Aaron fly reel

[Captain Spike]

A friend has just given me a bag of fly fishing gear containing some books, some thingies that I've no idea what they are and a beautiful aluminium fly reel with the markings "Aaron 4-5" it's numbered and made in the USA. It looks expensive, has anyone seen one of these reels?

[penn2]

Well i found one little snippet on a Aaron reel.
They are hand machined/made ,if its got a drag its probabley
NYLATRON COMPRESSION DRAG SYSTEM
they are a top of the line reel,seems alot use them for big game saltwater and would say they are expensive.
looks a dam good reel.
found one place what sells them but doesn't have a web page but has email address

1877 new york avenue
huntington station
ny

e-mail campsite@aol.com
you could e-mail them for some more info.
sorry but thats all i could find about them

[Captain Spike]

It does have a nice drag but I can't work out how to take the spool off so that I can look at it!

[ickypimp]

post a picture please...

[Captain Spike]

post a picture please...

Here it is. The knob is a drag adjusting knob but I can't quite work it out as the handle turns when the reels is giving line but the drag doesn't make it any more difficult to wind line in. The pictures don't do it justice, it looks much nicer in the flesh.

[penn2]

if the centre doesn't push in ,try undoing the drag all the way[might act like a clamp on the spool,otherwise?????????????

[Captain Spike]

if the centre doesn't push in ,try undoing the drag all the way[might act like a clamp on the spool,otherwise?????????????

The centre does push in and makes the drag knob push away from the back of the reel against a spring but the spool doesn't release. I also tried unscrewing the drag knob all the way but it doesn't want to go. It's not a complicated reel so there must be a simple technique. I'm not very good at fly fishing but I'll try it out. It might be a bit overkill against the trout in my local lake.

[Captain Spike]

Success! I backed the drag knob off all the way and then pulled the knob outwards and twist left. It was just a bit tight. It's got a dinky little felt washer drag that bears on the reverse of the spool. I put a tiny dab of Shimano drag grease on it and it's super smooth.

[penn2]

life can only get easier now!

[Captain Spike]

life can only get easier now!

Yes and no. I now have to actually catch a fish and with my standard of fly casting I need to meet a trout who's so depressed that he feels the need to commit suicide.