Loop traditional fly reels

[wasque]

Anybody have any strong opinions about the Loop traditional flyreel. Looking to use it for New England and bonefishing with a 9-10wt line.

[peanuts]

My advice for what it's worth is don't touch it for Bones My fishing buddy bought one for a trip to the Bahamas and hated it the drag iis next to usless.
hw ended using my spare reel for the rest of his trip. he hit a large Bonefish or something else we never did see it. the reel only hold 150yds of backing and no drag worth speaking of when the fish left with 3 turns of backing it was a case of clamp down hard and brake off.
Look @ the Ross Cayon big game 5 a far better reel for $40 more. just my thoughts.

[Loopy]

I disagree. I have the 3W and think it is a good maatch for bones on a 9 or 10 weight. It carries 200yds of gelspun and 100yds of if you want to top it off with a color change.

There is no drag but a method to tighten the spool, to prevent over running. It has a huge palming surface which is large enough to stop a bone from running straight into the magroves. It sets the standard in large arbors and has its large capacity because of its width. It naturally has a very fast retreive.

I'm always interested inpicking up a spare. What reel and how much is your friend asking?

[PeteV]

Amongst the collection I've got one. Its an odd duck, looks weird, large arbor, no drag, no click, ... but its kind of fun. I keep a floating line on it and it balances nicely with an older SAGE RPLX. Its the rig I use for tossing poppers when I see stuff on the surface. I've hooked some nice big bluefish and the reel had no trouble at all.
I've never hooked a bonefish so I can't comment but a 39" bluefish (biggest last year) couldn't beat the reel.
Only problem for me is the rollers get gunked up with crusted salt...So I'm always trying to keep the thing washed & cleaned ... its more high maintenance than my other reels but its still pretty decent. Its an "acquired taste" and definitely not for everyone.

[Limpe]

Well,
I also have some good expierence with those Loop-reels, just got back from a bone-fishing trip and had a great time!

In my opinion the Loop's rule since they are not very complicated of construction, exactly what you want when fishing in the (extreme) salt water.

The lack of a slippage or break system is more than compensated by the ability of braking the spool with the palm of your hand, better feeling as well..for the targeted species that is, for bigger fish i'd use something else
Maintenance is pretty easy as well, just put it in the sink after fishing, rinse it with clean water, dry it....the salt just flushes off, i usually put a tiny drop of oil on the bearings before i go fishing..maybe a small dab of grease ..

I think it's light, easy to maintain, and altough the opinions may vary here i think it's a great looking reel.
And the lack of having a slipping/braking system has got one big advantage when fishing in the foreign overseas ( with most likely not many flyfishing-tackle-shops around) it doesn't break down that easy.....

I used a 3W Tradional on a #9-10 weight rod,with a #10 weight floating line and around 200 meters of 30 Lbs backing...
excellent combo, looking great!

http://img34.photobucket.com/albums/v103/limpe/Loop_3W_after_action.jpg

So, if you consider seeling the 3W, send me an e-mail and i'll be happpy to buy it from you !
caferacer69@hotmail.com