Question on Hatch 5 Finatic

[Blane]

Looking at a new reel for my 7 wt setups and interested in a Hatch Finatic. Two rods I use most are a 9'6 and 10' 7wt XP and typically overline these with 8wt Rio salmon/steelhead floating lines. Can any owner of a Hatch 5 comment on pairing this with the setups above? Im concerned on backing/line capacity even if I went with the midarbor spool. Appreciate your feedback. (PS the Hatch 7 seems to be overkill(heavy and generally too large to balance the rods)

Blane

[Carl Blackledge]

Blane,

Perhaps go with the smaller reel and use 30 pound Power pro braid as baking.

my 2 cents

Carl Blackledge

[Railking]

I have 3 & 5 Hatch reels,their reels cover three weights the 5 is good for 4-5-6 weight. if you lighten up on backing you might be ok with the 5
I would step up to a 7 and yes they are a bit overkill. but will do the job in a variety of situations.
AR

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

If you go to the 7 you will have a much faster line retrieve speed and you can use 30# Dacron backing.

Plus your fly line will be in larger coils.

Call Kiene's American Fly Fishing Company on Monday and ask professional Jim Christensen about this.

[Hogan Brown]

As a hatch pro I am familiar with these reels…I run 5 on my 6 wt nymph rods for out of the drift boat and then 7 on all my striper rods and 6wt two handers. If you are fishing a 9'6" to 10' 7 wt with a 8wt line you will want the 7 plus. Sounds like a steelhead set up. If you were going to run a 7wt line and very thin diameter backing you may be able to pull off the 5 but I think with the 8wt line you will want the 7.

[Blane]

Thanks for the insight guys....