Fly Fishing Tackle Summary: The Hardy Bougle MK VII (MK7) Reel

September 2nd, 2011 | Author: Fishing_tips

When the subject is fly fishing tackle, I’m a real curmudgeon. Just what is a curmudgeon? An old dictionary I looked in describes it as a grumpy, irritable, argumentative individual with many stubborn ideas. I especially like the “stubborn ideas” bit, because I take it to mean that I prefer a traditional, proven approach to fly fishing. Over the years, this “crusty” angler has acquired a good collection of fishing gear, but always find myself returning to Hardy products. Read on for a brief review of one of my favourites: the Bougle MK VII (MK7) reel.

Fly Fishing Tackle: Chief Facets of the Bougle MK VII (MK7) Reel

Costing approximately £429.00, this MK VII definitely is quite an expenditure for many fishers. But, I would much rather have a few items of superior fly fishing tackle than a lot of cheap tackle which will probably not perform when I really need it to. The spool, plate, and frame of the Bougle are built with sturdy 6061 aluminium. Just being curious, I looked up some facts on 6061 aluminium and saw that it is a robust aluminium alloy with magnesium and silicon a its major alloying constituents. The 6061 is endowed with superb mechanical components; it is also not difficult to weld. Such characteristics as these make it among the most trendy aluminium alloys that can be employed for general use. Thus, I was contented to know that it was utilised in the MK VII reel.

Fly Fishing Tackle: More Facts Concerning the Hardy Bougle MK VII (MK7) Reel

Yet another outstanding element about the making of this reel is the fact that the aluminium has been polished in advance to being anodised, rendering optimal protection. Note that if you have different reels from the MK line of products such as I do, you need to recognise that the spools are interchangeable between the MK4, MK5, and MK6 fishing reels. Also, the Bougle MK VII is equipped with ball race made from stainless steel for exceptionally smooth performance. It has a powerful, turning line guard which is nickel silver. The reel’s click check system sounds great to my ears, plus it comes with an excellent, wide range. The Hardy designers have outdone themselves with this particular reel, even for a hard-to-please fisher like me. You can easily transfer it from left- to right-handed winding. The reel’s back is secured by a strong dovetail fit, along with 2 corrosion-proof stainless steel screws. The MK VII will hold about 225m of line. It has a weight of 256g, with a diameter of 101m.

Fly Fishing Tackle: Regarding the Layout of the Bougle

More than one hundred years in the past, a fisher named Louis Bougle wanted Hardy to produce a fishing reel that was light in weight, but had ample line capacity to work well with the lighter weight rods of this time period. From this, the Bougle range came about; it was seen for the first time in 1903 in the Hardy catalogue. The nearly-perfect design has changed little since then, except for a few improvements by the engineers at Hardy. With the same feel and look of the organisation’s highly revered MK IV model, the MK VII, with its high quality facets, is a categorically advanced take on a conventional Hardy fly fishing tackle design. I have absolutely no problem advocating it.