Round Holes

My buddy, Steve once said, "classic reels have round holes." Yes they do. And, my favorite reels through the years have had round holes...they just look "right" to my eye. A classic reel also has three other factors that cause me to consider them a classic: good looking design; quality build; and performs as expected. I prefer the contemporary classics versus vintage and my favorite of favorites have a solid back plate and a vented spool.

There have been some nice classic reels on my fly rods through the years. Some of my favorite reels in photos below...I consider them all to be classics, regardless of when they were built:

Click on photo for larger view