A Favorite Reel – Ari ‘t Hart “Ari 1″
My favorite pieces of fly-fishing gear are reels. Just something about a beautifully made fly reel that holds my eye. Of the reels in my personal gear bag, there are some that stand out as continual favorites. One of those is my Ari ‘t Hart “Ari 1″ from the 1990s era of Ari’s design work (actually, the core design aspects of the reel date back much further in Ari’s history). The reel is a gem of design, and while I also have the Ari 2 and Ari 3 versions (larger versions), it is the Ari 1 that, to me, melds everything about the series in one tidy package.
Functionally, the reel is a bit different than most, with a single-pivot, adjustable reel arm, a stainless-steel “cage,” and a disc-drag system that is exceedingly strong for a piece of light-line trout gear. The extra bits add weight, but I don’t really care. Ari told me that he had worked for some time to get the sound just right, and the little block of machined aluminum sounds like a 10cc Porsche when a big rainbow has it on full boil.
The reel originally came in a few different color schemes, but I went for the titanium-look anodization. There is something about the form that just speaks very well through a nearly “raw metal” coloring. If I had to choose again, I’d go exactly the same way.
Of course, for me, the best part of all is what’s on the back: a set of red letters on the reel’s arm that say simply, “from Ari to Jason.” I hadn’t been expecting the inscription when I open the box from Holland, and it was a deeply appreciated gesture. I consider this reel to not only be a lovely little tool, but a piece of signed sculpture that will always remain a special favorite for as long as I fish.
![FF&W [art] - DF52 Grayling](http://fishfliesandwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/df52_16-grayling-sidebar.jpg)
Just got an email asking about the brand of the olive-colored line on the reel. Sadly the answer is “one that you can’t get anymore.” It’s actually one of my father’s old designs that were distributed by McKenzie “back in the day.” My father still has a small number of them lurking in his gear closet, and the line shown here has been well-cared-for over the years (no parking-lot casting!). It remains one of my favorites, with a “pebbled” finish that shoots like crazy along with that unobtrusive olive color.