Bauer SLT Reel Review - Best New Saltwater Fly Reels of 2024
Check out all the new Bauer SLT Reels Here!
The Bauer SLT is going to blow people away. This reel is instantly in the top five best saltwater fly reels. Don't believe me? Try one. Many of you know that I am a big fan of several other top fly reel brands including Abel, Hatch, Shilton, Nautilus, and a few more. The new SLT series has tons of drag (double some competitors), plus it is very well-made in terms of sealing and build quality. The drag knob is smooth to turn, has a good amount of grip on it and is a great size as well. The reels will only be offered in two colors, blue and black, each with a silver accent.
The Bauer SLT is going to blow people away. This reel is instantly in the top five, probably top three best saltwater fly reels.
Bauer reels are owned by Winston fly rods, or at any rate they are part of the same company. Winston already makes the best new saltwater fly rods so they wanted to go ahead and release the best new saltwater fly reel too. And they just did.
I briefly consulted with Winston/Bauer regarding these reels for the past couple of years as they developed and refined them (*unpaid, just providing feedback based on my experience - I still intend to be unbiased in this review). I don't know the extent to which my feedback was necessarily an influence but it was provided nonetheless. I was asked because I sell more saltwater fly reels than any other individual salesperson on the planet. So even if I didn't know much about reels, I sure know what sells and what customers ask for every day.
*Keep this in mind as you do your research on rods, reels, etc: Most people writing fly gear "reviews" these days have never even used the product (maybe for a day) and definitely don't own one. I had these actual reels in my hands many months ago, long before any announcements about them. I'm buying one of each of these new reels for myself. Bauer does not give me anything for free. I put my money where my mouth is, which is why people usually tend to like my reviews. If it wasn't good, believe me I would tell you, I have no problem making people mad with my honest reviews. You want to read about the reels themselves. Well, context matters. When I tell you that the team at Bauer did their research and testing, they really did. This has been in the works for a long time. Not quite as long as a few reels I can't mention yet from a certain very slow brand, but still a long time.
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