Bill,
I've had a couple Marryat reels for my 5wts for over a year. I spent
quite a bit of time shopping and settled on Marryat because of the
smooth drag and that they can be rigged to operated silently (I
really don't like reels that click, especially those that do so in
both directions.)
Indeed, their drag is a real gem, easily handling everything from
small Snoqualmie cutts (no drag at all) to slowing down Lake Lenice
lunkers (drag set about halfway.)
The only downside I've found is that the drag adjustment knob is
quite small and it's easy to set it too tight in haste when first
starting to play an unexpectedly large fish. I lost a hog at Rocky
Ford this way before learning to pre-set the drag after pulling out
all the line I needed to cast with.
However, if I were shopping for 5wt reels again, I'd probably not buy
Marryat. For the price of one Marryat 56 (about $200), I could get
two of the new Loomis Adventure reels in the same size ($100 each,
extra spools for $50). Same sweet drag, much bigger adjustment knob.
They do click, but only one way.
I'd also look hard at the new Reddingtons. I recently bought a Large
Arbor 7/8 from Al at Swede's in Woodinville for $175. Their smaller
5/6 regular arbors run about $125.
Kent Lufkin
>Wondering if anyone has any experience with this company and its
>products - they're out of Bellevue........
>
>Thanks,
>bb
