January is nearly at an end and I have yet to begin tying my first saltwater flies. Lots of tying materials have arrived, twice as much are on their way. In the category of new arrivals, I present to you the Emerald Kraken, XLA and other magical creatures. Come spring, they will be put to test in one of the harshest environments in saltwater fly fishing: the Nubian Flats.
When you live in Romania, nothing comes the easy way. I prefer to craft my own flies, but even getting some simple Expanded Polyethylene foam was near impossible. So I had to order a few small blocks of plastazote foam from a U.K. eBay fly fishing shop. The only good fly shop in here that I know about so far is Troutline and I’m already getting lots of supplies from Lucian Vasies but they can’t be expected to have it all.
The Plastazote is a polyethylene foam, very dense, with closed cells and high floatability, used in making probably the most popular popper fly in SWFF, the NYAP (Not Your Average Popper). NYAP is a killer pattern for when the GT’s are pushing the bait on top.
Here is the NYAP as tied by Martyn White:
One of the good news is that my big ‘n’ bad SW fly reels have arrived from Allen Fly Fishing. They are an U.S. based fly reels manufacturer with a very strong following because they offer great products for very decent prices.
Before receiving the reels, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I am used to very high tech bait reels from the Japanese Domestic Market so there isn’t much left to impress me. Still, when I first opened the package, only then I understood why everybody loves the Allen Kraken reels so much.
The Kraken model must be some of the best values in the world of fly fishing reels. That reel is just WOW. Everything looks perfect on it, the drag is incredibly smooth, made of cork and carbon discs, and it’s completely waterproof, being sealed off for good. So, you get a maintenance-free reel with great design, super drag for as little as $219 starting price. And if you sign up for their newsletter, you get a 10% discount code to use on your first order.
The Kraken #4 has got my vote, but what about the Kraken XLA (Xtra Large Arbor)? Seeing it on a picture is one thing, let me tell you this… but holding that Kraken XLA #5 in your hand is something else. First impression: I was lost for words because of how big the reel looked for real. It’s huge but it is made this way for a reason: to be fighting the biggest, fastest and meanest fish in the sea. The extra large arbor is no joke and will help retrieving large amounts of line in no-time, while the super heavy duty carbon multi-disc drag will help you get even the proverbial dead cow out of the mud. The completely sealed drag means the mechanism is maintenance-free and impervious to the corrosive action of saltwater.
Other goodies are the U-shaped spool that is quite narrow, for the „intuitive uniformity” as Sweetandsalt user from The Flyfishing Forum uses to say. That term refers to the line being laid even on the spool without stacking on sides, which could turn deadly when a trophy-size Giant Trevally takes off with your line across the reef.
A.J. Gottschalk from Allen Fly Fishing‘s got me into XLA for my 12 wt. GT setup so I went on with his recommendation. Thanks, A.J.!
In the above picture, please note the repositioned cranking knob, which is moved way inside the spool, towards its center. In combination with the extra large arbor, high diameter spool, that means one thing: blistering-fast retrieve speed. This should come in handy whenever the prized trophy at the end of your line decides to switch direction and to charge back at you!
On the power side, let it be noted that Amazon.com lists the drag power at „+40 lbs.”. That’s amazing to say the least, since the Hardy Fortuna provides a 30 lbs. drag, just as the much cheaper Redington Behemoth. The oversized drag knob can be turned to adjust the drag that can be also completely locked up: I tried that with some line on the spool and I couldn’t get an inch off of it. I’ve heard rumors that the drag was tested by some people and found to be around 80 lbs.!!! Anyway, +40 lbs. is more than fine with me. Actually, this super drag is also employed in the Atlas series and Allen’s U.S domestic made reel, the Omega, that looks just as good as it performs.
I am astonished with the quality Allen reels bring up to the game and I can’t wait to put them to the serious tests of the Red Sea.
Anglers beware: the Krakens are real.
Couldn’t be happier with the reel choice, now I’ll need another XLA spool for the Airflo Deptfinder Big Game 500 grains fly line, for targeting blue water species from the boat… while the main GT line will be the Airflo GT WF12 floating (weighing 500 grains as well).
The Kraken #4 is to be filled with Airflo Super Dri Tropical Punch WF9 floating, Bruce Chard’s taper.
Will return with other updates and once I’ll start to tie those dreaded flies, I think you’ll have something interesting to see.
