At the show I ran into Andrew Bennett, owner of Deneki Outdoors. He told me about a reel maker in a back corner with some really interesting, old-school reels. He was into them. He also mentioned the prices, $1,200. I saw the booth, but knowing the price acted like some sort of BOTB Force-field.
Deneki put up a post about the reel. It’s a beautiful thing.
Classic
It does have a certain nautical look to me. Where have I seen this before?
Hmmm… looks familiar.
What do you guys think? Would you want one of those Saracione reels? They are probably pretty amazing to handle, maybe a tad heavier than I’d want to fish with and certainly more expensive than I’m likely to ever plop down for (excluding inflation).
Would you buy one?
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Tags: bonefishing, Deneki, fly fishing, Gear, Saracione
LOL. Never would buy one in a bazillion years. They look cool though, especially if you are a ship captain. It looks like it could handle a 16ft great white shark with no problem.
Saracione has been around for a long time. Mostly known for high end salmon and spey type reels. The drag concept is a take off on the old Penn International trolling reel drags. Too many places to hang up a fly line, too many things that could go wrong, too many ounces, and too many ducats for my tastes.
For me @ $1,200, NO! I don’t care it would stop a bus…
OTOH, weight of a reel is like the age old question, “what line should I use for my rod”. Rod, reel, and line should be a matched set!!! I fish a little bamboo and if the reel it too light I feel like Popeye and the end of the day, or at least my forearms do… 😀
FWIW, I have an old bambooo rod that I could cast to a bonefish and now that it is in my head, I will bring it to Belize the next time I go there. Hopefully sooner rather than later!!!
It looks great. And, given Saracione’s reputation, I’m sure it’s beautifully built. But if I had that much money to spend for one reel, and wanted to go old-school, I think I’d look for an old Fin Nor Wedding Cake or a Seamaster S-handle in that range. They probably aren’t as finely made, but they have real history. And for a new reel in that range (or maybe more), I’d have to grab a Mako. But I’m glad this reel exists; it’s fun to look at it.