Hardy Perfect reels are the arguably as good as it gets. I've owned several and enjoyed each one. I've even ponied-up the big bucks for several left-handed versions and I can't fault them in any way...except for price. The sound of a big fish running on a Perfect is indeed an almost priceless "wahhhhhhh" and everybody on the river will hear it, which used to be fun (until having lots of company on the river started to get really old). The prices for all of my early-80s accumulation bamboo rods and Hardy reels went through the roof sometime in the middle 90s and I sold every one for a significant profit. I then took that money and bought guns.
When the bloom went off of that particular rose, I picked up a few well-used but respectable versions (at their then 2010-ish depressed prices) and began fishing them again. The older Pflueger reels just seem to fit well with older American blue-collar cane (Grangers & Heddons). Now, if I just had a decent place (& time) to use them...
Last edited by Lloyd3; 03/30/23 10:19 AM.
