[wade]

Hello everyone, I'm brand new to this board, a friend told me about it as I was looking at different reels for my new 9 Wt 14' speyrod. Can folks that have an opinion give their view on the Tioga reel I'm looking at? My issue is price mainly, but I want a lifetime reel. I would go to a good click and pawl if I would save enough money. I''m needing to stay below $200. Please feel free to tell about your reel if its in that price range but isn't a Tioga. I looked at and learned from the opening sectiion of this website on different reels but it didn't mention Tiogas.

I wish I'd known about this site sooner.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[2HandTheSalt]

The Tetons & Tiogas are excellent reels. Don't think you can beat them for the money.

I would skip the LA and get the regular arbor for spey applications. Big spey lines take up a lot of space and I think you wil be glad for the extra backing capacity.

 

[idmtgun]

I'm will 2hander. I've got two of the 12's regular arbor and I love'em for the cost. Some of my friends use them as backup's down in Christmas Island for the Ulu's ( Trevally) and haven't had one break yet.

 

[sinktip]

Great reels. The 12 LA will handle plenty of backing and either a 7/8 Grandspey or a 9/10 XLT without trouble.

 

[fredaevans]

Have two 12la's I use for lighter spey rods.

Haven't missed a beat since the day I took them out of the box.

Touch of oil, and you're good to go.
fae

 

[DLoop]

Ditto

Agreeing with what all have said here. Great/solid reel. Don't miss what the 2HandTheSalt wrote, the regular arbor will hold more than the 'large' arbor

 

[andrewb]

In late August, I got the regular arbor Tioga 12 to use with a 13' 8/9 Redington & it is indeed a solid reel considering the $$$. Only two Willamette River steelhead so far, but the combo handled them without a hitch. This reel came highly recommended by a friend who has fished all the big rivers, pacific salmon in saltwater, etc., & has never had any trouble with them.

Re spool capacity, I have the SA Mastery tri-tip version in 9 wt & the regular spool is just about right with the floating head deployed. The LA version wouldn't have enough room.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

 

[flyfisha1]

I'm also looking at that reel (the Tioga 12) for my two-handed 9-wt.; it's between that model and the Bauer JM5, which is a little more expensive. I love Bauer reels and fish them almost exclusively, and will likely go with the JM5, but keep us all posted as to which reel you end up purchasing.

 

[Bob Pauli]

Teton/Tioga

I enjoy fishing my Teton LA reel. A couple of years ago at Christmas Island, a bad ass trevaly headed for a coral head. I had no option but to crank the Teton drag full on--and stopped that son of a gun just short of his destination, and landed him!

One potential problem to watch is the drag which depends on a very small leaf spring attached to the spool. The leaf engages the drag in the frame and if the leaf bends out of positon by as little as 1/16 of an inch, the reel free spools. This happened to me striper fishing in the San Francisco Bay Delta. The fix is to remove the spool, bend the leaf into positon and return to fishing. I always carry a spare leaf when fishing the Teton.

 

[wade]

Thanks everyone for your help. I ended up buying the Tioga #10. Looking at the specs it should hold plenty of line for a 9 Wt, at least the DT which I'm starting out with to learn on. Bob, I'll check out that spring you mentioned.

Kevin

 

[wade]

I ended up spooling up with a 9DT for practice. A lot of you already knew, but the #10 isn't large enough for a speyline plus enough backing, so when I buy a speyline later I'll need another reel. The #10 Tioga will hold the 9DT and 100 yds of 30# backing, hopefully ideal for learning to cast, and sufficient for most fishing on the swing.

Kevin

 

[squach]

Hey Wade, You might want to check out Okuma reels. I have an Okuma Integrity 10/11. I sold my Tioga and bought it for $52.00 at Sportco. Their also on e-bay quite often. I used the money I saved to upgrade my rod. The I 10/11 holds my 6/7 mid-spey and plenty of backing and is a nice balance on my TnT 1307. A retired friend of mine caught hundreds of chum last year with his and to date hasn't had a problem either.
Worth a look!!
Scott