Pluger's are inexpensive. The 1595 1/2 is the size that will hold plenty of
backing for steelheading. There drag is virtually non-existant. Regardless of
how much you turn the little white knob, the drag does not change
much...but..my position has always been that you should NOT have any drag
coming from the reel; just enough so that when line is pulled of the spool, it
will not overrun and cause a backlash. The most sensitive drag that a
flyfisher has is at his disposal is the angle at which he is holding the rod
while playing a fish and his finger pressure on the line. That can be changed
in a nanno-second thus your drag can go from a light setting to max
immediately. The disc drag reel(and I imagine that Dennis believes this also
or he would not suggest a Plueger reel) is a feature a flyfisher does not
need. Once you have the experience of playing bigger fish that takeout line,
you do not need a disc reel. Lee Wulff thought you should be able to land tuna
on a click drag and never believed in strong drag reels. I like the Hardy's.
They have just the click and give me some naustalgia and proud ownership. From
a practical standpoint, they are not as heavy as a bigger plueger. Pluegers
are durable, however. If your hard on equipment, and like Dennis, you let
others use it, the Plueger is fine. They come, now, in an external or internal
spool I think that all models have that feature. Hope I've given you some
perspectives on this reel. The only Plueger I ever saw damaged were the two
that I had on rods leaning up against the back of my car while camping in
Eastern Washington and my wife took of for town to get some beer and ran over
both of them! The drag was pretty tight on those two! Jere
>
> Hi Everyone
>
> A couple of questions....
>
> My STH reel that I was using for steelheading
> gave up the ghost. Boy if I ever buy another STH
> reel....but that's another story. So in looking
> for another reel I was looking at all the traditional
> (and expensive stuff) when I noticed that Dennis Dickson
> in his webpage recommends the Pfluger Medalist 1595 1/2.
> Does anyone have any experience with this reel? The
> drag doesn't seem that robust but for the price I could
> buy two and have one for a spare. Did you ever notice
> that your equipment always gives up in the middle of
> an important trip?
>
> Question 2. I'm scheduled for a guided trip with a friend
> on the Rogue (in Oregon) just after labor day. Does anyone
> have any info on the Rogue in September? Unless I get another
> rod, I'll take a 6 wt and a ten ft 8 wt. I know that most of
> the fish run 3 lbs or so with an occasional fish to 10 lbs.
> Plus the deep drift nymph methods they seem to use seem to
> argue for an heavier rod. Any commment would be welcome.
>
> And before you tell me, yeh I know....ask the guide. So
> far he hasn't been much help.
>
> Jim Jones
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
