For many years (well, about since 1993/94), I'd read up on the theory of going Fly fishing...... come January 2004, and I was down at my local tackle shop (Whitby Angling Supplies) looking for something to blow my Christmas money on, and I finally opted for some Fly fishing tackle. Picking the fly rod was fairly simple..... just choose a 7/8 AFTM rating rod I liked the look of best that I could afford, preferably from Shakespeare (my favourite brand for Rods & Reels, as they excel at making quality rods&reels @ value for money prices).
The plan for the reel, was to blow the remaining money on a cheap fly reel..... either the Shakespeare MUSTANG, or the Shakespeare PROFESSIONAL.. then worry about the fly line & backing later in the year when I got my birthday money.... but then the guy in the tackle shop suggested one of these Shakespeare SUMMIT fly reels, in the 2684/000 size ready loaded with Backing, Flyline (6 WFF) + leader for just under £22.
The standard factory supplied reel comes unloaded, and is RRP'ed @ £19 (but can be picked up for around £10-£15 if you know where to look.... try either WHITBY ANGLING SUPPLIES or MULLARKEY & SONS). According to the manufacturer's blurb(http://www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk/Product12.asp?line=2684-2687), they're constructed from lightweight aluminium........ which has been finished to an extremely high standard.
It also comes with 2 spools, so, say.... you can have one loaded with Floating flyline, and the other loaded with a sinking flyline, for instance....... or perhaps use a 4WFF line on one, to use with your AFTM 4-5 rated rod (for Trout bashing on small rivers)... and a 6/7/8 WFF rated fly line on the other on your AFTM 6-8 rated fly rod (for Trout/Salmon on Reservoirs & larger Rivers). Removing spools is fairly simple..... pull the lever on the centre of the spool (you can barely just see it in the picture above), and pull it..... to put it back on, align the pegs on the back of the spool with the 2 socket holes in the cog on the main body of the reel, and it just clicks into place.
Ease of casting with it isn't really an issue when it comes to Fly fishing reels....... since all they do provide something to store the excess line on... but line comes off pretty easily when you pull at it + has a knob to adjust the tension on the opposite side of the reel to the one pictured at the top of this review.
Durability shouldn't be too much of a problem either...... as the reel is made from top-notch materials, uses extremely simple engineering & is designed and built by one of the oldest tackle manufacturer's in the business - The Shakespeare company was founded in the United States in 1897 (109 years ago), and the British operation became the Shakespeare UK operation around 1965 (41 yrs ago) when they bought a company called "TOPP TACKLE", which apparently included the manufacturing operations of 2 even older tackle companies. One of them being "S Allcock & Co. Ltd" of Redditch in Worcestershire, whose origins go back as far as 1880 (that's 126years ago, to save you having to work it out)...... so, with that kind of experience behind them, you could say they know a thing or two about making fishing tackle.
If you've never tried fly fishing before, it's worth a go as it's bloody good fun once you've got the hang of casting (only took me about an hour or two of practising)....... and this reel proves you don't have to spend a fortune to go fly fishing, and do so with decent quality tackle.
More details
Price
£11 - £19
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
