What's That Reel?

Considering the amount of time I spend on the websites for Tackle Warehouse, Tackle Tour, and other poverty-inducing fishing-related entities, I’ve come to consider myself a pretty well-informed consumer. Unfortunately, each time I step out of my narrow lane I get slapped in the face and reminded of how little I know.

My base assumption is that all walks of anglers use quality brands like Shimano and Daiwa and Loomis, and indeed they are widespread beyond bass – to salt, to fly, and elsewhere – but as you take a deeper dive into those subcultures you see all sorts of other stuff you never knew existed.

In the fly world, that meant companies like Abel and Seigler and Nautilus.

When we went to Guatemala last week, I was once again introduced to something new. In this case, it was Alutecnos reels, another brand that had previously escaped my notice. I found out after the fact that they are an Italian brand (per their website: “Enrolled in the Padua Chamber of Commerce”) that bills itself as “The Ultimate Big-Game Fishing Equipment.”

I’m not quite sure what makes them so good, but I can say that the drags were buttery smooth, the construction seemed solid, and they never missed a beat on any of the 37 sailfish (or handful of dorado) that we landed. To the extent that we ever lost a fish, it was totally on us, not our equipment. Of course, at a suggested price of 469 to 1579 Euros (509 to 1714 dollars) apiece, you’d expect them to be pretty damn refined. Once they move into the bass market, we’re all in trouble.