Items by Franco Vivarelli

SEMI-AUTOMATIC FLY REELS FRANCO VIVARELLI

A TIMELESS ICON

Born in 1920, Franco Vivarelli began his career as an engineer, but his passion for fly fishing led him to develop a fly reel that over the years has become one of the most iconic reels on the fly-fishing scene: the Vivarelli Standard FV102.

The uniqueness of this fly reel compared to other traditional fly reels lies in the way the fly line is retrieved. Whereas with classic fly reels the fly line is spooled onto the reel by manually turning the spool at the reel knob, with the semi-automatic Vivarelli Standard FV102 the fly line is retrieved by operating a lever that sets the spool in rapid rotation. Each pull on this lever activates the spool like a flywheel via a gearbox, which turns very quickly due to the favourable gear ratio, allowing the angler to retrieve a lot of fly line in a very short time and with minimal effort.

The Vivarelli Standard FV102 is not only used in traditional fly fishing, but is also very popular for modern nymph fishing, especially in France and Spain, as its closed reel frame makes it ideal for Euronymphing with monofilament lines or ultra-light 0.55 mm fly lines.

The Vivarelli Standard FV102 is, as already mentioned, the first reel built by Franco. It was made of carbon fibre, which not only makes it strong and very light, but also gives it an attractive appearance and timeless elegance. Later Vivarelli fly reels were also made of aluminium, with different line capacities, but always with the semi-automatic retrieve system.

Although Vivarelli fly reels never achieved the same popularity as traditional fly reels, they have nevertheless gained a loyal following among fly fishermen, who still prefer them to all the imitations that have appeared in recent years.

Franco Vivarelli passed away in 2006, but his legacy in the world of fly-fishing lives on thanks to his revolutionary semi-automatic fly reels, which continue to be appreciated and used by anglers all over the world.