I have inherited a Milwards Troutrover rod (34293, 8' 10'', #6) and would like to buy a suitable reel. Can anyone advise?

Hi seddon and welcome to the forum.
A nice reel for the cane rods are the old Youngs models, the Condex/Pridex/Beaudex ones.
Still available on ebay for realistic prices, but they are creeping up of late.
A very nice example of a Condex, fetched £37 tonight.
Check them out, they have the added weight to them which helps to balance the cane rods.
Also the Salter reels are very pretty, let me know if you require a link to them.
Hope that helps.
Steven.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

Hi mrtrout, Many thanks for your welcome and advice - I'll look out for a Youngs reel and let you know how it goes. Do you know whether Milwards made anything to suit?

Here's an example of one, not sure about the Milwards.
S.
Vintage - JW Young "Beaudex" Fly Reel on eBay (end time 16-Nov-10 12:04:13 GMT)

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

I'll second the Youngs reels.

They made many of the good fly reels of that era.
Hardy reels are nice, but tend to fetch crazy prices, so best avoided if you want a user reel.
I can't remember a good Milwards flyreel, but I could be wrong.

I have a K P Morritt Intrepid Deluxe flyreel which was my fathers. It was quite expensive when he bought it, but compared to the Youngs reels it is poor quality (heavy on chrome, light on design). Not bad to use though.

For a good user I would go for a 3 1/2" Pridex. This is an upgrade on the Condex (quick-release spool and can be changed from right to left-hand wind).
Lovely reel to use - if you look around you should be able to get one on ebay for around the £15/20 mark in very good condition. They come up quite often.

DB

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That wouldn't happen with a Pridex

Milwards also contracted reels from youngs, badged flycraft or flymaster. I have one that is identical to the youngs beaudex:





In either badging this is the most commonly available size, a 3 1/2" MW (7/8" spool width), which will hold a DT6 or up to WF9 with standard backing, and has the heft to counterbalance a longer glass or cane rod. The less common 3 1/2 x 5/8" will take a WF6 but not DT5/6.

A couple of points to note if you go down the youngs/flycraft route.

The early beaudex models (up to early 1960's) were RHW only. Both mine and Mr Trout's link are the next generation with symmetrical checks, usable LHW or RHW (symmetrical riveting on the back plate).

The pridex model is much the same but has a fixed rather than adjustable drag. The condex is the 'value' model of the range, fixed drag and lesser spindle that is prone to wear (= spool wobble).

He's right you know, the Beaudex is IMO the best of the lot.
S.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

Thank you all, mrtrout, dogbloke and taniwha, for your expert advice and information - I'll get onto e-bay for one of the reels recommended. I think that the rod was last used by my Dad about 40 years ago, so I look forward to giving it a new lease of life.

Milwards actually made a Troutrover reel in the early 1950s:







The 3 1/8" frame was the same as used in the more expensive Flycrafts which came in gold or black:





Regards,

Doc

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www.doctor-fly.com

Doc, you are a mine of info - thanks for that.

Taniwha, I didn't know that, so cheers.

I like the Pridex (or equivilent, but made by Youngs).
For me the adjustable drag is unnecessary, and they are way cheaper than the Beaudex, which is essentially the same reel, but with an adjustable drag.

Be nice to get a Milwards-badged reel to match your rod Seddon.

DB

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That wouldn't happen with a Pridex