Locked In - Bauer SST

Sad to say, Bauer stopped production with the SST reel series a few years ago. The SST reels are awesome and it's a good thing I acquired mine back when I did in 2017. The SST reel replaced my old CFX reel and it quickly became my reel of choice. The drag knob on the front of the reel distinguishes the SST from other disc drag reels on the market, making the reel efficient for adjusting drag without need to change hands. Yeah, I wouldn't want that design to fish the salt flats, but for my trout streams, it's perfect for me. I'm not shy to say it's the best sealed drag available.

There was a time I would only fish with click and pawl reels on my tiny mountain Rios. Why? Because they are light and pair nicely on light trout rods, particularly those rods that are shorter than 8 feet in length. However, these SST reels are so light, I began locking them into these ultra-light rods for the same streams...especially those that can have an occasional big trout lurking in the undercut of a bank.

So yeah, I'm still holding out hope that Bauer brings out a new, classically designed, trout reel to replace the SST beauty...

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Post Note: After pushing the publish button, I realized Ben of Flat Creek Rods built the rod or modified the reel seat on each fly rod in these photos. I hadn't planned that, just was a subconscious selection of work by Flat Creek Rods...yeah, I like them much!