In
the Spring 2006 issue of Wild on the Fly there was a very
short article with a photo of a one hundred and twenty-eight pound
yellowfin tuna caught on a fly. As anyone who has even tangled with
a thirty-five pound yellowfin can tell you, they're one heck of
a fish. The copy said the fish was caught off the coast of South
Africa and the reel used was a Shilton, made in South Africa. There
was no way for me to resist looking into the Shilton reel. What
I found were really three completely different models. Two of them,
the CK and CL series, are very nice reels essentially designed for
freshwater fishing. Though I'm not going to inventory these models I can
easily order either for you through the distributor in Denver. However, the reel which caught both
the tuna and my eye, was the SL series. Here is a large arbor, skeletal
frame, saltwater reel with a gear and pawl clutch. So many of today's
large arbors are going to the one-way bearing clutch which can be
a nice feature, but the gear and pawl is stronger and more reliable
in the long run. That is especially important when pursuing large
fish. The only feature this reel doesn't have is an outgoing click which is also true of the CL and CK series.
Designing one into a gear and pawl clutch has always been a challenge
and those reels out there that have one usually have a mushy sound
to the click. This is a cork drag, drawbar design reel machined
from 6082T6 monobloc aluminum. They have detents in the drag adjustment
and two stainless ball bearings. At the current prices, it is a
superb value in a top notch design. More than that, they are beautiful.
Each SL reel comes with a nylon reelcase that has a pouch
for the drag lubricant included, plus a box and instruction manual.
The newest SL size is the SL8 which is designed for pelagic fish. It might very well be the best value in a serious direct drive bluewater reel. Quite new is the CL1, which is actually a large arbor version of the CL2. The spools are interchangeable between the two models, so with one frame and both the CL1 and CL2 spools one would have both a 3/4 and a 5/6 setup. Also, the SL6, SL7, and SL8 now have extreme arbor spools available that they call Mega Arbor. They are interchangeable with the standard large arbor reel spools. One can also order the frames with just the Mega Arbor spools. Those are then called the SLL6, SLL7, and SLL8 models. Shilton is looking to add as much versatility in their lineup as possible.
I have both the black and titanium finishes of the SL series in stock. Shilton has set up an importer/distributor in Denver so all of their reels should be available with virtually no wait.
In
the Spring 2006 issue of Wild on the Fly there was a very
short article with a photo of a one hundred and twenty-eight pound
yellowfin tuna caught on a fly. As anyone who has even tangled with
a thirty-five pound yellowfin can tell you, they're one heck of
a fish. The copy said the fish was caught off the coast of South
Africa and the reel used was a Shilton, made in South Africa. There
was no way for me to resist looking into the Shilton reel. What
I found were really three completely different models. Two of them,
the CK and CL series, are very nice reels essentially designed for
freshwater fishing. Though I'm not going to inventory these models I can
easily order either for you through the distributor in Denver. However, the reel which caught both
the tuna and my eye, was the SL series. Here is a large arbor, skeletal
frame, saltwater reel with a gear and pawl clutch. So many of today's
large arbors are going to the one-way bearing clutch which can be
a nice feature, but the gear and pawl is stronger and more reliable
in the long run. That is especially important when pursuing large
fish. The only feature this reel doesn't have is an outgoing click which is also true of the CL and CK series.
Designing one into a gear and pawl clutch has always been a challenge
and those reels out there that have one usually have a mushy sound
to the click. This is a cork drag, drawbar design reel machined
from 6082T6 monobloc aluminum. They have detents in the drag adjustment
and two stainless ball bearings. At the current prices, it is a
superb value in a top notch design. More than that, they are beautiful.
Each SL reel comes with a nylon reelcase that has a pouch
for the drag lubricant included, plus a box and instruction manual.
The newest SL size is the SL8 which is designed for pelagic fish. It might very well be the best value in a serious direct drive bluewater reel. Quite new is the CL1, which is actually a large arbor version of the CL2. The spools are interchangeable between the two models, so with one frame and both the CL1 and CL2 spools one would have both a 3/4 and a 5/6 setup. Also, the SL6, SL7, and SL8 now have extreme arbor spools available that they call Mega Arbor. They are interchangeable with the standard large arbor reel spools. One can also order the frames with just the Mega Arbor spools. Those are then called the SLL6, SLL7, and SLL8 models. Shilton is looking to add as much versatility in their lineup as possible. 
