One of my favorite summer activities is fishing for blue gills with a 2wt. rod.  Even a medium size fish puts such a bend in the rod that it feels like you've hooked a 15 lbs. chrome king.  A 2wt. rod is also the perfect size for teaching kids to fish.  It's light, usually has a forgiving medium action, and is short enough that creating a nice loop almost happens on its own.  One problem often associated with fishing light rods is finding a reel that will properly balance the rod.  It seems like most reel manufactures have been moving toward large reels for fighting big fish and away from ultra-light reels.  The ultra-light reels, suitable for a 2wt., that are most common are generally made of cheap plastic, have no drag, and usually last a single season.  What I have been looking for is a reel rated for a 2wt. line, machined (not cast or made of plastic), a solid drag for keeping the line on the reel when casting, light enough to properly balance a 2w. 6' 6" rod, and being a southpaw the reel had to be easily convertible from right to left.  It wasn't until I was speaking with Terry from the T.L. Johnson Rod Company that he introduced me to their Fish Creek line of reels.  He sent me one to review and its perfect!


The first thing I noticed about the reel was how light it is.  Although it is fully machined from aerospace bar stock it felt as light as plastic. 




The size is just perfect for a 2wt. line with about 10 yards of backing.



The drag is what really sold me on this reel.  Although fishing a 2wt. rod the drag does not have to stop a freight train, it does need to manage the spooled line.  Also, its loads of fun to lighten the drag, hook into a 10" blue gill and watch the fish rip line off the spool.  The drag is fully enclosed so there is no worry about getting sand or dirt into the disk drag mechanism.



Although incredibly light the Fish Creek 2300 reel has a frame that will last a lifetime.  Unlike cast reels where you can apply pressure to the frame and actually grind the spool, the Fish Creek reel holds its shape and no matter how much pressure I put on the frame it will not grind!



Conversion from right to left hand is a quick and simple operation. Out of the box I had it converted to right hand retrieve in about 20 seconds. 



In Sum: Gene Bullard once said, "The thrill you get from getting something cheap is short lived compared to the pleasure you get from a quality piece of equipment." The Fish Creek machined reel is one of the nicest 2wt. reels I have seen in a long time.  I have no doubt it will last through years and years of abuse.  The frame on mine has been repeatably dropped and has held up great!  The drag is so good on this reel that you could turn a bass without worry and then turn around with a quick adjustment and let a bluegill rip line off the spool.



Disclosure- Fish Creek provided the featured product free of charge for me to review. I was not compensated in any other way for this blog post.