Belonging to the Lightweight series of Hardy, the Featherweight (size 4/5) is officially a classic reel, like the Cascapedia and the Bouglé. It was in 1939 when the Lighweight series was introduced. It came with a peculiar check, with a curved blue-steel spring on the pawl. Back then (and today) it is often described as ”a very fine looking reel“. Over the last seventy years their design has changed only slightly and their simplicity is close to being perfect.

It is said that Lee Wulff always demanded the highest quality and therefore he chose to fish with the reels of the Lightweight series, even for large salmon. Nothing to be surprised at, but my personal guess is, that Lee Wulff as an artist (as a 21-year-old he even had lessons at the Delacluse Art School in Paris, France) also admired the beauty of these plain reels. While discussing tackle in his book Trout on a Fly Lee Wulff remarks:”No one really needs anything more than a simple single-action reel with a light click for [...] fishing – though it´s always a pleasure to own a finely crafted reel durable to last a lifetime.“

"Whether used with silent brake or with click-pawl, is just a matter of taste. I prefer models having a click-drag, since their sound when a fish is making a run while being played, to me belongs to the highlights of fishing."

Erich Stoll & Hans Gebetsroither

The Perfect Art of Grayling and Trout Fishing

"Very little dry-fly fishing requires more drag than is needed to keep the reel from overrunning as you strip line from it. With a fish on, the bend of the rod provides a great deal of drag automatically..."

Charles F. Waterman

The Masters on the Dry Fly: Chapter 5 - Tackle for Fishing the Dry Fly