From Italy comes this new large arbor direct drive reel. Alutecnos, the company, has been around for quite awhile and is quite well known in the big game community for their outstanding conventional big game reels. They have taken that same know-how and attention to detail in tolerances and design to create a terrific fly reel available in four sizes. They use 6082 bar stock aluminum which is denser, and therefore stronger, than the 6061 normally used by most companies.

It features three shielded stainless steel bearings as well as one free wheel bearing which is uni-directional and serves as the clutch. This eliminates the pawl and springs usually used for the clutch in American reels. It means instant drag with absolutely no slop before the drag engages. This also allows the reel to be switched from LH to RH by simply flopping the gear over. The drag surface and clicker plunger are on both sides of the gear.

For the first time ever that I'm aware of, the reel is shipped with two gears. Evidently several field testers felt that cork was the only way to go for a drag material, and several others felt that carbon fiber was a better idea. Well, they decided to offer both. It comes shipped with the cork gear installed and the other gear placed in the box. After one or two attempts, the gear can be switched in well under a minute. Carbon fiber would normally offer a smoother drag while cork would feature a stronger drag due to the fact that it compresses. Remember, that means you get four drag surfaces and clicker plungers all together. All models are offered in black, gold, and silver (clear) anodized finishes. They are very glossy and have a very distinctive appearance. I used a silver model for much of my fishing before taking this company on and I have to say that the finish has held up very well and the reel has performed flawlessly. I particularly like the quality of the outgoing click. Some recent reels are somewhat clacky on the ingo and mushy sounding on the outgo. The Alutecnos is silent on the crank-in, and has a very distinctive click on the outgo. This is a very well thought out product offered at extremely attractive prices. I will be stocking all the sizes in the silver finish initially, but the other colors are readily available through their Florida distributorship. That should mean delivery within a week or two at the most. It also means that warranty work and other repairs can be done in this country.