WFS 302 – The Click and Pawl Reel with Tim Gelinas from Farlex Reels

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/302

Presented By: Dette Flies, Trxstle, Reyr Gear, LakeLady Rods

Sponsors: wetflyswing.com/sponsors

Tim Gelinas, the founder of Farlex Reels, takes us on the why behind the click and pawl reel, and the story of putting up his own reel company. We talk about the Hardy Perfect and a bunch of other contemporary and classic reels that influenced his designs. Find out how Tim came up with the name Farlex for his reels and what his favorite reels are aside from his own. 

Tim saw some problems with the reels he used before so, with his designs, he wants to solve most of those problems and make Farlex your reel of preference.

Click and Pawl Reel Show Notes with Tim Gelinas

03:51 – Tim’s first gear was a Pfueger Medalist and a Pfueger graphite fly rod

09:08 – Tim’s catch rate increased when he started using a Hardy Perfect click and pawl reel – he explains why

16:02 – Hardy is the first reel manufacturer or reels in the 1800s in England – from an American standpoint, Edward Vom Hofe is the first premium fly reel with the drag

18:28 – One of Tim’s favorite early reels was the Hardy Silex Multiplier

18:41 – The name Farlex was a mashup of Farlow and Silex

29:33 – The Orvis CFO is a click-and-pawl reel

32:49 – Tim used to work for an arms company making rifle and pistol barrels

47:13 – Dingley was another reel manufacturer from the past – Dingley used to work for Hardy then eventually went on his own

47:39 – Saracione makes drag and click and pawl reels

47:47 – Olson Reels makes click and pawl reels

47:54 – Mark Shamburg from Confluence Rods makes click and pawl reels

48:04 – Chris Henshaw from UK makes click and pawl reels – like Hardy perfect knockoffs (1912 version)

48:21 – Wayne Petrevan reel

56:00 – Tim makes heavy brassy reels for bamboo spey rods

1:02:03 – Tim’s favorite steelhead fly is a Hobo Spey – it’s his go-to fly in a variety of colors

Photo courtesy of Matthew LeBret

1:03:01 – Todd Hirano was on the podcast at WFS 239

1:05:54 – Tim mentions some books resources we can dig into

1:06:20 – Check out Tim’s YouTube channel here 

Click and Pawl Reel Conclusion with Tim Gelinas

Tim Gelinas told the story of putting up his own reel company. We talked about the Hardy Perfect and a bunch of other contemporary and classic reels that influenced his designs. We found out how Tim came up with the name Farlex for his reels and what his favorite reels are aside from his own.

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/302