lamson Konics - they corrode. It has been mentioned in the past on similar threads but recently I had a close associate take one apart that had seen sea time and he said it was not a pretty sight.

Buy as good a reel as you can afford, take care of it and it will take care of you.

-1 on the Loomis [Ad]Venture unless you hate your reel to last more than one trip.

Dave, What issues did you find with the Ventures? I've never owned one but had heard nothing but good about them, (for the price point) since they've been on the market. That's from people whose opinions I respected. If they are cr*p, I sure don't wan't to be reccomending them.

I hate bashing equipment because generally, it's all good... not so with that [Ad]Venture reel... they changed the name but they didn't change the reel.

Get the drag wet and it starts to chatter. Stick and slide, stick and slide, in other words.

I had one in the 5-7 or whatever mid-size and was sight fishin, wind blowing hard from the south while the tide was ripping out in the shrimp channel at AP, so there ya go, 4 foot waves and on the way out the kayak filled with water. So the [Ad]Venture gets a good submersion, for about 10 minutes.

Back at the cabin and the reel comes apart, rinse, dry open overnight, go back to fishin. Next day a tail pops up, big tail, throw the fly out there, hook the fish, fish starts burning off, all the sudden the spool handle freezes up while I'm reeling in and the fish pops.

Sucks, but what can you do? Back at the cabin that night I spray some Corrosion-X in there and with pliers loosen it back up. Only reel I got for that rod, see. But it's fine, and for grins spray down the rest of the reel, just in case.

Next day, paddling B&R. Sweat pouring down our faces. Not a breeze and it's August. No activity on the flats but we're a long ways from the truck. Decide to slow paddle it in, take a little tour, see what we see. All the sudden a school of large redfish starts to tail in about 2 feet of water. Somebody turned on a light switch. Throw a cast in there with a little pink seaducer, see, strip, strip-strike, bang, big dam redfish is burning line off. Then a sound like an airplane landing on a beach with its wheels stuck in the up position and the line goes slack.

WTF?!?!?!?

Go to reel up, can't. The reel is locked up SOLID. Drag is FROZEN IN TIME.

2 big redfish 2 days in a row, nice, oversize fish, one crappy reel.

Silver colored reels do not a saltwater rig make. The reel is [censored] on saltwater... and you can find stories like that all over the coast if you ask. There is nothing wrong with an [Ad]Venture reel... if you only fish in freshwater... and never get the drag wet (my 4wt reel is the smaller one and it chatters too).

In laymans terms (because I don't know the real ones) saltwater corrosion happens when certain alloys get down and nasty with other certain alloys in some sort of fancy electromagication thing. And then things get stuck. More important that price tag or color in a saltwater reel is that it doesn't have "tab A" that "marries to slot B".

The Loomis reel is so popular on message boards because a certain person hawked them hard several years ago in some sort of equipment-shill deal. They are not fit for saltwater.

An inexpensive reel that will handle SURF (& salt) is the Okuma Integrity (~$80). A mid priced reel that will handle SURF is the TFO Large Arbor (~$300). There are several reels in the $500+ range, including some offerings from TFO that will do the trick nicely, now you're getting into the Haydens (TFO) and the various offerings from Nautilus, Abel, and Tibor.

You can't just go put any reel in saltwater. Unless you like buring through $100 bills.

Cabelas RLS is on sale right now for a C note and I have had it in the salt a few times and it works like new, just a thought.

I will use the Integrity in the SURF/jetty if'n I got nothing better, but it's certainly NOT my go-to. But will it WORK? Yes. Definitely sound advice, and an all-too-common, depressing story when it comes to any kind of reel in the salt.

First time that happened to me, it was a Redington reel.

Corrosion-X is my best friend, but even it can't save you from all corrosion, all the time. If you start with a good reel that is constructed with the salt in mind you can save yourself a lot of headache, as mentioned by the gentlemen above.

Abel Super 8

Never had a problem with Abel reels in saltwater and Abel is all I use. Perfect drag and never let me down and the best fly reel you can get for saltwater hand down. And after each trip just rinse them with warm water and oil the cork drag as needed.

Super 7 is nice too and another favorite of mine.

Hatch Reels. Done

I still haven't decided or come up with the money yet lol, I have been looking at the nautilus ccf though. Thanks for the help when I get one ill post pics maybe even with a fish

Colton CRGII. Call Bob and get the good word. Also take a look at the Leviathan and Tradewinds rods. I own both and am very pleased.

Colton Fly Fishing

Nice the torrent T-810 looks like a pretty solid reel for a good price. Thanks for the heads up!

The prism reels from TFO are the way to go. less than 120 bucks for a great reel. Cast or machined.

i would look at
Nautalus
Ross
Abel

Tibor.

I've got one that I dunk, throw around, beat up, never clean and just plain abuse that I have never had any problems with whatsoever. Maybe just luck, maybe not.

$75-$90 tomorrow at the doorbuster sale.

For $100, I'd get a Lamson Konic or Sage 1680. (I fish the 1680 muhself) For a little more, a Ross CLA is machined from barstock in Colorado, and very solid.

Some one mentioned the Lamson-Waterworks Konic. You'll need a 3.00 or 3.5 for an 8wt. Best drag (conical, not CORK, etc) in the industry and they stand behind their stuff.. $20 for any warranty repair, returned in 48 hours. You can see them at Cabela's in Buda or Tackle Box Outfitters in SA. Not as heavy as the TFO 375 (I have one of them also). The Cabela's RLS is also a nice reel, probably made by Reddington. Cabela's XSS is made for the salt and should work well also. Tibor will set you back over $600 and Abel will also come close to that. Great quality, just very expensive.

I can't stress enough you check on ebay for Colton reels and rods.

For those of us who need value for our doubloons, I recommend the Lamson Konic 3.5 for your 8wt. The Guru is also a nice workhorse, but a couple more coins are needed.
The drag system is sealed so it keeps a lot of the salt, silicates and stuff we don't like off the drag's workings. We sell a lot of them and have not had a negative word.
If I were to say anything negative about the Konics, it would be related to their grudging 'start-up'. I mean it's hard to get the drag to go from zero to whatever in X seconds once mama big bangs your fly. Not made for small tippet, big fish excursions. Both the Guru and the Konic are heavy duty stump pullers, not nimble sportscars.

For the money, go with Lamson Konic. Sure, you can buy better looking reels in Abel or Tibor, but do you want to spend $500+ or $159 on a reel? The Waterworks-Lamson drag is industry leading. No cork to get wet or mess up. The Conical drag system on the Lamson's just can't be beaten by any other reels' manufacturers. The TFO 375 is a nice reel, but heavy (I have one). Orvis makes good stuff too...good and expensive. Just remember to flush any reel well with fresh water when you've come on off the salt. No reel can completely stand up to corrosion without proper care.

I am weird for really really loving the albright GPX reel in 8wt...plus with the money you save you can get several extra spools,,,and afford to go fishing

If you're going to fish the salt at all, get a reel with an antireverse accomplished with a set of dogs and springs, TFO has a line of them, Abel, Tibor as well.
The antireverse bearing common to fly reels and many spinning reels is a disaster waiting to happen once the Gulf gets ahold of them.
I use Boeshield (West Marine) or Teflon/Wax spray lube (duPont, most lumber or hardware places), and wash gear daily and lines and backing after each trip.

Ol' Al used to say to take it in the shower with you each night to soak out the salt. That oro sit it in a bucket of fresh water overnight.