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Nowadays the people of the House of Hardy categorise their reel series into two sections: performance reels and classic reels. I am happy to see that they at least keep some great classic designs, because the design of the performance series for sure causes some controversy...

My all time favourite is the Hardy MK IV Bouglé reel. As with the Featherweight, I just like the simplicity and outstanding design of the Bouglé reels. No wonder the MK IV won in 1999 the Japanese Good Design Award.

Actually this reel is a Hardy ”Perfect“ reel. In 1888 the Hardy brothers had the idea of ball-bearings housed in the central area of a reel and the first patents followed shortly after. The Perfect reel series was born.

In 1924 the French fly fisher Louis Bouglé died and left us with a remarkable legacy. Being the vice-president of the Casting Club of France he was looking for a lighter version of the Perfect reels. In 1903 the first Bouglé reel (still bearing the hand trademark) was brought on the market, which was designed by Louis Bouglé himself. For the new design it was characteristic to have raised pillars and a wider drum.

The look of this reel (especially the MK IV model!) with the Permali (made of selected Beech veneers, impregnated and densified) handle, silvery pearl glance, the wonderful perforation pattern on one side and its performance (!) makes it something special and precious. And the sound? Let it put me like this: if a grayling has decided to play you will hear the delicate sound of fly fishing. Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Bouglé!

When a fly fisher spends time at a lake, brook or river he will see all kinds of small animals which are of importance for fly fishing: Ephemeroptera (upwinged flies), Trichoptera (flies with roof-shaped wings), Plecoptera (hard-winged flies), Hemptera (water bugs, corixids), Diptera (flat-winged flies), Coleoptera (beetles), Odonata (dragonflies), Orthoptera (grasshopppers), Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), Neuroptera (lacewings), Hymenoptera (ants) or Arachnidae (spiders). Their numbers, especially when it comes to families and species, go well into the thousands. The same is true for fly reels: their number is uncountable and yet there are some you will see more often than others.

Frankly, I am not extremly fond of reels with a check mechanism: very often the sound is just annoying and/or most of them are just too loud. However, there are a few fly reels coming with click check I do like...

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" front view of a reel and spool

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Two reels with one in the foreground

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" reel and spool, which is in the foreground

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" permali handle, screw for drag adjustment and raised pillar

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Three Bouglés ranging from size 3 1/4 to 3 3/4

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Close of the "3 hole series" perforation pattern of 1903

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Two reels: front view and back view

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Reel with spool, which is in the background

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" The nice looking permali handle

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Reel and rod handle, which has a rose wood real seat

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" Three Bouglés...

House of Hardy "The Bouglé MK IV" A look at the brake mechanism and the ball bearing

"Actually, the best fish is he who cannot be caught."

Marc Petitjean

(in an interview for a Swiss fly fishing magazine (2003))