Pflueger Medalist Reels

[JAWallace]

Use them? Probably not. I've been on kind of a spending spree for bamboo and glass, and for the smaller rods and lines, or for bass lines, when you're not betting your trip on a great drag, I am really enjoying using these reels. Mine are from the early 50s through the mid 60s, all U.S. made. I have a 1498 for a 9 wt. glass rod, a couple of 1495s for 6 wt. lines, and a 1494 with some spare spools for the lighter lines and rods. I think they look cool on glass or boo and they are most certainly a serviceable reel that is incredibly easy to work on and fine tune. A real throwback to American manufacturing and milling, and as Bill mentioned in his article below, all screws are SAE and the metal is quality hard, not like the soft imported stuff.

Readily available from $30-$40 each, these all have adjustable disk drags. They aren't bad at all, but I set them pretty light and use my palm instead. They usually come in RHR, but with a little work most can easily be set for LHR.

Bill Kiene wrote a great article i used as a reference when I was finding mine:
http://www.kiene.com/portfolio-view/the-pflueger-medalist-fly-reel/

For some reason, I always assumed these reel were junk. They are not. Pick one up. If you don't like it, turn it for what you've got into it. Always buyers and sellers--just watch the condition.


John

[Darian]

Definitely not junk. I have a number of model 1495 1/2, 1595 1/2 models with spare spools. Also have a Supreme (solid aluminum model and a few 1898(?) models. All are in good working order and the only one I wouldn't really consider using any longer is the Supreme due to it's weight.

They were purchased over the period from the 60's, 70's, 80's thru the early 90's. Haven't been using them as much as I should as I've been doing more Salty and less Steely/trout fly fishing recently. I still use a couple for Black Bass/sunnies in the Delta, tho.

[Larry S]

The speypages site has quite a thread on these. Lots of folks have had at least one.
Best,
Larry S

[David Lee]

10636

Between 44-48? Lbs. , Pflueger 1495 on a 8 Lb. tippet . I can't even imagine how many Fish have been taken on that Reel . My Mentor Pat Sandlin gave it to me years ago , and he had been using it since the late-1960's ! Lee S. has taken Dorado on his 1498 .....

They work , and that's good enough for me !!

D.~

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

For many years we carried frame screws for them and had special bronze drag discs and counter balances.

I think they were one of the most widely used fly reels of all time.

If you find old ones that have not been used up, they are pretty cool.


**Herte is an old film of fly fishing in the Florida keys with a Pflueger Medalist fly reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABWj6YH8638

[JAWallace]

Pflueger: Largest manufacturer of fly reels in history
Montague: Largest builder of fly rods in history

Mostly, you can clean up the Pfluegers and get parts if needed--I bought mine from collectors and recommend others doing the same. Doesn't cost any more and they will usually care for the reels.I had to pull the 1498 apart and rebuild, but with all the same parts, to get the drag smooth. It's simple with jewelers tools. The others I just cleaned with a toothbrush, and put on some Hot Sauce. My wife won't know;-). All mine are 6 rivets so they're older.

Montague--I don't know what you do with those, other than buy some very expensive kindling. I have one from my dad, and an Ocean City reel that is probably worse than the Montague.