1. Troutnut Forum
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3. Some new gear

Just picked up some new stuff lately, and figured I would see if anyone here has anything from these manufacturers.

The reel is an Allan TroutII, large arbor and smooth as glass. I bought it at the Somerset NJ show and after talking to Justin who owns the company, he stated that they were almost sold out of all the stock they brought with them. It was the first I have heard of Allan but I was impressed with the machining and light weight of all their models. Haven't had it on the water yet, but wondered if anyone has one and how they like it.

The rod is from Vision, a 10ft 3/4 in a 4pc. I fished one of these last summer on an outing with a friend who sells them, and I liked it a lot. I typically wrap my own blanks and this is the first "made" rod I own. The difference with these rods from others is they use spigot ferrules rather than tip over butt types on most rods. This makes for a thinner blank overall.

Looking forward to getting these on the stream, I will report back on them in April. CJ

John,

I'm going to venture to say this reel, and at least one other I'm aware of (Clark reels) are being made in China. I'm going to Andros in April and wanted a good, but economical, #9 reel for permit and/or 'cuda. I was looking on Ebay and found these reels being sold by a guy by the name of John Clark. I got my 8/9 LA reel for $98 and free shipping. It is a lovely reel with a very nice glossy black anodize and a red drag hub like the US made Nautilus reels.

Here is a link to a Clark 3/5 reel and if you look at the porting on the housing and the configuration of the spool and the overall design elements it looks much like your Allen reel. It's easy for an enterprising guy to buy a few good reels, locate a good Chinese manufacturer who can reverse engineer the reel and make them for so little money that they can be sold here for $100 and the guy is still making money.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLARK-VIS-3-5-SUPER-LARGE-ARBOR-BAR-STOCK-WATERPROOF-FLY-REEL-/151241066539?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2336ab882b

Matt,

I am sure your right sir. That Clarks reel looks pretty sharp too! Mine came with a soft nylon padded bag, and I could not believe how something this nice can sell for under a hundred bucks.

Have fun on your Permit/Cuda trip! CJ

Hi John,

It's actually a bonefish trip but my buddy told me that every year he has had shots at 'cuda while throwing the #8 for bonefish. He and his partner take four rods in the boat, two with bonefish flies, one with a permit fly, and the 4th with a cuda fly. Then if the guide sees a permit or cuda the guy on the bow just passes the bonefish rod down to the guy in the well and that guy hands the other guy the appropriate rod. Here is where we are going;

http://www.twoboysinn.com/