The primary function of your fly reel, in most instances, is to store the fly-line and it becomes less important when you are fishing for small fish species. These smaller species are often landed by retrieving the line with your hand rather than by cranking the reel. The reel comes into play when you catch a larger fish and you need to use your palm and reel drag to land the fish. So when you target larger fish, a reel with a palming rim and good drag system like the cork on Teflon drag system becomes useful.

The fly reel you choose should match your fly rod and fly line but there are a few other deciding factors when choosing a reel.

Audible mechanisms and drag systems:
The audible mechanism inside the reel should be made of metal because plastic will not last very long. The mechanism should also allow for left or right hand wind and should only operate when the line is pulled off and not when the line is wound in.

The drag system on your reel should be smooth in operation and should never feel sticky. A good drag system would have a cork disk drag, usually cork on Teflon and should be effective even when it’s wet.

Spool Clearance:
This is the gap between the edge of the spool and the reel frame. If this clearance is too big the fly line can get stuck behind the spool causing it to damage.

Rim:
Being able to palm the reel while fighting a big fish is often necessary, so you need a reel that has an exposed rim that allows you to control the reel when fighting that fish.

Centre pin bearing:
A good quality reel will have a strong, solidly mounted bearing pin that can’t bend or come loose under the pressure of a big fish. The spool should also have minimal in and out movement.

Capacity:
When you buy a reel make sure that it will hold the line you intend using with it as well as enough backing. When you fill the spool always leave about 2 to 3 mm of the spool edge free.