3 1/8" Hardy Perfect or St. George - I have neither unfortunately. For many years my lake reels were 3 3/8" Perfects so I use those, they show the years but I love to hear them sing...
JW Young Condex and Pridex models in 3.25" and 3.50" will fit the bill nicely also. Pretty much bullet proof and you can find them for $100 +/- fairly easy. I have Pridex and Beaudex models with "born on dates" from the 50's and 60's. Easy to maintain and if you have an "oh shit moment" the mental impact isn't like dropping a Perfect or a St George Jr.
nothing wrong with a shakespear russell on older bamboo. i went to one with the round line guard because the reel foot is a bit thinner than the pfleugers or the youngs.
Here's a bit of a sleeper reel, one that doesn't come to mind but is great on a bamboo rod...Sage 106M or 108M (wider width). Classic looks, smooth and adjustable click & pawl drag, tough as nails and best feature is the hefty weight, coming in around 7 ounces. I like a heavier reel to balance my bamboo rods over 8' long and these reels do that very well. Made my JW Young.
I have an Orvis Disc reel on my Bamboo. I got the disc because I hate the click sound. Since all my Bamboo are 5 wt or less, the reel is just something to hold line and since I could care less what other people think of my "style" I opted for cheap(ish) function instead of fashion
I grew up with spinning and conventional reels fishing ocean for barracuda, bonito and tuna, and freshwater bass, so I am kinda biased in favor of a drag system instead of click and pawl.
Actually, it is Bonito (My BS is in Marine Biology; MS in Animal Behavior). Grew up in Long Beach, Hermosa Beach, Lakewood. Went to LBCC, Cal State LB, Cal Baptist (Riverside) and Cal State Northridge.
Catching Bonito at Horseshoe kelp, Belmont Pier, Seal Beach pier, San Gabriel breakwater by the steam plant on freshwater rods, even caught a few legal "Barries" off of Belmont. Ahi tuna in Mexico and a few "footballs"; Yellowtail off of Catalina. And of course, albies on 4 day long range to the Coronados.
My dad owned a burger shop at Hermosa Beach when I was really young. Fished Redondo harbor until I was twelve. And yes, I grew up mis-calling them "bonita"...its hard to break habits formed when you are 5 years old. LOL! If the steam plant "bubble" in King Harbor was still going strong pulling in large numbers of bonito, I'd probably get down there to fish it every year. I was sorry when that fishery tailed off.
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