Redington Grande Fly Reel

The new Redington Grande has arrived with much fanfare in the fly fishing community. Redington's new top-end reel promises to del...

The new Redington Grande has arrived with much fanfare in the fly fishing community. Redington's new top-end reel promises to deliver a CNC machined, light-weight reel with a fully sealed, super torque, carbon fiber drag system for under $400.

Our first impressions are that it looks the part. It has sleek features, smooth drag function, and the size and weight are right on for what we would want to use it for. It balances well on the rods that we have put it on. We threw a 9/10/11 on a Redington Chromer 7136-4 and found that it looked and felt great on that rod. We also put a 5/6/7 on a Redington Vice 690-4 and found that to balance well and have a nice size for the rod, while holding more backing than most reels of comparable sizes.

It is available in black, marine (blue) and champagne. The blue and champagne are not too gaudy, which has been known to happen with bold reel colors. The blue will look great on saltwater setups.

The Grande's drag system is top notch. Carbon fiber disc drag, fully sealed, easily adjustable; you can't ask for a better system. We will really only know how effective their "sealed drag" is after enough anglers have put it to the test and we see how they holdup. That is the thing about new products. It may look cool, and perform well for a while, but design or construction flaws may come out after a year or two. But for now, we will assume that the drag is sealed well and truly limits the amount of water going in or grease/oil going out to nearly nothing. It certainly looks like a top-end reel that will hold up over time.

For me, and many like me, the most important, and most basic part of a reel is whether it is die-cast or CNC machined. Machined aluminum is superior to die-cast. There is no question about that. Die-cast reels are easily bent and broken. The do not hold anodizing (color) as well, and tend to wear out much, much quicker. Machined aluminum is strong, can be made to very precise tolerances, and is more easily anodized to protect it as well as making it look cool.

The Grande has already been compared to the Behemoth online. The machining is one key difference between the Grande and the Behemoth. The Behemoth is die-cast aluminum, while the Grande is CNC machined. The drag system is significantly upgraded on the Grande, as the Behemoth has some key plastic parts in the drag system, while the Grande has a seriously top-end drag.

The price tag for this reel is at the top end of the range for Redington. $299.95 to $349.95 makes this a premium reel for most anglers, but it promises premium performance. It certainly looks like it will deliver, and we have no doubt that Redington has delivered a winner.

As always, we offer free backing with every reel purchase at Big Y Fly Co. Please don't hesitate to call or email us if you have any questions.