[Bignap]

I purchased one of the new Hardy Bougle reels last spring, one if my favorite Hardy's by far, beautiful looking reel and it performs great. While up on the Salmon river this past Monday, I was fishing in some pretty cold temps 22 in the am but never got above 28 in the afternoon. Ice wasn't much of a problem unless the reel got wet. As I was casting suddenly my spool flew off the reel as did the winding plate and handle.... Wtf I freaked as I was in waist deep water and watch my handle sink and rool down river as my spool did the same rolling down with my running line flying off. Ugh I had to go in and grab both as I tried to use my Feet but I didn't want to destroy the finish on the reel so up to my armpit I go hand first lol it sucked ! I did get both back thank god. Once I got out if the river I noticed the center screw, it had broken off at the head and snapped! Has anyone experienced this in cold temps? As I couldn't believe it broke in half.

 

[SLSS]

I haven't, but could see the spool freezing to the screw with enough ice to sheer it.

On a related note, I had my whole Taupo come flying off the seat and drop into the D on the first fit of the season. It sat on the surface about 5 ft downstream, the immersion blender affect of the line sit spooling off from the running fish seems to keep it at the surface, til I could inch down and grab it, just as it got to the back.

Same thing happened next day, and I realized the rings were rattling loose on the cuorduroyed road.

 

[middlecalf]

Has this reel been used in salt water?

 

[Mikeps73]

LHW or RHW

Do you have the reel configured as LHW or RHW?

I find, when setup as LHW, pressure on side plate will unscrew spool and put pressure on screw holding in spool. If screw is loose, whole thing has come undone for me.

You have ensured spool nut was tightened correctly? it is opposite to a normal thread.

Mike.

 

[Hardyreels]

Mike is on the right track here Frank,

The Bougle is made like a Perfect. Unless you were to find an old Perfect that was built as a left hand retrieve reel the spindles are counter threaded for right hand use. In other words when used as a right hand retrieve reel the screw that binds the reels guts together is constantly being tightened. With the new R/L conversion reels (those without line guards) when you set up for left handed use the screw is turning in the 'loosening' direction. We have 2 choices for the sake of avoiding wwhat you describe, change to RHW, or every so often check the screw head with either the correct size screw driver blade or a coin if in a pinch to be sure it has not became loose.

I would be happier if this wasn't the reality because I love winding with my left hand.......... Glad you were able to gather all your parts buddy.

Ard

 

[middlecalf]

How'd the screw get "snapped" then (instead of just unscrewing and falling out)?

 

[Hardyreels]

My Bad, I missed the 'snapped' part...............

Since I have no idea as to weather or not the spool has ever been removed & refitted, I have no clue as to the history of the tightening torque applied. If the spool has never been removed I would say the screw was of poor temper. I was wrongly thinking that the screw had simply came out and citing reasons behind this occurrence.

I have managed not to have this happen with my perfect reels but have heard of it happening to others. Years ago the screw which holds the S handle on my Cascapedia came loose while I was landing a salmon. That led to a bit of confusion and I found that because I am set for left hand use the spool is turning in the direction which will loosen the screw. I do keep a check on that one also now.

Not having any bearing on the broken screw but recently one of the springs in my 2011 4 1/4 Perfect just up and broke. I have been told that there was a tempering issue with the springs on the new reels. It is possible that this problem with the screw will come down to a bad screw.

 

[yard-dart2]

4" Bougle spool mount screw

My MKIV Bougle appears to be made LHW but I turned it around (tension adj. knob is now at rt. front of reel) and after two years the spool mount screw fell out but the spool never unscrewed. In fact it was very tight to remove. I purchased new screw from Hardy and now I check it periodically. Is your reel set up for left hand retrieve?

I purchased one of the new Hardy Bougle reels last spring, one if my favorite Hardy's by far, beautiful looking reel and it performs great. While up on the Salmon river this past Monday, I was fishing in some pretty cold temps 22 in the am but never got above 28 in the afternoon. Ice wasn't much of a problem unless the reel got wet. As I was casting suddenly my spool flew off the reel as did the winding plate and handle.... Wtf I freaked as I was in waist deep water and watch my handle sink and rool down river as my spool did the same rolling down with my running line flying off. Ugh I had to go in and grab both as I tried to use my Feet but I didn't want to destroy the finish on the reel so up to my armpit I go hand first lol it sucked ! I did get both back thank god. Once I got out if the river I noticed the center screw, it had broken off at the head and snapped! Has anyone experienced this in cold temps? As I couldn't believe it broke in half.

 

[sinktip]

The "word" on the old Perfects was that if you flipped the pawls and used it as a LHW that the action of reeling in a hot fish would back the spool up against the screw and snap it off. Maybe so but I have been fishing pre-war perfects for many years and have yet to have it happen. Nor have I had a friend, some of which also fish these reels LHW, had it happen. Not saying it hasn't but I do believe it a very rare occurrence.

What I do know is the old screws were nickel silver and easily snapped. I have seen more than one that snapped off because the owner didn't realize they were left hand threaded. I can't speak to the new Bougle screws but you might have just got a bad one.

 

[NVswitch]

I had this conversation with Bill Archuletta about using a Hardy Perfect or Bougle in a left handed retrieve. He explained to me that even if one switches the pawls properly, the reels are not designed for left hand retrieve. The holding screw is too small compared to the size of threads on the winding plate and is set up properly for right hand retrieve. if a fish takes off and one is holding the handle in a left handed retrieve manner, the winding plate can come loose and start to unscrew. This forces against the holding screw causing the small holding screw to break off. He mentioned that this design "flaw" keeps him fairly busy with repairing these broken screws. You can contact him to get your reel fixed.
I checked it out on my Bougle MKIV set up left handed and can totally understand how that happens. So one needs to be super observant if using it with a left hand retrieve.
Thinking of selling my Bougle and getting a Speyco.

 

[Bignap]

Never

Has this reel been used in salt water?

I never use any of my Spey gear in the salt, As a matter of fact I've only use that on the Deschutes & in the Salmon River

 

[Bignap]

Lhw

Do you have the reel configured as LHW or RHW?

I find, when setup as LHW, pressure on side plate will unscrew spool and put pressure on screw holding in spool. If screw is loose, whole thing has come undone for me.

You have ensured spool nut was tightened correctly? it is opposite to a normal thread.

Mike.

I have it set up LHW but what UR saying makes alot of sense to me now, Because the screw was broken off inside once I put the sideplate back on and wound it backwards it tightened it back up once I was off the river.

 

[Bignap]

Mike is on the right track here Frank,

The Bougle is made like a Perfect. Unless you were to find an old Perfect that was built as a left hand retrieve reel the spindles are counter threaded for right hand use. In other words when used as a right hand retrieve reel the screw that binds the reels guts together is constantly being tightened. With the new R/L conversion reels (those without line guards) when you set up for left handed use the screw is turning in the 'loosening' direction. We have 2 choices for the sake of avoiding wwhat you describe, change to RHW, or every so often check the screw head with either the correct size screw driver blade or a coin if in a pinch to be sure it has not became loose.

I would be happier if this wasn't the reality because I love winding with my left hand.......... Glad you were able to gather all your parts buddy.

Ard

Ard yeah I think Mike hit it on the head here! Makes sense now! I take such good care of my gear I need to start checking the screw make sure everything's tight! When I find the right Perfect its going to be RHW. I appreciate u guys sharing UR knowledge

 

[SLSS]

It never occurred to me you were reeling incorrectly.:lildevl::lildevl:

 

[Greendrake2013]

Ard, can this also happened on a hardy marquis salmon 2?

 

[SLSS]

It shouldn't be an issue with the latch on the Marquis.

 

[Tubefly]

I have two RHW 4" Bougle MKIVs with snapped off screw heads and no idea how either of them broke. I didn't notice until taking the spools off at home after fishing to dry them out. It seems to me the screws are just plain weak to a fault and that the heads may be a bit too big in relation to the threaded body. Ultimately it doesn't appear to matter much as I've been fishing them like this for 3 and 5 yrs now with no issues. That said it would be nice to have them back to looking normal again and have been considering getting them fixed

 

[klickrolf]

The newest "Heritage" model Bougle has the same check as a marquis salmon so it's completely switchable right to left, though it has a screw instead of a latch. The spool screw is left hand thread which means it tightens anti-clockwise, opposite to almost all screws we use day to day. I've never fished a Bougle but have landed more than a few fish, including chinook on an old 4.25" perfect with everything working as a left hand reel, except the screw. Never an issue for me and it's never come loose either, except when I put a nickel to it.

If you use a reel like these you should never put pressure on the winding plate with a fish on, put pressure on the spool, either the line on the spool or the inside of the spool drum itself. The screw will hold if you pressure the spool but pressure on the winding plate might be a different story.

 

[Black Zonky]

If you use a reel like these you should never put pressure on the winding plate with a fish on, put pressure on the spool, either the line on the spool or the inside of the spool drum itself. The screw will hold if you pressure the spool but pressure on the winding plate might be a different story.

This^. Don't hold the handle when the fish is running and don't press the winding plate.

 

[fish0n4evr]

How'd the screw get "snapped" then (instead of just unscrewing and falling out)?

Do you have the reel configured as LHW or RHW?

I find, when setup as LHW, pressure on side plate will unscrew spool and put pressure on screw holding in spool. If screw is loose, whole thing has come undone for me.

You have ensured spool nut was tightened correctly? it is opposite to a normal thread.

Mike.

I have it set up LHW but what UR saying makes alot of sense to me now, Because the screw was broken off inside once I put the sideplate back on and wound it backwards it tightened it back up once I was off the river.

Not the first time reading about snapped screws here and I'm betting this is the cause of it. These reels are convertible - however the screw is still reverse-thread. Take a close look at your reels. You'll see that the spool mounts onto the shaft and the screw binds against a raised surface on the shaft, not against the spool. When all is nice and tight, the only pressure on the screw is what you apply to tighten it down. But when winding right hand even on a slightly loose screw - the spool does back-off binding against the head of the screw keeping it from falling out but eventually snapping off the head.

Keep the screws tight and don't apply pressure to a fish by way of the winding plate. The spool face is bowl-shaped just for that reason - so that you can palm the spool when you need to. Also - pressure the fish with the rod and wind line as you bring the rod down instead of winching with the reel.