Some, like me, love to hear a fly reel purr, whizz and scream whereas you may think silence is golden. Each to their own but our gripe at Fish&Fly is that the manufacturers/retailers don’t give us a clue online to what we are buying! Just how loud is the fly reel? What kind of noise will it make?
So, on behalf of us beleaguered consumers, we locked FishingMagic Editor Cliff Hatton in a darkened room armed only with a cheap decibel reader and his mobile’s sound recorder. The poor man emerged dazed and confused (but is recovering) and presented us with this table of interesting* results! Note: Sounds are given first forward then reverse wind.
| Reel & Model | Forward Volume (Decibels) | Reverse Volume (Decibels) | Sound! |
| Loop Classic #10/13 | 103 | 102 | |
| Loop Classic #8/11 | 100 | 101 | |
| Loop Classic #7/9 | 102 | 96 | |
| Shakespeare Sigma #6/7 | SILENT | 83 | |
| Shakespeare Sigma #5/6 | SILENT | 85 | |
| Shakespeare Sigma #3/4 | SILENT | 83 | |
| Redington Zero #4/5 | 100 | 106 | |
| Snowbee Geo-S #10/12 | 63 | 71 | |
| Snowbee Geo-S #8/10 | 62 | 59 | |
| Snowbee Classic 2 #9/11 | SILENT | 85 | |
| Snowbee Classic 2 #7/8 | SILENT | 81 | |
| Snowbee Classic 2 #5/6 | SILENT | 82 | |
| Redington Behemoth #9/10 | 81 | 77 | |
| Redington Behemoth #7/8 | 87 | 86 | |
| Redington Behemoth #11/12 | 80 | 80 | |
| Redington Behemoth #5/6 | 91 | 84 | |
| Leeda Profil La Cassette #LA7/8 | 89 | 85 | |
| Leeda Profil La Cassette #LA5/6 | 97 | 90 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #2/3 | SILENT | 65 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #5/6 | SILENT | 83 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #3/4 | SILENT | 68 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #7/8 | SILENT | 76 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #9/10 | SILENT | 70 | |
| Snowbee Spectre #10/11 | SILENT | 75 | |
| Nautilus CCF-X2 #10/12 S. KING | 83 | 84 | |
| Nautilus NV SP550-750 | 46/SILENT | 81 | |
| Nautilus NV G-7/8 | 48/SILENT | 82 | |
| Abel Super Series #7/8N | 89 | 77 | |
| Abel Super Series #6N | 94 | 88 | |
| Abel Super Series #5N | 89 | 83 | |
| Abel Super Series #3N | 97 | 82 | |
| Abel Super Series #4N | 98 | 92 | |
| Tibor Signature #11/12 | 93 | 86 | |
| Tibor Signature #5/6 | 85 | 85 | |
| Tibor Signature #7/8 | 87 | 84 | |
| Tibor Signature #9/10 | 89 | 97 | |
| Sage Domain #5 | 87 | 89 | |
| Sage Domain #8 | 83 | 79 | |
| Sage Domain #10 | 82 | 85 | |
| Sage 2230 | 82 | 80 | |
| Sage 2210 | 79 | 79 | |
| Sage 2280 | 76 | 76 | |
| Sage 2250 | 74 | 79 | |
| Sage Click #3/4/5 | 89 | 90 | |
| Sage Click #0/1/2 | 96 | 94 | |
| Sage Evoke #8 | 84 | 84 | |
| Sage Evoke #10 | 82 | 78 | |
| Wychwood Flow #5/6 | 93 | 90 | |
| Wychwood Flow #7/8 | 91 | 87 | |
| Wychwood Truefly SLA #7/8 | 83 | 81 | |
| Wychwood Truefly SLA #9/11 | 69 | 72 | |
| Wychwood Truefly SLA #5/6 | 70 | 70 | |
| Sage 8000 #11/12 | 80 | 81 | |
| Sage 8000 #9/10 | 81 | 82 | |
| Sage 8000 #7/8 | 85 | 86 | |
| Sage 6010 | 81 | 83 | |
| Sage 6080 | 79 | 81 | |
| Sage 4210 | 86 | 84 | |
| Sage 4280 | 83 | 81 | |
| Sage 4260 | 88 | 89 | |
| Sage 4250 | 86 | 89 | |
| Sage 4230 | 91 | 89 | |
| Sage 3210 (#9/10) | 78 | 75 | |
| Sage 3280 (#7/8) | 75 | 76 | |
| Sage 3230 (#3/4) | 80 | 79 | |
| Lamson Liquid 4.0 (#9/10) | 64 | 80 | |
| Lamson Liquid 3.5 (#8/9) | 80 | 85 | |
| Lamson Liquid 2.0 (#5/6) | 86 | 86 | |
| Lamson Liquid 1.5 (#3/4) | 77 | 84 | |
| Lamson ARX4+ SPEY (#10/11) | 83 | 89 | |
| Lamson ARX3.5+ SPEY (#9/10) | 86 | 80 | |
| Lamson ARX3+ SPEY (#8/9) | 74 | 85 | |
| Lamson Litespeed IV 4.0 (#10/11) | 69 | 84 | |
| Lamson Litespeed IV 3.5 (#8/9) | 80 | 79 | |
| Lamson Litespeed IV 3.0 (#7/8) | 77 | 81 | |
| Lamson Litespeed IV 2.0 (#5/6) | 73 | 85 | |
| Lamson Litespeed IV 1.5 (#3/4) | 78 | 84 | |
| Waterworks ULA Force Sl 3X SL (#7/8) | 77 | 80 | |
| Waterworks ULA Force Sl 2X SL (#5/6) | 82 | 79 | |
| Lamson Guru 1.5 (#3/5) | 79 | 76 | |
| Lamson Guru 2.0 (#5/6) | 84 | 76 | |
| Lamson Guru 3.0 (#7/8) | 70 | 78 | |
| Lamson Guru 4.0 (#10/11) | 77 | 79 | |
| Lamson Remix 1.5 (#3/4) | 76 | 83 | |
| Lamson Remix 2.0 (#5/6) | 77 | 85 | |
| Lamson Remix 3.5 (#8/9) | 77 | 83 | |
| Lamson Remix4.0 (#10/11) | 71 | 80 | |
| Lamson Speedster 1.5 (#3/5) | 82 | 82 | |
| Lamson Speedster 2.0 (#5/6) | 76 | 82 | |
| Lamson Speedster 3.0 (#7/8) | 78 | 68 | |
| Lamson Speedster 3.5 (#8/9) | 73 | 77 | |
| Lamson Speedster 4.0 (#10/11) | 80 | 63 | |
| Greys GX300 GR GX35 (#6/8) | 82 | 78 | |
| Greys GX300 GR GX30 (#4/6) | 83 | 80 | |
| Greys GTS500 GTS #5/6/7 | 85 | 76 | |
| Greys GTS500 GTS #7/8/9 | 83 | 75 | |
| Greys GTS700 GTS #7/8/9 | 82 | 78 | |
| Greys GX900 GX9040 (#8/10) | 83 | 84 | |
| Greys GX900 GX9020 (#4/6) | 87 | 84 | |
| Greys GX900 GX9030 (#6/8) | 83 | 83 | |
| Greys GX900 GX9050 (#10/12) | 83 | 80 | |
| Vision Rula 1 (#3/5) | 87 | 87 | |
| Vision Rula 1.5 (#4/6) | 87 | 91 | |
| Vision Rula 2 (#5/7) | 91 | 89 | |
| Vision Rula 2.5 (#6/8) | 91 | 88 | |
| Vision Rula 3 (#7/9) | 83 | 81 | |
| Vision Rula 4 (#8/10) | 87 | 86 | |
| Vision Deep VDP1112B (#11-12) | 86 | 87 | |
| Vision Deep VDP910B (#9/10) | 80 | 83 | |
| Vision Deep VDP78B (#7/8) | 83 | 85 | |
| Vision Deep VDP56B (#5/6) | 88 | 91 | |
| Nautilus FWX F’Weight Extreme FWX5/6 | 79 | 76 | |
| Nautilus FWX F’Weight Extreme FWX7/8 | 81 | 79 | |
| Nautilus FWX F’Weight Extreme FWX3/4 | 78 | 79 | |
| Orvis Access Mid-Arbor ll (#3/5) | 86 | 85 | |
| Orvis Access Mid-Arbor l (#1/3) | 85 | 85 | |
| Orvis Access Mid-Arbor lll (#5/7) | 85 | 84 | |
| Orvis Access Mid-Arbor V (#9/11) | 87 | 86 | |
| Orvis Access Mid-Arbor lV (#7/9) | 86 | 86 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor ll (#3/5) | 84 | 82 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor lV (#7/9) | 82 | 78 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor V (#9/11) | 81 | 79 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor Vl (#11/13) | 82 | 83 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor lll (#5/7) | 84 | 84 | |
| Orvis Hydros Large Arbor l (#1/3) | 84 | 84 | |
| Orvis Mirage lV (#7/9) | 76 | 80 | |
| Orvis Mirage V (#9/11) | 86 | 83 | |
| Orvis Mirage Vl (#11/13) | 86 | 82 | |
| Orvis Battenkill S&P l (#1/3) | 96 | 100 | |
| Orvis Battenkill S&P ll (#3/5) | 97 | 99 | |
| Orvis Battenkill S&P lll (#5/7) | 102 | 108 | |
| Hardy Ultralite MA DD (Mid-Arb) 5000 (#5/6) | 93 | 90 | |
| Hardy Ultralite MA DD (Mid-Arb) 3000 (#3/4) | 92 | 94 | |
| Hardy Ultralite MA DD (Mid-Arb) 10000 (#10/11) | 87 | 86 | |
| Hardy Ultralite MA Dd (Mid-Arb) 6000 (#6/7) | 91 | 87 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 5000 | 90 | 91 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 3000 | 93 | 85 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 4000 | 89 | 88 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 6000 | 90 | 88 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 7000 | 84 | 91 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 8000 | 87 | 85 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 9000 | 87 | 86 | |
| Hardy Ultralite CA DD 10000 | 86 | 81 | |
| Hardy Bros Duchess Reels 2.75in | 83 | 93 | |
| Hardy Bros Duchess Reels 3.25in | 91 | 101 | |
| Hardy Bros Duchess Reels 3in | 92 | 101 | |
| Hardy Bros Duchess Reels 4in | 96 | 104 | |
| Hardy Ultralite SDS Reels 8000 | 67 | 66 | |
| Hardy Ultralite SDS Reels 10000 | 71 | 70 | |
| Hardy Ultralite SDS Reels 12000 | 77 | 78 | |
| Hardy Bros Wide Spool Perfect 2 7/8ths | 103 | 85 | |
| Hardy Bros Wide Spool Perfect 3 1/8th | 85 | 94 | |
| Hardy Bros Wide Spool Perfect 4 1/4 | 103 | 112 | |
| Hardy Bros Wide Spool Perfect 3 7/8ths Taupo | 97 | 104 | |
| Hardy Bros Wide Spool Perfect 4in | 98 | 106 | |
| Hardy Marquis No. 3 | 96 | 105 | |
| Hardy Fortuna X Reels XI 8 | 74 | 77 | |
| Hardy Fortuna X Reels X2 10 | 65 | 65 | |
| Hardy Fortuna X Reels X4 14 | 66 | 63 |
*Please treat as a ‘guide’-only, as these sounds and levels were not recorded in laboratory conditions with precision instruments!
Thanks go to Sportfish Winforton (Hereford) for allowing us to examine their stock!