In fly fishing, the reel is far less important than in coarse or sea fishing. The reel plays no part in fly casting and, for most of the time, is just a convenient place to recover and store the fly line and backing that are not in immediate use. For most trout fishing, a simple ratchet fly reel is quite adequate. The picture changes when fishing for large, powerful species, when the fly reel takes on an important role in playing the fish. For big fish, pick a good quality fly reel with a smooth one-way drag system. This allows a running fish to take line against an even resistance, without jerks that could endanger the leader.

Choose a reel that holds your intended fly line and enough backing for the species and size of fish you’re after (for trout, at least 50 metres). Don’t buy a reel that is too big, or you’ll waste miles of backing packing out the spool. With the reel attached to the rod, the line should run straight to the bottom rod ring from the spool (from the side furthest from the rod handle). The line should not run over any of the reel cage pillars.

In terms of quality and expense, top-of-the-league fly reels are machined out of solid bars of aircraft-grade aluminium alloys. Lower down the price range are reels made from pressure die-cast alloys. At the economy end, there are perfectly functional fly reels made of various plastic composite materials.