I may have my first opportunity at strong tropical saltwater fish this winter i.e. Big Snook, small-med Tarpon, jacks, perhaps some smaller king mackerel/dolphins/albacore if I'm lucky. I am looking to get together a strong and reliable kit and am aiming at #11 (or maybe #12 if necessary) to give strength but still hopefully allow some presentation and avoid rotator-cuff injury if at all possible!

I already have #9 gear for Pike and the rod (Vision GT4 SW med-fast) has proven itself many times with big double figure Pike both on their initial hard run and pulling dead-weight out of weed and snags and I trust it, so this covers my lighter rod.

The key issue here is money - very tight for me at the moment so I need to get gear that won't break the bank, especially as this might be an experiment that I don't repeat. Primarily this means rod and reel as hooks, fluoro etc wont be a problem, I tie my own flies and I hope to pick up some decent lines cheap from tacklebargains.

Reels
I am aware that Abel, Tibor, Ross, Nautilus, Danielsson will be recommended for build and drag quality and I understand completely why, but I simply can't stretch to two reels and a couple of spare spools at those prices. So with this in mind I have been doing some research and the two that seem to be most liked are (in their two largest sizes):

Shakespeare Pflueger Trion or President - no one seems to have a bad word to say about these, the design/build tolerance/drag is rated highly by everyone as far as I can see and they available at very reasonable price

Lamson - look great and have a very good drag apparently, though I have read reports of the drag becoming contaminated with grit and otherwise failing which makes me nervous for serious saltwater work

Anyone here have any other thoughts? Good design and tolerances, reliable drag and one-way bearing and (preferably) light weight are at the top of my list.


Rods
Aiming at 4 piece 9' and I am very happy to build my own and in fact would prefer to do that to save money and also spec lined rings throughout as I don't really like snakes. So in terms of blanks available at sensible prices:

TFO Axiom, BVK, TiCR, TiCR-X in #10 and the last 2 in #12 with lifetime warranty included which is difficult to ignore

I am told that a company called All Star Austin makes/made blanks in #11 that were liked by many.

If I really stretch I might be able to justify a Sage Xi2 or Xi3 in #11 because they do get highly rated. Or perhaps a British Norwich EV3?

Any others... Beulah? Batson/Rainshadow? CTS? St Croix?

For ready-built rods I have heard good things about the TFO Bluewater Light Duty but can't help feeling that while it is no doubt very strong, might not be so nice to cast with?

Top priority is robustness as I will be a long way from a tackle shop or even a postal service, but something I can cast accurately without a shoulder injury would be nice too! Some feel that the Xi2 is tougher than the Xi3?


Thanks for reading and looking forward to the replies.

I would go for a TFO BVK or similiar and a 2nd hand mid-range reel off ebay.

What's your reel budget if you get a rod for £130-£150?

@jrt
yes that was one of my first thoughts but..
1 - can't get it (or Axiom) in more than #10 so not much step up from the Vision #9
2 - has lowest 'lifting power' of all the TFO blanks which I think is important
3 - I have heard people prefer Axiom to BVK in #10

I am planning two reels (one #9 and one #12) and spare spools for each, preferably for little more than £200 all in. Unless I can use my UK SW/Pike reel (Okuma Airframe/Scierra Avalanche) for the #9. I like it, it's SW friendly & simple and the drag seems strong and smooth - but whether the drag and one-way bearing will stay smooth with a strong 40lb sea fish heading off 100 yards in the opposite direction or not I don't know!

I need to blunt but I mean no offense. I will help with any further questions this may bring. And it is not the first time it has been answered or proven right so you can learn from others experience. You have just forked out a fortune to go on a once in a lifetime trip and you are looking for shortcuts that will make it a wasted trip. You've already made the decision to go and catch a fish of a lifetime - if you attach that fish to a plastic washer or trout reel or reel with a single lever release switch tacking all the force or a spindle that is machined for lesser jobs you will end up loosing that fish 99% of the time - you may land the first small one but then the reel will probably be ruined. Forget everything you have been told about a trout reel and it being the least important part of the setup. IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT part of saltwater fly fishing (Tropical) You can skimp on rod but not by much if you want to take it seriously as this is the second most important thing(needs to take bumps and bashes on a boat and cast in head on winds - large flies) - there are now many options there that you could get away with for just one trip and I'll let other speak on them as I only use sage and loomis and have justified the cost 100 times over. I went on just one trip once two and after many more that I've needed to satisfy my addiction I wish I hadn't wasted money in the beginning

I did the same as you in the beginning and warped a 12# trion on my first decent fish. I then proceded to completely destroy the drag on the backup trion on the second. You reel will need to cope with serious revolutions and hundreds of yards of runs at a time. You can pick up reels cheaper secondhand if you must. You really need to understand that a 20lb trevally will make a 20lb pike seem like a dace. And if you are lucky the 50lb one will fart out a pike. Please please please trust this advice and dont show up to a gun fight with a pencil.

People recommend those reels because they are capable - not because they are bling. The lamsons are ok but as you say I have heard of many dissapointments. You can get away with lesser reels on smaller bones etc because although they run fast and hard you dont really apply that much drag else you can tear their mouths and pull the hook. Your 12# is going to be chucking big flies at big fish and the guide's fees are probably more expensive than a reel second hand that could land the fish you are chucking at.


So in order to really help - be pedantic with you current rods or cheaper rods while on the boats and wading. and buy the best reel you can afford - then when you get home sell it and recoupe some of the outlay.

I may also add I have no time for those that claim that these "super expensive reels arnt worth it" and then take a real reel to a far off factory and get them to try and replicate it without the research and development that proper reel companies put in.
Saltwater flyfishing is the frontier of the sport - even with the absolute best out there your gear will sometimes fail. You are pushing the boundaries all the time with salt gear and you really will be calling on all your fishing luck if you go with sub standard gear.
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Lets start at the top:
I make the assumption that you are fishing fit and can cast big flies already in the wind - from your pike fishing.

When are you leaving?

Ok so we need to be realistic for what you can actually afford - whats you total budget for rod and reel.

Where are you going. Will you be wading or boat fishing primarily.

thanks for the very focused response @fryfly it's just the sort of "from the trenches" perspective that I needed - and made me laugh too. it seems you have direct experience of Pfleugers not being quite up to it which surprises me but you can't argue with 2 dead in 2 fish! What fish were they?

a 2008 thread in here had 2 people saying that they were happy with their Okuma Airframe for bones, so from that perspective maybe I can stick with that for the #9 rod and the smaller stuff (Jacks, Snook) and just get one serious reel for the #12. That bumps my budget up a bit.

So, if I want one reel taking a WF11F and 250-300m of 50lb gel spun - perhaps with a quick change spare spool - is there anything cheaper than Tibor Riptide, Nautilus NV, Abel that you would consider? Has the Orvis Mach proved reliable in your experience? Others that I don't know at all but that people discuss are Bauer, Tioga.

@fryfly didn't see your last questions when I just replied

yes & yes. wind is never fun but my double hauling technique is OK and I can launch a 6" wind resistant fly a measured 27m on a #9 pike taper full floating line. people might think it's a bit wimpy, but sometimes I choose to wear a wristband for casting the #9 all day with big flies because I have a previous (unrelated) shoulder injury which needed reconstructive surgery and this relieves the pressure on it.

if it happens, it will be Dec-March in the Southern hemisphere.

my budget is flexible except that my business has brought almost no money in for 2 years and I'm living very cheaply on savings at the moment - so think of it as a very tight but slightly elastic constraint

my main problem is that I read Lefty Kreh's book on Saltwater Flyfishing a few years ago and have since become slightly obsessed with the possibility of some of my favourite things >> big beautiful fish that pull hard - fly fishing - tropical surroundings & warm water << all converging in one activity. Have done some on my own in Brazil catching what they call Robalo (Snook in the US) and it was fantastic fun on an #8 and #9 so now I want MORE.

I will be going to a part of Brazil that is probably completely unexplored for fly fishing. A local big game captain has given me evidence of big Tarpon in the area and told me that "no one knows how to catch them". Except that is for an old guy with a hand line that was pulled out of his dugout canoe and then towed around for 2 hours recently by one that turned out to be 79kg or about 173lb in old money. And lure fishermen that occasionally feel a very strong jerk, see something enormous jump out of the water and then retrieve what is left of their plug.

I am planning boat fishing more, but money will again be a constraint. Hoping to rent a place there for a couple of months and get to know the area, perhaps some wading or even hire a rowing boat for more sheltered areas. Honest answer is I don't know until I get there.

Why not look at hiring gear for the trip?

__________________
A forum post should be like a skirt. Long enough to cover the subject matter, but short enough to remain interesting.

I second FryFly's remarks, I think if you are going to fish for big fish in salt water the reel is the most important bit of kit. If you buy a good used one and then sell it when you get back it should cost you almost nothing in the long run. I recently bought an unused Ross Reels 10 to 12# reel with spare spool for 150 quid from an auction site online, so if you are patient and persistent there are some bargains out there.
If you have a tackle shop that does hire out gear for overseas trips that could also be a good idea.
Please when you get to Brazil, take lots of pics and post them here when you get back, I would love to see them.
All the best.
Mike.

Is a logical suggestion.
contact Sportfish at Winforton,
Contact Us - Sportfish
speak to Danny North.
will keep you right! hire or buy.
regards
bert

@mjb because I don't think there is a fly fishing shop - or possibly even another fly fisherman - within 500 miles of the place! For those who don't know, Brazil is slightly larger than Australia and each state there would swallow the UK, some of them many times over. I'll be on my own and hoping to take spares of everything I need.

I'm happy to spend money where needed and especially if the stuff is quality and lasts, but I am offended at the price of some fly reels (and tackle in general, actually - read Steve Partons article on rod manufacture is you want to have your eyes opened about what it actually costs to produce modern gear and how the various profit margins ramp that up). You can get a top quality (made in sweden) new abu 6601 multiplier for just over £100 if you know where to look and that has so much more technology and machining in it than even the best fly reel. OK so it's not CNC machined from aluminium and anodised, but in the modern world that is no great task or expense. For £500 we should be expecting machined from Titanium I think! Now that would be both very light and completely saltwater proof (if you choose the relevant alloy). Actually I believe Hardy do something like this already but at £5k+ per reel

---------- Post added at 12:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

@mikeJt will keep an eye out on auctions, but do the lifetime warrantties on these things transfer to new owners? will definitely take pics as well - the scenery is beautiful even without the fish.

@aenoon thanks I will take a look