I have fished the Mahama fly reels for the past three seasons in California, the Florida Keys, Mainland Mexico, Baja California, Christmas Island and Cape York Australia. Both reels have exceptionally smooth drags and more than adequate line capacity and are exceptionally durable.

I have successfully landed several tarpon in the 90-100 lb range, and plenty of smaller tarpon, several pacific sailfish, big dorado and tuna up to 30lbs as well as a couple of whopper Giant Trevally on the larger model. This reel works very well on 11 weight to 13 weight fly rods. I use the smaller model for 9wt and 10 weight fishing and have had miles of line stripped off like a freight train by numerous species of tropical saltwater fish.

I fish a lot in the extreme areas of saltwater fly-fishing. I really like these reels and would recommend them to anyone looking for a fly reel that can handle the most demanding conditions.

-- Howard McKinney - Fishabout Inc.