The Hardy Salmon Rivers Perfect series offers you the chance to own a piece of fly fishing history. Celebrating six of the most renowned Salmon rivers, The Alta, The Dee, The Gaula, The Spey, The Tay and The Tweed, these limited edition reels are individually engraved and serial numbered 1-100 prior to anodizing and Supplied in limited edition leather presentation box with a unique Hardy turn screw tool

The reel you now see before you is a continuation of the spirit and tradition of the Hardy family and pays a fitting tribute to one of the most iconic items of fishing tackle ever developed.

These limited edition Perfect reels - each unique in their own way - are set to become true collectors' items and represent all that is best in fine English craftsmanship and innovation.

Often copied but never equalled, these reels are still proudly manufactured by hand in the Hardy factory in Alnwick. It is true to say no other reel in existence can rightfully claim the name The Perfect.

The following is an excerpt from Hardy Brothers: The Masters, the Men and Their Reels, 1873-1939 by John Drewett.

It was during 1887-88 that Forster Hardy, dissatisfied with the range of well made but uninspiring fly reels which the firm was buying in from the Birmingham & Scottish reel trade, began work on the design for a reel which he felt was more worthy of the Hardy name. Using a treadle lathe, the power for which was supplied by an apprentice, he experimented until he felt sufficiently satisfied to apply, on the 17th December, 1888, for a provisional patent for his idea.

Forster's provisional patent stated that the incorporation of balls at the intervals in the rim of the reel would offer a two-fold advantage for, in addition to reducing the amount of wear and tear they could also be used to secure the outer flanges of the drum into the periphery of the frame. The provisional patent also put forward the idea of a regulator, and it is thought that a few reels could have been made initially utilising a simple unguarded regulator screw.

During 1889 Forster continued to work on the design for his new reel until by September he felt ready to leave the complete specifications with the London Patent Office. After a breif period of time these were duly accepted, and a full patent was granted in Forster Hardy's name on the 23rd November 1889.

The complete specification still called for balls or rollers to be positioned in the periphery of the reel although by now Forster had decided that they could not be in singles, pairs or grips of four. The sides of the drum were to be ventilated both for lightness and to help dry the line. The drum core, in addition to being hollow through the centre, was itself perforated again to allow air to circulate through the stored line.

It must have been soon after the acceptance of Patent No. 18373 during November 1889 that Forster Hardy realised that he was on the wrong track in making a reel with the balls on the periphery of the reel and that he would do better locating them more towards the centre. To scrap the existing design must have been a great disappointment to Forster after so many months of work but he persevered, firm in his belief that his idea to construct a fly reel which ran on ball bearings would result in a reel far superior to anything that had yet been made. The rest, as they say, is history as Forster repositioned the balls close together on one side around the central drum core where they were allowed to gently bear against the handle plate. Success was achieved, a new patent was applied for on the 13th January, 1891 which, as Patent No. 612, was subsequently accepted on the 25th April of that year.

The exact time when production started is difficult to assess as there is no 1890 catalogue available for reference, but we are fortunate in that The Fishing Gazzette of the 12th April, 1890, when reporting on the Sportsman's Exhibition held at the Agricultural Hall, included a small paragraph on Hardy's new reel. Here I quote the Gazette: 'Messrs Hardy have patented a new winch, which anglers will do well to inspect. The barrel turns on small balls round a cylinder, it has an adjustable check which in our opinion is the best thing about it, as by its means you can easily and certainly regulate the 'pull' as you wish. In hard practice Messrs Hardy have found this winch answers all their expectations, there are no screwbars to get loose, and by one action you can unfasten the whole winch'.

The magazine entitled British Sportsmen (16.4.1890) also carried a report on Hardy's new reeland published the following: 'The two reels shown although they have been fairly tested in practice are made in the "rough" but the experienced angler can soon judge of their merits for practical purposes'.

Given the favourable reaction both by the press and anglers alike who attended the 1890 British Sportsman's Exhibition, an initially small but steady demand for the new reel would have ensued. What I find surprising is that although a number of reels must surely have been sold during 1890 Hardy's waited until January 1891 before applying for a new patent with which to protect the design of the Perfect reel as we know it.

The early years of Perfect production were very formative, with Forester endeavouring to improve both the reel's design and the methods of its production. This would have presented relatively few problems in manufacture as the reels were, of course, virtually handmade in small batches and therefore easily modified.

I think it can safely be said that Forster Hardy was greatly pleased by the measure of popularity achieved by the Perfect throughout his lifetime, during which thousands of this model were made. Were he to learn that some one Hundred years after his invention so many anglers believe still that his reel ranks among one of the best reels for the job, he would indeed be a content and happy man.

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• Dual polished rotating line guards
• Made in Alnwick, England
• The all time classic fly reel for the discerning traditional fly angler
• Engineered and hand crafted from bar stock aluminium with a naval brass 1 piece spindle and stainless steel ball bearings
• Standard arbor design and large line capacity
• Time proven, adjustable check system with that traditional ‘Hardy sound’
• Deep anodised for strength and durability; polished gunmetal grey finish
• Easily changed from left to right hand wind
• Supplied in limited edition leather presentation box with a unique Hardy turn screw tool