Differences and Similarities Between These Fly Fishing Reels

When it came time to pair my new (to me) 8 weight fly rod, I had a plan.  I already had a couple of 8 weight fly reels but I wasn't sure which one I should put on the rod.  The smaller one on the right is a Cabela's Prestige Two reel that has a disc drag system.  The larger reel on the left is a Moonshine Creed reel that I bought off of Facebook Marketplace recently.  Click here to read that post.  

The Cabela's reel is over 20 years old, is obviously smaller in diameter, and has a drag system that is not sealed or enclosed.  The Moonshine reel is newer, obviously has a larger diameter, and a drag system that is at the very least enclosed if not completely sealed.  I decided to go with the Moonshine reel to put on my 8 weight because honestly, the Cabela's reel is about the size (diameter wise) some of my 5 and 6 weight reels.  I wanted something with a larger diameter and if I'm being honest, I wanted something that resembled a winch and would be able to gather line a little faster.  

My next step was to find out if the line that I had on the Cabela's reel would properly load the rod.  After a few casts, I was surprised to find that the rod loaded better than the rod that I took the Cabela's reel off of.  Not only could I cast further and more accurately, but the rod loaded well no matter how much line was out.  The other rod would only properly load if it had 20 feet or more to cast.  I was happy to see that I wasn't going to need to buy new line but what happened next, really surprised me.

I decided to transfer the line from the Cabela's reel to the Moonshine reel.  On a surface level, it appeared to me that the Moonshine reel was going to require A LOT more backing to fill the reel.  The diameter of the moonshine reel was bigger and the width was about the same.  However, I decided to just transfer over the line to see what happened.  I didn't know if this was a situation like a shorter, wider glass holds as much water as a tall skinny glass.  To my surprise and delight, the line fit on perfectly and no extra backing was needed.  All that is left now is to sling some streamers at some prespawn largemouth to see how the new (to me) setup works.