So I got a new rod as an early birthday gift (TFO Pro Series 9' 6 weight if you care) and need a reel for this bad boy. I own three Ross Flystarts which have done the job just fine so far. I have yet to put a fish (including a 9 pound largemouth) on the reel out of necessity, so I tend to view them as line holders more than anything else and therefore not the most important part of my setup.

For whatever reason, I think I'm going to get something different for this rod and am looking at the Cabela's RLS (great sale prices right now) and the Lamson Konic (seems to be a good reel for the $). Two questions:

Does anyone have strong opinions on one of these vs. the other?

Does anyone using the RLS notice the fact that it weighs a bit more than other reels?

Discuss...

I have an RLS 3 and a RLS 4. They are kind of on the heavier side but not enough to get a second thought. Have had em in the salt too with no problems. Spools are easy to get seeing as how Cabelas is some kind of mail-order retailer. Have never had the lamson but have heard mixed reports on those.




P.S.

Start puttin em on the reel, its a hell of alot more fun.

Check out Okuma SLV . Lots of bang for the buck.

I second the Okuma SLV...I have 4 of them in various sizes and have never been disapointed by their performance.

For the money I think that the albright gpx is really hard to beat....its what I use on my 6wt's its really lite with a great drag and its nice to "slap" the reel on the retrive and watch it spin and spin and spin... also for 45 bucks the okumas get a nod...not much to look at but they really get the job done...I like the integra a bit more then the slv

http://www.albrightflyfish.com/fly-reels/gpx-fly-reels.html

In a Bass pro flyer I got the other day they had the TFO Prism cast reel for $55-$65. Which is a hell of a deal for that reel. Nice quality large arbor for cheap but I can't find the flyer. They also had a TFO Pro series with TFO prism cast reel setup with line and leader for 191-210 but I sent a friend over there and they acted like they didn't know what she was talking about...so...YMMV!

I got THIS in an email from Fishwest. Looks like it comes with line. When I first looked at this reel, I think it was over $300. Fishwest has some good deals and offers frees shipping.

You might also check out Madison River clearance section. Thay have some good deals too.

I have ordered from both of these companies with no complaints

Thats a sweet deal on a CLA! That realtree is kinda cool too!

A bit OTA but anyone else used the albright reels? *I* bent the reel seat on my GPX and mike @ albright had a new one to me a couple of days no cost....not even shipping...hard to beat...

I have that exact rod with a lamson Konic with a spare spool and scientific anglers trout specialty taper 6wt line of the main spool in dark willow and a scientific anglers 2.5-4 IPS sink tip on the other spool

this is my sandbass and carp rod. I love having the sink tip for when the sandies go deeper.

this is one of the few setups I have without SA GPX on it. I love GPX!

I have the cheapest Ross reel they make, and I like it a lot. It was preloaded with line. Plus I have a Hobb's Creek reel from BPS. No complaints about either reel yet. They aren't high dollar, and they get the job done.

Talking to you guys is like herding cats! I ask about two reels and get opinions on eight.

Just kidding guys - thanks for the input. I may pounce on that Cabela's reel at the sale price and call the extra ounce and a half of weight my gym membership.

You can't go wrong with Lamson-Waterworks Konic. I have a 2.0 and love it...of course, I also have a Radius 2.0, Litespeed 1.5, Litespeed 3.5 and Litespeed 2...you might say I'm a Lamson junkie...but the conical drag is one of the best in the business, if you EVER get a fish on the reel...

BTW, the RLS and Watershed are on sale in the Catalogue...you can get that price at the store by asking...

i have a sage 1860 that i like pretty good

After much deliberation (and with a trip planned for this Saturday), I finally bought a reel to marry up with my new 6 weight. I went against my initial candidates and all of your suggestions.

The winner was an Orvis (gasp!) Battenkill Mid Arbor. Orvis is running a promo where you get a free spool when you buy a reel and I combined that with my $25 off coupon to get a machined reel (a first - my others are all cast), extra spool and fly line for $200. That seemed like a heckuva deal to me. The reel is on the heavy side, but the fit and finish seem very nice.

Hopefully I'll be able to put the drag system through a thorough battery of tests this Saturday. The wife and I are floating the San Marcos with Alvin Dedeaux.