I was at a large tackle buying show put on by one of our distributors in October 2006 when the reps for Pflueger pounced on me to show me the latest and greatest. I say "pounce" with tongue in cheek because I was there to be pounced upon in search of Pflueger President Spinning and Baitcasting Reels. These are absolutely beautiful reels and great sellers because our customers can instantly feel the high quailty construction when they pick one up off the shelf here at Red Rock. But, when I saw this new 2007 Pflueger Supreme reel, I knew it had to come home with me to mate with our stable of St. Croix Rods.

Features - the first thing you notice is the unbelieveable weight of the Plfueger Supreme spinning reel. It weighs nothing at all. It was by far the lightest fishing reel at the show and I picked up the biggest Supreme model (8040 MG) which can hold 250 yards of 10# test line and it still felt lighter than any other reel in the place! Trust me, I handled a LOT of fishing reels at this show. Shimano had a Magnesium model that retails for about $35 more than the Pflueger Supreme and it was barely lighter than the non-mag Shimano model and felt about 3 lbs. heavier than the Pflueger Supreme. There was no comparison. The Pfueger is light. I bought all three sizes for our inventory at Red Rock.

The other thing that you can't help but notice are all the little, precision holes they drilled into this reel to cut the weight down even more. As per usual, the drag was silky smooth and the instant anti-reverse was incredibly precise. Top it all off with a comfortable handle and you could be casting your St. Croix all day long and then some! Everytime you lighten up your rod and reel, you become more sensitive. Then, we have to be careful what we say around you as a result.

As for fishing, if you use great gear, you can tell the difference between a rock, weed, log, and fish. Anything you can do to narrow down the pool of choices to ultimately result specifically with the final choice being "fish", the better your success rate will be.

If you like to fish, you have my permission to have the best gear. And, if your wife kicks you out of the house for buying good gear, you don't have my permission to come live here with me. However, you will have more time for fishing at that point and you'll probably need to use all of your fishing skills just to survive and then woo her back. I'm convinced that this reel, the Pflueger Supreme on a brand new St. Croix Rod will help you get your life back in order.

One other cool detail about this reel was the incredible strength of the magnesium frame. If you grasped the reel body and try to twist it slightly while it's locked into the rod seats, you can't twist it. It has no twist, no give and I'm pretty sure no matter how big the northern pike monster is, it is not even going to twitch under stress. All other reels that I tried had some give. This magnesium reel does not move both in the Pflueger MG and the Shimano MG.

Now, in all honesty, I've NEVER had a reel snap off ever in my life and through 25 years of rugged, Boundary Waters guiding. I've used Shimano extensively and I started out with the usual, plastic framed reels back in the mid 80's right after my 5 lb. Garcia Mitchell 300 finally conked out. Initially, I thought Shimanos were kind of hokey, because they weren't a Mitchell 300. After one trip out, I found the new-fangled reel to be outstanding and all other new reels of that time tended to be cheap, junk rip-offs. Remember that I watched a zillion reels come, fail and then go with clients. All of my Shimano reels did a fine job until I actually just wore them out after 10-12 years of use. Nowadays, reels have definitely improved dramatically by many other companies and Shimano maintains itself as well. But Pflueger has made a roaring comeback with some really nicely made products that compete and exceed Shimano and other brands as well in my opinion. I can't say that having an MG frame is that important from a strength standpoint. However, never having owned a reel so lightweight - that's a different story. That may have made a difference, who knows? All I can say is that now, I wouldn't hesistate owning and using this Pflueger Supreme.

Here are the factory details:

• Lightweight durable magnesium body & rotor
• 9 stainless steel ball bearings
• One-way clutch instant anti-reverse bearing
• Double anodized machined aluminum spool with holes
• Aluminum side plate
• Sure-ClickTM bail provides an audible signal when bail is fully opened and ready to cast
• Anti-twist titanium line roller
• Machined aluminum handle with soft touch knob
• Sealed drag system
• Spare aluminum spool
• Convertible right or left hand retrieve
• On/Off anti-reverse