As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed one day this past summer, I came across something that caught my attention. This was something I’ve never seen before. A saltwater specific click and pawl fly reel? Now that was something I had to learn more about. For those who don’t know, a click and pawl fly reel is a reel with no drag system. Before modern drag systems were invented, fly reels were given “drag” by a gear and a spring-loaded “clicker”. Now, I’ve seen modern fly reel companies make click and pawl fly reels before, like the Ross Colorado, or the Abel TR, but those are both geared toward trout. The idea that someone would fish a reel with no drag system, for some of the baddest fish in the ocean amazed me.
Well, the idea wasn’t too crazy after all because a few weeks later, I had a Cubalaya Fair Chase in my hand, and False Albacore were blitzing all around me. It didn’t take long to hook into one of those small tuna, and man, that reel SCREAMS! I ended up breaking the fish off during a blistering run, but that’s all it took to get me hooked. Over the next month or so, I chased more albies, caught plenty of Striped Bass (including my biggest ever), and Bluefish on the Fair Chase. After we worked out some kinks, this reel was amazing, and I couldn’t be more pumped to be a part of its journey!
