Gear Review: Red Truck Diesel Fly Reel

Simplicity. It’s really what fly fishing is all about. Taking the complication out of rod and reel and stripping it down to a tool for casting, something to hold line, line itself, and a bug, or a small fish imitation. Red truck nailed it with their Diesel Fly Reel.

In a time where sealed carbon drags, anodized finishes, and line capacity to fight fish on the Madison while standing in Phoenix rule. It’s refreshing to see a company offer a simple click and pawl aluminum reel with a clicker and a line guard.

Don’t get me wrong. I think high performance reels have a place, especially on large fly rods. For anything under 5wt, give me a nice looking line holder and i’m set to go. The good people at Red Truck sent me a Diesel in size 3/4 a couple of months ago.

It arrived in a nice looking, vintage reel pouch.

I quickly lined it with a RIO Gold.

I’ve fished it for a few months now on a Sage LL in 4wt and a Sage VXP in 3wt and its been great. The clicker provides just enough resistance so the line doesn’t nest up when a fish runs or I strip off a bunch to cast. The weight is nice in that it’s not too heavy to fish on a 3wt, while still having a bit of bulk so I can use it on the 4wt without having to do more work powering the rod forward.

I’ve taken lots of blue gills on it and recently fished it for a whole weekend here in Arizona for pretty native Apache Trout. I like that with so few moving parts, it can be placed in water and sand with no worry of gumming up.

I really cant think of anything I don’t like about it. If you are looking for a quality, classic looking, fly reel, look no further than the Diesel Fly Reel. A big thanks to the folks at Red Truck, little gem will see many more days on the water.

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Categories: Apache Trout, Arizona, Backcountry, Fish, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Gear Review, Lake Fishing, Trout, White Mountains