Whenever choosing Trout fishing gear it is always wise to allow a decent budget for fly lines and a rod. The reel in my opinion stores the fly line and does very little else when Trout fishing in everyday circumstances on most UK stillwaters. However this does not mean that no attention whatsoever should be paid to the reel. After all it will be subject to a fair few bumps and knocks plus every now and again a Trout may want to test the drag system.

The GRXi cartridge reel by Greys ticks all the boxes. One of our bestsellers, this reel is superb value for money. It comes with 4 spare spools, a hard wearing outer shell and sports a smart black finish. The whole package comes complete with a smart carry case which at £49.99 for the lot is very good value for money. For those who wish to carry a serious range of lines there is even better news, spare spools come in at just £7.99 each. The Salmon version is a little more expensive at £64.99, but if you only manage the odd session with a double hander then this is the reel for you.

In terms of performance, what you see is what you get. The drag is basic and a decent pull will be needed to remove each spool. The spool rotation is smooth, but the click pawl is a little more ford focus than DB7! Left to right hand wind change is simple. The perfect partner to the Greys GRXi fly rod and another product used regularly by clients of Nick Hart Fly Fishing. 3 sizes are available to cover river/small water, reservoir and Salmon.