As the national tournament director for the Kayak Fishing ClassicS I am always looking for great gear for our contestants. As a fly fishing guide on the Gulf of Mexico I am always on the lookout for new advances in fly fishing equipment. In particular, fly reels and fly rods. Recently Redington became the fly reel sponsor to the ClassicS and it was time for a review of their new Delta Series fly reel. We thoroughly tested the new reel prior to bringing the yet not released reel to our anglers and found it to be a very well designed and well made reel. I wanted to put the new Delta through the paces personally and as a saltwater guide. This would of course mean a photo or two so I contacted the good folks at Redington about a fly rod for the photos as well.
I requested the Redington 10 weight, 9 foot CPX Saltwater rod to go with their Delta 11-12 wt reel. I spooled the real with a Jim Teeny Professional Series fly line, 10 wt floating Permit line which has excellent distance characteristics for large flies. The gear went together to make a very well balanced package that is comfortable to hold while waiting for shots. While I was giving a friend some on the water lessons in fly casting, I took advantage of the windy situation and cast the new combo to check out the rod. I must say that the CPX handles the wind very well and picks up 60 feet of line and large fly with no problem which highlighted its strong backbone and lifting power.
A few days later I went out by myself to put the rod and reel through the paces. There was the normal 5 to 10 knot winds that are almost always present on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I started by bombing the cast by using the wind behind me and easily achieved 80 foot casts. I came about and cast into the wind with great results by increasing my line speed on the haul. I made several accuracy casts of 40 to 60 feet with little effort and laid the fly right on target from the 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock positions, both with the wind at my back and then into the wind. I found the CPX to be very responsive to the double haul and experienced very little load fatigue and managed very tight loops without really working at it. The quality of the rod speaks to you in hand and she has great looks to accompany her vigor and quick response to commands and controls.
The Delta fly reel is much more than a device to hold line upon. The reel is made of aircraft aluminum and is machined very nicely with great accuracy. The anodized finished is perfect and should hold up to the harsh saltwater conditions for a lifetime. More importantly the Delta and the CPX can dance. While on the water with my friend, we saw a huge shower of bait and then I spotted the reason why. A nice 12 pound tarpon juvenile was getting her fill at the breakfast table. When I did this testing I went back to the same area with the intent of hooking up some nice juvenile poons. I mainly wanted to hook up with 10 to 20 pound tarpon as they are greased lightning and the shallow water forces them to run instead of dive.
I saw some nervous water and it looked like poons so I cast to get in on the coming may lay that was about to erupt. My wish came true as a nice 20 pounder slurped my fly and I drove the hook home with a strip set. If you have ever caught a young tarpon you know what this was like. If you haven't, you can equate it to a 20 pound bonefish on steroids. This put a great load on the sealed drag system and that was what I was looking for. The fun and excitement was just a bonus that you really should try. After a long morning of this and several nice poons and building ambient I called it a morning and headed back to my dock. The Redington Delta reel and CPX fly rod performed flawlessly and made for great fun. If you are looking for a great combo that won't break the bank, you owe it to yourself to take a good look at these new fly reels and fly rods. I am very impressed by their performance and quality and know that you will be too. Take a look at the new Redington Delta reel and CPX fly rod at www.Redington.com and check out all of the great Redington gear. You'll be glad that you did and so will your wallet.
(ArticlesBase SC #4761606)
