Have you yet to form an opinion of the new Large Arbor (LA) fly reels? Are they simply another passing fad here today and gone tomorrow? Subject to the whims of the Ancient Fish Gods, it is sometimes hard to make a call one way or another. Whether or not they challenge the sales of conventional reels is anyone's guess. However, I will put money on the ULA featured in this article. It is simply too good to ever languish on a shelf. The reel is called The Force and The Waterworks of Ketchum, Idaho manufactures it. In a word, it is one fantastic reel.

Up front, the obvious question is why a large arbor? Good question! Before going further, let's re-examine the functioning of the single-action fly reel. These reels are conceptually simple having a 1:1 retrieve; said another way, one revolution of the spool releases or retrieves a length of line equal to the circumference of the spool, at that point in space and time. Thus, a full spool releases or retrieves a longer length of line than the same spool when it is almost empty.

While this sounds simple enough, and is, some of the effects may not be quite so evident ... For example, as the line is pulled off the spool — as it is during the run of a strong fish — the length of line lost decreases with each revolution of the spool. Correspondingly, as the line decreases in length with each revolution, the spool turns and the drag increases.

Don't believe it? Think about it for a moment. If a fish exerts the same force throughout its run and strips off a 10-inch length of line on the first outbound revolution of the full spool and only a 2-inch length as the line nears the bottom, you tell me ... Has the drag been increased? You bet! Like it or not, as the fish runs and line is released from the spool, the drag increases with each revolution of the spool. And this increase in drag has absolutely nothing to do with either the mechanical drag or palming the spool.

Wonder why the fish breaks off? Amazing isn't it? Not really! I much prefer to call it a phenomenon designed by the Ancient Fish Gods that most of us never considered. We all know that too much drag can be a terrible thing. Take for example, this true story...

Some years ago my father-in-law, a retired colonel, got interested in offshore fishing. At the time, I was a mere captain, and this fact adds to the

Story. While it has nothing to do with fly fishing, it has a lot to do with drag. Captains, you see, don’t tell colonels much of anything … We were puttering along off the West Coast of Florida trolling for Kings. The boat, The MaryBob, was an old but able 21-foot Century lapstrake with a Gray Marine inboard, resplendent with a fishing wheel amidships. Unfortunately, it only worked on rare occasions. This day was not one of those times … Thus, when the boat's heading required correction, the Colonel would ignore the rod holders, simply lay his rod down on the boat's after deck, and go forward to make the necessary correction at the helm. To picture this, try laying your rod on the boat's deck with line running back to the rear seat, and then up and over the boat's stern. In the MaryBob, I would guess that the distance from the rod's tip to the stern was about four feet.

About the third time the Colonel went forward, I reached down and checked his drag. It took but one tug to realize only Jaws could pull line from his reel, provided the rod was anchored in concrete. Being a good guy, I asked, "Sir, don't you think your drag setting might be a tad too heavy?" He responded, "Nope, it's just the way I like it!"

We continued along without incident for another few minutes. The Colonel started forward for yet another correction. The moment he reached the helm, the Ancient Fish Gods struck in the body of a huge fish. The reel gave no line. In less than an instant, the rod was slammed to the rear, the tip striking the stern. The rod bowed from the impact and went straight up into the air. There it paused for a moment before it shot some 50-yards astern where is landed in the boat's wake.

Sad to say no camera captured the moment …

Ah yes, the drag -- the drag is a wonderful thing. To drag or not to drag, that is the question. All we need do is define what drag we are discussing. Is it the drag that results from (1) tightening a knob, (2) palming the reel's rim, (3) the natural drag of water acting against the line or (4) the diminished reserve of the line on the spool? It is the latter phenomenon that has cost many a fly fisher many a fish. Not realizing the natural drag water puts against the line, much less the drag resulting from the diminished line on the spool, far too many fly fishers set their mechanical drag far too heavy, without any consideration of these variables.

Break-off usually occurs when the fish makes a sharp turn. Too much drag! I call it, "The Last Straw." That's why I teach my clients who fish a conventional fly reel to set the drag only to the point where they don't create a backlash when stripping line.

What to do to prevent the diminished line reserve from increasing the drag? The only option is to widen the reel's frame and spool while decreasing the spool's depth. It follows that the circumference of the wider spool allows more line to be loaded occupying less depth than on a conventional spool. However, nothing is perfect: the artificial drag induced by a rapidly turning spool is reduced, but not eliminated.

Unfortunately, this give and take in fly reel design has inherent tradeoffs. For example, a wider shallow spool usually makes laying the line during the retrieve much more difficult than it is with a narrow spool. Robbing Peter to pay Paul always has its consequences. Fortunately for all of us, most of the manufacturers trying to jump aboard the so-called ULA bandwagon haven't really changed engineering; instead, they've artificially created a Large Arbor reel by decreasing the depth of the spool. All that does, my friends, is to decrease the amount of backing the reel can carry. Personally, I will take the backing any day! For this cheat they have the gall to ask for more money!

With this background, the time has come to address the ULA known as The Force.

I've now played with and fished The Force, Model F.3X, for about ten months. I have nothing but praise for this reel. It offers most anything one could ask from a fine precision instrument: light weight, reasonable cost, simple maintenance, fantastic reliability, and user friendliness. On RAM data, this reel gets thumbs up from anyone who counts. I know of no better way of rating any reel than by applying RAM.

Reliability: The item works day after day without failure.

Availability: The item is ready to use when you are ready to go.

Maintainability: The item is simple & easy to maintain in time & effort.

When you are into evaluating any piece of equipment, RAM is the most useful tool I know to apply in determining the worth of whatever-it-is you are evaluating. By applying RAM to The Force, begins to explain the excellence of the reel.

Weight: Ever fished a reel that seems heavy on you on a 7, 8, or 9-weight rod? I have. The reason the reel seemed heavy was because it was! Ever so many weigh in at 11 or more ounces. The Force is different: CNC machined from aerospace titanium and aluminum right here in the good old US of A, the F.3X weighs in at 5-ounces. I call that light, particularly when the F.3X sets up with WF-8 along with 150 yards of 30 lb. Backing.

Maintenance: Yes, you guess it–Like almost anything these days, some maintenance is suggested, even with the F.3X. After a hard day in salt water, rinse the reel in fresh water without removing the spool. Wipe the reel with a cloth and allow it to dry thoroughly before removing the spool. Frankly, this is my kind of maintenance.

Don'ts: Do not screw with the drag. It is a sealed mechanism! It doesn't require any help from the user. O-rings lockout whatever Mother Nature might otherwise offer in degrading performance.

Handling: Working with the F.3X is a delight. The ULA spool is crafted with a step-down that makes line lay-down during the retrieval easy. And during the retrieve, the reel does exactly what an ULA reel is supposed to do: retrieve line at a relatively high speed.

Start-up Inertia: Think your reel is starts up smoothly? May be so; may be not. There are very few reels that do "zero" inertia at start-up, regardless of price. This, however, is one reel that lives up to its advertising!

What more to say? Not much ... If you folks don't see fit to give the Waterworks F.3X a try, you are missing one of the truly great values in fly fishing.

Never heard of the Waterworks? You should have: the Waterworks is the firm that purchased Lamson, a respected name in reels almost all of you respect for value and reliability. The Waterworks is also the outfit that brought forth the "Ketchum Release" in all of its variations. Many folks, me included, use these implements in both fresh and salt water.

For more information regarding The Force, contact: The Waterworks, 191 8th Street, Unit A, Post Office Box 539, Ketchum, Idaho 83340. Telephone: 1 (800) 435-9374 or Fax 1 (208) 727-1584.