Quoted:
I've been on the fence for a while. I've got nice Sage and Lamson reels but for some reason I find myself lusting after a Hatch. I've heard really good things about their drag and the startup inertia. Since I've broken fish off before it might be dreamy.
So my LFS is having a 20% sale and I've got a $50 gift certificate I won and a couple of gift cards. Basically it'd drop my out-of-pocket to about 50% of retail.
Two things I like in addition to the drag are the no-fee warranty and the fact that everything (including the foot) is machined out of a single block of aluminum. Even the Tibor I looked at has a screw-on foot.
Just wondering if anyone has experience with them. This is for saltwater use fwiw.
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They are bombproof and with what you would be getting off its a no brainer for saltwater and cold water/steelhead/salmon/Musky etc.
I have a 7+ on my Swtich rod, a 7+ on my saltwater 8wt, a 9+ on 13ft Spey and a 9+ on my saltwater 10wt. I'm gradually switching all my rods over to Hatches when my Ross reels wear out or need replacing. Thinking about putting a 5+ in the limited edition black/green on my 1piece 7'6 smallie rod and def gonna put one on my musky rod by next year, just need to justify replacing the CLA5 on it right now, lol.
Start up inertia is awesome, the sealed drag is perfect for steelhead and saltwater and even if water gets in (had one reel do this and it would squeel when cold, the drag cartridge is easy to take out, dry and re-seal). My buddy's shop sell a boat load of Hatches and he's a Hatch Pro and I can think of maybe 1 reel that has had to go back through the shop in the last 5 years and I think that was a user error issue (bent frame).
Look at my post in the "first steelhead of the year" thread both the Steelhead and Laker that I posted were on Hatches with not a single issue. The Lakers were in the Niagara River and we could turn em no problem with the drag.
J-