Back in September we ran an introductory post with information about Ross’s new F1 reel – with video straight from the show floor at IFTD. Brad Befus gave us all kinds of detail about the design of the F1, and that was awesome…but last month we got to fish one on the flats of South Andros, so today we’re back with our on-the-water impressions of the F1.
Construction
It’s light. Most of the week we fished the #4 F1 (currently the biggest one) on a Sage 790-4 Xi3. The rig balanced perfectly with the Xi3, which is a pretty light rod, especially in the 7 weight.
It’s super stiff. Ross says that the carbon fiber spool support makes the reel rigid. We don’t know what makes it rigid, but yeah…it’s really hard to flex this thing. This matters when you’re dealing with strong, hot fish like the bonefish on South Andros – you don’t want your reel flexing when you’re cranking hard on a big fish.
We like the machined foot. The reel foot isn’t screwed on – it’s machined from the same chunk of metal as the frame. This might seem like a silly technical detail, but it’s a pretty big deal actually. We’ve seen multiple guests’ reel frames come unscrewed from the reel foot in the middle of a battle, and it’s not pretty, at all.
The handle is mounted way on the outer edge of the spool. This isn’t incredibly significant, other than the fact that it has a large arbor to start with. It feels ‘really large arbor’ – each crank of the handle covers quite a lot of ground.
Drag Performance
The engagement is super smooth. It takes just a smooth, easy pull to start line coming off the reel. That doesn’t matter so much on South Andros where 15 pound tippet is common – but it’s definitely something to consider if you’re considering a smaller size F1 for fishing in 6x-Land.
Drag performance was extremely consistent. Whether it was dry or dunked underwater (yes, we dunk reels when testing them because we think it’s hilarious that some fly reels perform different when they’re wet…really?), tight drag or loose drag, beginning or end of the week, we could tell pretty much no difference in the performance of the drag. No, a week at a fishing lodge doesn’t say much about how this reel is going to perform in a year (we’ll let you know in a year), but lots of drags change over the course of the conditions we just ran through, and the F1 didn’t.
We like the linear drag adjustment. Ross talks about the 56:1 mechanical advantage in the drag adjustment, and we’re not quite sure what that means. We do know that uniform turns of the drag knob resulted in uniform changes to the drag, which translates to “when we had to crank down on a big fish, turning the knob did what we thought it would”.
Conclusion
Pretty simple – we loved the Ross F1, and couldn’t come up with any issues at all with its design or performance. It’s a great looking, light, solid, high performance reel that we’d love to reach for any time we’re headed out on the flats.
In the larger sizes, it’s priced in the same ballpark as other comparable (mostly saltwater) reels – $525 for the #4 we tested. In the smaller sizes, it looks more expensive compared to the other options out there – $475 for the #2 that matches your 5 weight. It’s an incredible reel – in the smaller sizes you’ll just have to decide how much you want to spend.
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I have the F1 and all the same opinions, love it until the plastic clicker gear broke. Yes thats right plastic gear on a $600 dollar reel, how could such an awesome reel have one cheap part atttatched. Waiting to hear back from ross, do not plan on sending for repairs every 3 times i use it.
This is happening to multiple F1 users. Mine also failed. Can’t believe Ross constructed that out of plastic. This will be a BIG recurring issue.
Ross F1
I was hoping you could email me your thoughts
Here in New Zealand a new distributor has taken on Ross Reels. I am the first to buy the F1 4. Today I put the reel to its first test on my new 8wt. The drag pressure from the reel seemed to work well with the rod on kingfish. But at full drag I can still pull line from the reel by hand while there is nice pressure it isnt what I would call to difficult. The reel is manufactured as having a infinate drag so I therefore assumed I would be able to lock the reel up tight.
I am off to Argentina to chase dorado so want to make sure the reel is doing what it should. Not being able to find this out localially I am hoping to get your feedback on just how much drag I can expect from this reel. Your reviews seems very straight up.
Thanks in advance Andrew Perring
Hi Andrew, thanks very much for stopping by!
I just cranked the drag on my F1 to its maximum setting, and while I’d call it ‘very stout’ I could certainly pull line off the reel. On the other hand, I don’t think own I reel that I can’t pull line off of, and that maximum setting is heavier than any I’d use fishing.
I’ve also never fished for dorado in Argentina though…
Regardless have a great trip.
Hi Steve
Back from catching some very impressive Dorado. Dialed up to its max the drag on the Ross F1 trurned out to be very capable in its fish stopping abilities. To a point I was applying to much stopping power my 30lb leaders couldnt handle it. I ended up dialing back the pressure. In conclusion the drag of the F1 teamed with a 8 wt will provide more than enough smooth stopping power for even the worlds most powerful freash water fish.
On the down side the handle fitting could do with some improvements. Held together with a 50cent screw that required a bit of fiddling to fix. Had I lost that 50cent screw in the remote areas I was fishing I would have had to spend $20000 to fly back to my retailer to get it sorted.
Ross you have a suburb product dont drop the ball with cheap screws and plastic clickers
Hi Steve.
Well the Ross f1 packed in within the first season. I only fish with this reel on specific occasions so it doesn’t take any type of hard wear or abuse.
The drag gave out completely and like so many experience the clicker also stopped working. With a number of strange noises coming from the reel I finially sent it back to Ross reels.
I now have the reel back and it is working better than ever. The reels drag is a level up on what it had been. Makes me wonder how many of these Ross reels are arriving out of the box and not performing to their full potential.
My decision on weather this reel is a lemon or all it is made out to be is pending. I have a chance to catch bone fish in hawaii coming up.
But i will be taking another reel with me on international trips as my confidence has taken a bit of a hit with the Ross brand.
Ross did a slick job on getting this reel from one side of the globe and back with a big improvement on performance.
But there is a big butt about this reel il let you know how it holds out.
Thanks Andrew
Hi Steve
Another year and another offshore adventure using the Ross F1
I hadn’t used the F1 since it was repaired last trip. This year it performed well on the Bone Fish at Christmas Island. However the drag has once again packed up. At full drag the reel makes a humming sound when pulling line. At a guess I would say the sealed drag has taken in water.
At fish fighting pressure that sound is not noticeable so I would guess the problem started when I started fishing with the reel on this trip
I think it fair to say the reel is a dud. Hopefully Ross replace it this time as I am over taking a dud reel to off shore locations when I need 100% reliability. I am also over the off shore shipping expenses involved sending this reel in after each use.
So fair to say this reel is a dud. Will I get this dud reel repaired under warranty or well Ross send a replacement so I can do a review on a fully functional Ross F1. I will keep you posted after the next trip.
But at this stage the Hatch 11Plus and the Lamson light speed are doing the job trouble free. I just like the weight of the Ross it is so light it would drake a poor sinker.
Thanks Andrew Perring
Ok so after last years problems Ross repaired the F1. Good customer service but the service guys themselves tried to put the blame for the ongoing problems on myself with a unnecessary letter with the reel on its return. While customer service provided a nice email outlining the problem with the reel and that had been fixed. So i thought i would sit back wait and see how the repair performed on its next trip. Over the past year the F1 reel has been faultless as it has just sat in storage waiting for use – iv lost confidence with the brand so it is getting no use. Anyhows all started of fine on the first cast of the day/trip as a large bone fish peeled off line. However when i went to take line off the reel for the second cast of the day the problems had returned. The guide would look into the reel housing trying to work out what all the problems and strange noises were coming from the drag system when the next bone fish took line. I used the reel on a couple more fish and it is pretty much rooted luckily I had taken a range of other gear as cover. Ok so the Ross F1 is a complete dud and should deb avoided. I have contacted Ross reels and their customer service have not goth back to me this time. I don’t really want to resend the reel back to Ross as the problems with the reel and costs have exceeded the cost of the reel. I have used ross reels for my fresh water fishing but fair to say all the Ross gear is now up for sale and moving to Hatch as they have proven to be faultless. In the mean time Ross Reels back you warranty if you can’t back your product I think fair to say i was duped into buying your brand through misleading marketing and await a refund.