I am looking to get a new reel for my 8 wt. Primary uses will be atlantic salmon, stripers and blues. I am looking at the Hatch Iconic 7+ or the Tibor Signature. Does anyone have experience with either?

Maybe Appliance Brad will see this and respond. This is his fishing forte.

Jim

I had a thread about this very subject several months ago. I need a new 8# reel myself for salmon and steelhead and still haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. I'll see if I can locate it.

ETA:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...680023884#8680023884

Not familiar with Hatch, but my Tibor is quite a reel.

Amateur fly fisher here…

Slight thread drift but Help me understand the differences between the various reels. I mean all a fly reel does is hold the line…there is no drag to speak of since you use the palm of your hand for that so what am I missing?

I think you already know which one you want and are just looking for validation. If it were my money I would get the Tibor, but I would consider the Billy Pate over the signature, I think the extra weight balances better. But if I was looking for a 10 weight rig the signature would get the nod. In any case the new reel will not improve your casting!

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Amateur fly fisher here…

Slight thread drift but Help me understand the differences between the various reels. I mean all a fly reel does is hold the line…there is no drag to speak of since you use the palm of your hand for that so what am I missing?

The drag comes in to play with the bigger fish like salmon and blues. They can quickly get into your backing so drag becomes very important. But for a trout set up or even big bass, you are correct. The reel is mainly there to hold the line. I can’t understand spending more than $100 on a reel for most freshwater set ups. Saltwater and salmon are different.


I have been told that Hatch and Tibor are of comparable quality. I am hoping to get hands on with both of them tomorrow.

Tibor... hand down the best I've ever used. I have 6 of them in different sizes for saltwater fly fishing and have never had an issue ever.

Buy once - cry once.

Andrew

I have most of the major brands, hard to go wrong with Tibor and Hatch. I am vey fond of the new sealed drag Abel reels too.

Imo, Tibor is the king in large reels. No experience with Hatch. My other rec would be Nautilus.

Ended up going with the Hatch Iconic 7+ with a Rio Predator WF8F line. I looked at the Tibor Signature and a couple of Abels. Came down to the sealed carbon disc drag and the larger line capacity. The shop owner was a huge fan of the Hatch drag system and described as the best sealed drag on the market. This was a sentiment shared by the owner of another fly shop I frequent. The Tibor was a close runner up.

Hope to get out on the water later this week.