The Weekly Five - 21
Hubless Reels are Back.
Welcome to The Weekly Five, Episode 21.
New Zealand’s new trout season opened with patchy weather with heavy floods in Southland and late snow in Central Otago, then a couple of weeks of warm settled weather. Right now a wave of low pressure fronts are moving up the South Island’s West Coast, disrupting river fishing west of the Southern Alps for the week ahead. The East coast is faring better with drier days, but the strong winds and gusts build through the day, so hit the river early.
Although the lazy, hazy days of summer are still ahead for some of us, inbound anglers have been arriving enforce into New Zealand earlier than ever. Hi to USA anglers: Kirk, Alyson and Soren, Steve and Nancy, as well as Maria and Raul from Santiago, and ex-USA now local residents Fred and Sabine, all whom I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying riverside days with since the November opening. Incoming this week are Corey (USA) and Chris (Australia). Welcome to the many other overseas anglers who are yet to arrive in New Zealand. Tread lightly, take only photos, leave nothing but footsteps, and we’ll all get along just fine on the local streams.
In what is a small step for fly anglers, but a giant leap for the industry, hubless reels are back and here to stay. Wānaka’s Epic Fly Fish leads the small reel category with their super-sexy clicker, the Trutta Model 3/4/5. Denmark’s Arctic Silver is ready to take on this new frontier with their futuristic Model IC3. Who’s next to launch?
Epic’s stunning new Trutta Model 3/4/5 has launched a fresh wave of interest in hubless fly reels.
Speaking of Epic, their soon-to-be-released 890Ti Titanium saltwater rod has been teased during testing with a pre-production rod on a New Zealand Kingfish.
Titanium meets Kiwi Kingfish. Epic’s new 890Ti in testing, via Epic’s Instagram.
We’re getting plenty of reports of exciting early season action on the Rio Grande and Rio Menendez in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province. If you would like to join Southflyfisher at Wuijoor Lodge, Patagonia in February/March 2025, please drop us a message for dates and details.
Since this issue is turning into a gearhead’s list of sweet fly fishing tackle to acquire, you may as well have a gander at the expanding Nautilus GT series. Leveraging the best of the mighty GTX 11/12+ that launched back in 2017, the ‘new for 2025’ GTS (144 grams/5.1oz) reel features a novel duel drag system that allows the drag to be set for different line weights (5/6 or 7/8). More GTS and GTR reels are expected to launch in 2025 replacing the discontinued Nautilus NVG range.
To share angling news or contact Exploration Angling, please drop us a message.
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