Why do they put disk drags on trout reels?

[Fishin Technician]

I have never needed a disc drag to subdue a trout and yes we are talking good ones in fast water, I use a disc on my 10wt and 12 wt, but even Atlantic Salmon , Steelhead and Saltwater fish were always caught using spring and pawl back before disc drags were around...another marketing ploy or what? I just cannot get over how space age the simple sport of fly fishing has become F/T

 

[rford]

I think its economics. I love my spring /pawl reels. However in todays market place, there seems to be only two economic options for these type of reels.
Inexpensive - re: phlueger
ReelExpensive Hardy and many mom and pop machinist type boutiques reel makers.

It seems as you said, Everything in between has some sort of drag. The bottom line, it is very expensive to engineer and manufacture high quality spring pawls vs. a lite weight drag reel.

The larger your quarry the more dependant, modern anglers have become on drag systems because they have never had the pleasure of fishing with a high quality spring pawl that can take the type of beating that a large Atlantic Salmon would put on this type of reel, nor have I.

My spring pawl experience ends at a 5 wt reel and 20 inch range trout, and I have fought fish on both s/p and drag and there is no comparison.

I hope to aquire a quality s/p larger reel next time I am lucky enough to be fishing for large fresh water quarry.

One other thing. I believe with the continued popularity of Salt Water fishing, that is why there are more larger Drag system reels. I have no dout that a well made s/p reel could handle the larger game, but not sure if it could withstand the inevitable corosion that come with even the best protected and cleaned gear.
A $ 2000.00 s/p 9 - 12 wt reel would be a blast on a small tuna or bill fish.
But it might break your heart as the insides rotted away!

ralph

 

[Pete]

Marketing:

Once one manufacturer furnished a small high end reel with a disc drag, all the others had to do so as well.....or be considered second class.

Fishermen are optimists, they want to be ready for that 20+ lb trout, "just in case".

 

[Fishin Technician]

rford,
All my S&P reels are Hardy made C.F.O.'s from a 1-2-3 up to a VI / 4 " diameter it holds a DT 10 with 300 yards of backing, you can always engage both pawls for a "little" more stopping power...it is a screamer with a fresh in from the lake Chinnook or a Gaspe' Atlantic F/T

 

[rford]

I have noticed however that the strength of the double pawl is not always what it is cracked up to be.

For instance, i lied before about having only up to 5 wts. I actually bought a Hrdy Sunbeam rated for 9 wt off the internet. What I did not realize was this was made for proper englishman to rig up to a 20 foot long spey rod, to dangle worms for Bream. The wt of the reel was only there to counter balance the rod, not to angle fish normaly suited to a 9wt like salmon.

 

[Fishin Technician]

that's why the "creator of fly fisherman" gave us two hands, one to hold the rod and the other to palm the reel! F/T

 

[EB WADER]

I have never fished for trout with a reel that has a disk drag and have never had a problem. Gary Lafontaine in his book " The Dry Fly,New Angles " , revealed that he only used single action reels that cost less than $20 bucks. He wrote that his friends use to goof on him because of his cheap reels. He said in the book that in trout fishing situations in the U.S. a single action reel is all you need. Expensive disk drag reels will land you no more fish than a single action reel. What they do catch is more fishermen.$200 or $300 reels look good to the other anglers you meet astream,but the trout don't give a darn what you have on your rod. If that's good enough for Gary (may God rest his soul ) , it's good enough for me. My reels cost $19.99 from Cabelas and they work great.

 

[Fishin Technician]

It used to be quoted " a fly reel has no purpose other than to hold a flyline".....amazing what re-inventing the wheel can accomplish or cost! F/T

 

[RickW]

On a couple of tv shows that I've seen I noticed that Joe Humphreys uses a Pfluger Medalist on occasion.

A couple of years ago, I picked up a couple of little Redington click pawl reels on close out (abt. $50 each). One I use on a 2wt rod and the other I use on a 3wt. They are two of my favorite reels.

 

[DoubleHaul]

Medalist with rim control is really pretty nice. It does have an adjustable drag system that can be supplemented with the palm. I have one on each of my bamboo rods. Old school- good stuff

 

[TightLoops]

I think this is all relative to the trout you are catching and where you are fishing. Small streams and most trout I agree you don't need it but lose a huge rainbow on the Missouri because your finger let off the rim for a second as you were walking back out of a riff. Or break a fish off fishing still water with 7x with the startup intertia from the drag and you realize pretty quick that a good drag can go a long way. Although they are made off shore you can pick up a decent disk drag reel for under 150.00. Just my thoughts...