In many avenues of fly fishing, it is often argued that a fly reel serves as nothing more than a means to store fly line. On the flats however, that’s far from the case. Quality reels with high performance drag systems can make a huge difference when it comes to bringing hard fighting saltwater species to hand.
In the world of bonefishing, the 8-weight stands alone as the most versatile rod size throughout most bonefishing destinations. Thus, a quality 8-weight reel is an important component to a dependable bonefish setup.
That being said, fly reel design has evolved significantly over the past 15 years or so, and choosing amongst the dozens of extremely high quality reels available today can be a bit overwhelming.
Luckily, the good folks from Trident Fly Fishing just released their 2018 8-Weight Fly Reel Shootout and Review; An extremely comprehensive comparison of 37 (that’s right, thirty-seven!) different 8-weight compatible reels on the market today, each tested across 13 different categories.
If you’re in the market for a new saltwater reel, or just love the finer points of fly fishing gear as much as we do, we strongly suggest giving it a read by clicking right here. For a quick background on the shootout, along with some details on how data was collected for each reel, check out the video below.
Note: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to see the video on Youtube.
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