• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Deneki Outdoors Fishing Lodges

Alaska | The Bahamas | Chile

  • About Deneki Outdoors
  • Our Fishing Lodges
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
  • Deneki Blog
    • Alaska West
    • Andros South
    • Chile
    • Fish
    • Fishing Reports
    • Fly Tying
    • Gear
    • General
    • Guest Posts
    • News
    • Rapids Camp
    • Rio Salvaje
    • Tips
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs

Aug 05 2009

Reels For Bonefishing – 5 Things To Look For

Your most important piece of gear on the flats.
Photo: Ric Fogel/Sportfolio

Let’s face it – in an awful lot of angling situations, your reel is just a line holder. We love freshwater fish like fat rainbow trout, but the fact is that most (not all!) freshwater fish can be controlled just fine with a good old clicker drag and an old-school small arbor spool.

Reels matter when you’re bonefishing. Although bonefish aren’t the biggest fish in the sea, they’re strong, fast and capable of repeated long runs than can quite literally melt the drag systems on lessor reels. The saltwater environment is also mighty tough on anything made of metal, and you really want a reel that’s not going to corrode or come apart on you.

Here’s what we think you should look for in a bonefishing reel.

  1. Large Arbor Design. Bonefish take a lot of line, and they take it fast. When that bonefish stops (or even worse, when he turns back towards you), you need to be able to retrieve line, pronto. Getting your line back quickly is key to a short, effective and humane battle with a bonefish.
  2. Simple. We once saw an ad for an old-school Atlantic salmon reel that touted its hundreds of parts as a benefit. Uh…no. More parts means more ways to break, especially where long runs and saltwater are concerned. Simple is good.
  3. Sealed Drag. True, a good many fish out there, even bonefish and other saltwater species, have been caught on unsealed cork drags. We just feel like modern sealed drag technology works better! We don’t like gear that requires maintenance (cork does), and we don’t like drags that perform differently when they get wet. We like sealed composite drags.
  4. Smooth Drag. Lots of drag systems out there are strong enough to slow down a bonefish, but not all are smooth. Why does smooth matter? If you’re hooked up to a 10 pound bonefish and he turns his head to run, you don’t want your reel to hesitate before it gives up line. Big bonefish will test the limits of your tippet, and smooth drags protect tippet better.
  5. Durable. Salt water and salt air, long boat rides across giant fisheries, and heavy pressure exerted by strong fish all add up to make bonefishing destinations graveyards for lesser reels. You don’t want your reel frame to flex, you don’t want your handle to come off mid-fight, and you don’t want itty bitty parts to corrode into nothing. Besides being simple, you want your reel to be beefy. In our minds, it’s well worth it to gain an ounce or two of weight for a reel that’s built solid.

One example of a reel that we like has been reviewed here before – the Sage 6080.

More on Bonefishing Gear
7 Reasons This Fly Works on South Andros Island
Simms Dry Creek Flats Pack
Sage 790-4 TCX

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. wayne walts says

    October 11, 2018 at 7:01 am

    I use the Sage 6010 reels. They are very light, sealed drag, quick drag adjustment so you can back the drag off to dump the line and right back to your numbered setting on the drag, and will work on 7wt thru 10 wt rods. Having a x-spool gives you a lot of options. The larger dia of the 6010 reel picks line up fast.

Trackbacks

  1. Bonefishing Rods Reels Lines Reviews | Gear for Bonefish says:
    August 16, 2011 at 6:01 am

    […] Reels for Bonefishing – 5 Things to Look For.  No explanation needed. […]

  2. Bonefishing Tips | Gear Reviews | Best Time to Go says:
    January 27, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    […] Reels for Bonefishing – 5 Things to Look For […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Plan Your Trip

Let our experts plan the fishing adventure of your dreams.
Contact Now

Search Topics

Subscribe to our newsletter

All Blog Posts

Recent Posts

  • Spey Clave: Two Hand Alaska Presented By Mossy’s Fly Shop
  • Learn the Art of the Cack-handed Spey Cast
  • Common Mistakes Fly Anglers Make When Targeting Alaska Sockeye Salmon-and How to Fix Them
  • Fly Tying: Sockeye Caviar
  • The Alaska Freshwater Fish-Tastic Final Four

All About Spey

All About Trout

All About Bonefishing

All About Gear

Best Posts

Footer

Deneki Outdoors

Mailing address:
200 W. 34th Ave.
#1170
Anchorage, AK 99503

Headquarters:
6160 Carl Brady Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99502

US Information and Reservations
800-344-3628

International Information and Reservations
+1 907-563-9788

Email: info@deneki.com

Our Lodges

Rapids Camp
King Salmon, Alaska

Alaska West
Kanektok River, Alaska

Andros South
South Andros Island, The Bahamas

Rio Salvaje
Puerto Montt, Chile

Deneki Outdoors thanks Peter Viau, Tosh Brown, Abe Blair, Kyle Shea and Kara Knight for the beautiful photography used on our sites.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

#denekioutdoors

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2025 · Deneki Outdoors · Privacy Policy · Site by 21 Designs

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we assume that you are okay with it.Ok