Farlows reels

Dave Westburg

Dave Westburg

Fish the classics
Forum Supporter
I’ve been expanding my collection of classic farlows reels. Well made, great clickers, heavy enough to balance bamboo rods and cheaper than the equivalent Hardy. The 3” Grenabys are nice with a 4-5 weight line. The 3.5” Grenabys are great with a 6 weight line. The 3.75 and 4” narrow ambassadors and presidents work for 7 weight spey and switch lines. The 4” wide and 4.25” wide reels are for big spey lines.

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Dave Westburg said:
I’ve been expanding my collection of classic farlows reels. Well made, great clickers, heavy enough to balance bamboo rods and cheaper than the equivalent Hardy. The 3” Grenabys are nice with a 4-5 weight line. The 3.5” Grenabys are great with a 6 weight line. The 3.75 and 4” narrow ambassadors and presidents work for 7 weight spey and switch lines. The 4” wide and 4.25” wide reels are for big spey lines.

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Handsome reels, Dave. I am curious what the insides look like.
Are they pretty tough? I pretty much threw a Medalist with an RC spool on it onto the gravel parking lot, accidentally and clumsily of course (before putting it on backwards to add insult to injury), but other than a spot of rash to add still more character, it’s no worse for wear. Perfectly functional, and resilient.
 
Matt B said:
Handsome reels, Dave. I am curious what the insides look like.
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Here are pics of the inside of a 4' grenaby, 3.5" grenaby and 3" grenaby. Very simple clicker systems which work for left or right hand wind. The drag on the Grenabys is not adjustable. The Ambassador and President reels have an adjustable drag which is controlled by a knob.

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If you are patient, the Grenaby, Ambassador and President reels can be picked up for less than $100 each.

I am not as enamored of the Farlows Cobra and Serpent reels which were the generation of Farlow reels which succeeded the Ambassadors and Presidents. They were made by Sharpes. Pretty sure the Grenaby, Ambassador and President reels were made by JW Young for Farlows. JW Young was an outstanding reel manufacturer.

The made in the US Pflueger reels were terrific. They were the first reels I fished with. The Japanese and Chinese Pflueger reels weren't the same quality.
 
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I put my farlows on Sharpes spliced bamboo fly rods. Have 9', 10', 12', 13' and 14' Sharpes spliced bamboo rods. They are switch and spey casting machines and excel at casting longer belly spey lines. I use the Rio Midspey, Barrio switch, Bridge Wintertide and Carron spey lines.IMG_1256.JPG
 
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