Need advice on a Redington reel?

[nighthawk]

I am thinking of buying a Redigton Red.Fly2 reel. I like the copper one like this one:

http://www.redington.com/prod.php?k=...d.Fly2%20Reel#

I have a Red.Fly reel and like it a lot. I was wondering if any of you have any experience, good, bad and or ugly, with the Red.Fly2 reel?

I am not interested in another make, just the Redington.

Thanks.

[tailingloop]

The Red.Fly2 is a Crosswater (which appears to be the same as the Cabelas Three Forks reel) with an almunimum frame instead of the graphite composite frame. It is actually a small amount heavier than than the Crosswater and some may feel it is more cosmetically appealing. I don't think either is particularly pretty.

I haven't used the Red.Fly2. I have looked it over as well as the Crosswater and they are both solid reels. One of my regular fishing buddies has three of the Crosswater reels which he as used extensively for local bay and inshore saltwater fishing for over a year without problems. The drag seems to be better than most sub $100 reels and has been smooth and more than sufficient for bonito and barracuda and stripers and so it would probably be fine for salmon and steelhead too as well as most fresh and light saltwater fishing. Fishing side by side, my buddy's Crosswaters have been just as effective in the short term as my reels costing 5 to 10 times as much. As for the long term? Also the drag in the Crosswater/Red.Fly2 is superior in my opinion to the drag in the old Red.Fly reel.

It might not be the reel you would want if stranded on a desert island, or even to take with you to some exotic remote fishing location, but it would do fine for most fresh and light saltwater fishing. Based on my observations I was tempted to purchase a couple of these, but since I already have about 2 dozen reels I have passed - for the time being.

An excellent value I think.

[nighthawk]

The drag is my biggest beef with the red.fly reel but then it is almost always an issue on any reel I have checked out. Seems like it is either all on or all off. Seems to me we are yet to invent a fly reel in my price range that has the superior quality drag that most $50-$200 spinning reels have. Probably just me though.

Thanks for the advice.

[tailingloop]

Based on my actual usage in the saltwater of the Redington Crosswater and Redington SV, the drags on these reels (and thus the Red.Fly2) are the best I have seen in sub $100 reels. The SV drag is better than the Crosswater/RF2 drag in my opinion, but that is not the reel you asked about. They don't put out the same drag resistance as more expensive models, but the provide a couple of pounds of drag at the highest setting which is enough for most uses and they dont ramp up too fast.

I have talked with many anglers who have tried to get by with an inexpensive (sub $100) reel for local light saltwater work and the Redington reels have out lasted and out performed the others, including some Okuma, Cabelas, Bass Pro, S.A., Cortland, and older Redington models.