Sea Level Extreme Fly Reels

Sea Level

Sea Level is an on-line fly shop and adventure travel agency located in California. Ray Hutcherson is the owner. He was an Albright dealer was when Albright was a major force, along with TFO and Redington, in the drive to bring quality products to fishermen at lower prices. I studied the Albright Tempest reel for quite some time at the dealer show once, and had to admit it appeared to be a terrific reel at its pricepoint. When Albright decided to cease production of the Tempest and to build an even less expensive reel, Ray bought the remaining inventory from Albright and it became the Sea Level Tempest reel. When supplies began to run low, Ray redesigned the reel and had the same company make it for Sea Level. He decided to feature only two large sizes as that's where his cork drawbar drag design is best. This is the current Sea Level Extreme fly reel, and it's machined from 6061 barstock. Essentially, the #4 would be a tarpon sized reel and the #5 would be a big game size. I've used the #4 and found it to be a very fine reel with a smooth drag and a solid feel. These are not intended to be another lightweight reel which seem to be more and more common these days. These are built to take some abuse that often comes while pursuing tarpon, sailfish, and other similar sized game. It features rim control, a very secure push button quick release system, and the ventilation and position of the reelfoot provides for nearly perfect balance. The original run of reels included a few of each size which were anodized blue. A few of these are still available in the #5, and I have some in stock. There are no more of the blue in the #4, however. I think if I just handed you one of these and asked you what you thought, you'd say they probably sell for over $500.00. They really look and feel that good. The drag is not sealed, but it is protected from the elements far better than most open concept drawbar drags. And there is no porting on the backplate to allow foreign substances to intrude on your drag/clutch mechanism. It comes with a brief owner's guide and a neoprene reelcase. These would also make very nice, relatively inexpensive, spey reels.

Sea Level Inside

I noticed when I installed a line on my #4 that it didn't hold quite what is shown above. I run into this quite a bit, and it has to do with my not getting everything spooled on a tightly as possible. While doing so allows for more backing, if it doesn't go on that firmly while you're fighting a fish you can end up with a real surprise when the reel is full and there's still five feet of flyline that needs to be wound on yet. If installed in the normal manner I would expect to get somewhere around 300yds of 30# on the #4 with most floating twelve weight lines, which is plenty. I'm guessing that the #5 will be used with GSP backing more often than not and probably with a shooting head system. I think you'd be able to get a head, one hundred foot running line and about 700-800yds of 50# PowerPro or similar GSP backing on it. Short of hooking a five hundred pound marlin, that should be plenty for your big game fishing.

Sea Level	Sea Level