It’s winter, so as you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of fiddling with my gear to get everything ready for when things warm up come Spring. I’ve got that 4-weight bamboo rod to play with, have acquired some new really fancy reels through a brand partnership, and even bought a “new to me” tenkara rod that I haven’t specifically written about here, but did use and post a photo of already.
And I haven’t even made the annual pilgrimage to the 2025 Fly Fishing Show yet. Oh, but Atlanta, I’ll see you shortly.
As I’ve been taking stock of what I have and don’t, I’ve been batting around what reel I want to pair with the bamboo rod. I’ve always wanted a Hardy reel, and prefer “The Featherweight” for my style of fishing. But for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to pull the $500 trigger. Especially for a rod I’d categorize as “budget ‘boo.”
Enter the Hardy Clones
I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on three makes of “vintage” clones of Hardy Featherweights. In no particular order they are:
The Heddon 300
The Berkley 530
The Eagle Claw EC-10
(There’s also a Daiwa 700, but I don’t dig the cosmetics as much as the other three).
I’ve learned a ton about them between deep diving really old fly fishing forums, like HERE and HERE, as well as this excellent 2017 blog post from Trouterspace.
Now these are NOT the quality, fit or finish or an authentic Hardy Featherweight. They weren’t made in England, but rather Asia, mostly in Taiwan or Japan. But they are pretty damn similar in spec, and I’ve even read online that you can buy the actual Hardy springs and pawls, swap them into these reels, and get the Hardy-like “purr” from them. Sounds like a fun project if I can get one for a good price.
As of right now, I think I’m targeting the Berkley first as the gunmetal color sort of matches the hardware on my bamboo rod (and the “heart” logo is fun), the Eagle Claw second because the bronze is just drop dead gorgeous, and the Heddon third. Although I probably won’t be too picky.
I’ve been keeping an eye out on eBay, and have found listings ranging anywhere from $50-$150, depending on the wear, tear, or defect. If I could get a relatively clean one around $75, I think I’d pull the trigger.
If you have any experience with these reels, or happen to know where I might find one at a good price, I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Michael
I have a few questions about the bamboo fly rod you own. What is its length and weight? I assume the Heddon fly reel you’ve featured is the smallest of the fly reels shown in your post. What is the diameter of that reel? I would use a light fly reel with a small arbor size. I have two 7 1/2-foot fly rods: one is a two-weight, and the other is a three-weight, both paired with small arbor reels, which makes for exceptional balance.
Owning a bamboo fly rod is a unique experience for any fly angler, and I know you will enjoy using it for years to come. Thanks for sharing!
The bamboo rod I have is a 7.5′ 4-weight. The reels I’m looking at are 2 7/8″ and rated for 3/4 weight lines and seemed to be the consensus in reading some things online. But I won’t know how it balances until I put it on there. I have a really small clicker reel that’s rated for 2/3 weight lines right now that’s a bit too small for the rod, so I think something like this reel will balance things out better.
I’ve always wanted to try a bamboo rod. This particular one isn’t from a known maker, it’s a rather inexpensive import, but I figure it’ll give me a feel for if this is a rabbit hole I really want to go down. I tend to go down a lot of them already…
Michael,
I recently went to the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival outside Richmond,VA in small town called Doswell,VA. A seller there had used Hardy reels at amazing prices. They ranged from $200 to
$220 dollars. I carefully looked over the reels and someone took really good care of their reels.
I purchased the Featherweight reel for $190 which I felt was a steal. I will use this for my 7’9″ 3 pc.
4/5 wt. Sweetwater rod. I purchased that on ebay for a great price as well. If you need the name of the seller I can dig around and find it for you if you are interested in a used Hardy reel in excellent shape.
Brand new bamboo rods and new Hardy reels are now just too expensive. The gentleman that sold me the rod also threw in an extra handle that fit the first two sections making it a 5′ 11″ rod. In a way I got 2 rods for the price of one. The best of luck in fishing 2025 year. I calling this 2025 “The Year of the Brook Trout.”
Take care,
Mike Shelton
Wow! You got the hookup! If you happen to remember the name of that vendor, I’d love to look them up! $190 for a working Featherweight is a steal. Totally down with ’25 being “The Year of the Brook Trout” as well.
Great job cleaning the “new” fly reel. I have a feeling it will pair well with the bamboo fly rod.
Hope so! If not, it’ll certainly look good on a shelf. Or give me the impetus to find a NEW rod to pair it with. 😉