Classic looking reel with silent drag

[owenscaddis]

X1- Godfrey Paradigm - has a drum drag.
Ross San Miguel is not bad looking (splits the difference between a classic looking reel and more modern large arbor, heavily ported designs) and has a relatively quiet drag. I like the originals better, but they are hard to find

[RSalar]

Current product no, but can be found on the secondary market. The Galvan Standard reels in 2.5", 3", 3.25" and 3.5" diameters have classic looks and dimensions in a beautifully machined anodized reel with one of the best disc drags would seem to fit your wants.


Photo shows the smallest reel, the 2.5", face also ported with round holes.

Must be older Galvan's -- nothing in the current lineup that works for me:

[RSalar]

X1- Godfrey Paradigm - has a drum drag.

These seem a little over engineered to balance a light weight trout rod...

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Not classic in the English sense - but in the Abel sense...
a mint Aaron reel looks particularly good on cane.
They are quiet... and heavy to boot.

[RSalar]

Not classic in the English sense - but in the Abel sense...
a mint Aaron reel looks particularly good on cane.
They are quiet... and heavy to boot.

Good call. I have actually been looking at them. I ended up buying a used Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor. It has a very similar look. I also had the opportunity to look and handle the new Battenkill Disk. The drag is nice and reel is pretty classic looking except for the color and the large lettering. The marketing team at Orvis must get priority over the design team.

Thanks for the idea. Ron

[G-ManBart]

The new(ish) Ross San Miguel has a pretty classic look, disc drag, silent retrieve and click out. You could call Ross and ask if there would be a way to remove the click on out....worth a call.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

These little guys are quiet... Tibor Tail Water CL / Consta-Lube drag system...



Oh man - this setup is going fishing today

[carlz]

I'm a bit late to the party. My favorites have been mentioned. Able big game (but only some of them do silent out) though the inbound click is a big clunky., and Marryat (the first thing I do when I get one is remove the clicker.

I had a Orvis CFO disk that I recently sold. It clicked, but I am pretty sure the clicker could be removed. It was a fairly soft click anyway.

[Mike1227]

The current Orvis Battenkill Disc has the classic look with a disc drag. You can palm the rim if you like. The I is 2.75", the II is 3", and the III is 3.25". There is also two larger models the IV, and V that do not have the 'vented' back, just the spool. They do have a very light tick sound, but you will need to hold it to your ear to hear it.
On another note, I was fighting a fair rainbow on a small mountain lake. My buddy was not far away, I was on my cat, and he was on his FT. That rainbow was making my Hardy Marquis 6 scream, but Fred said he never heard it.

[PYochim]

The early Ross Gunnison reels had a clicker that could be disabled by removing a spring.

[Caneghost]

Current Battenkills are made overseas. Older ones were BFR made.

[tunafart]

While not directly referencing 'modern' reels as per the OP,
this thread will serve well to archive 'silent check classic reels' generally.
The Ocean City reels mentioned above by Jim had a well-built 'silent' drag; here is one of the '30'-series.
They don't seem to keep their black paint finish well, but are otherwise long on 'classic' looks,
and usually quite reasonably priced when they can be found.

paul, charleston sc

[JohnMD1022]

Hardy Silent Check.

I used to have one, and perhaps I still have it, tucked away in a back corner of the reel cabinet.