Greys Fly Tail AW Reel

How well is it built?

The Fly Tail AW starts life as die-cast aluminium, then goes through two separate machining processes that remove excess metal and leave it with a highly finished design.

The 7/8 has a silver-coloured rim marked Allwater Performance, which sets it apart from a plain black reel, and the large-arbor styling gives it a modern, industrial look.

The real upgrade is corrosion protection. An anodising pre-treatment goes on first and a durable paint finish follows, and together they protect the reel when it's used in salt water.

Salt gets into everything, so that protection matters if you fish from the shore or a boat, and it's just as welcome on a wet freshwater day.

To be fair, a die-cast frame that's machined afterwards isn't quite the same as a fully CNC-machined one like the Guideline Aeon, so it won't have the same crisp detailing. For a reel at this price, though, the 8.4 is fair for a tough, well-protected build.

Drag System

The drag is a sealed, all-water carbon disc system, and its output tops 10lb. A disc drag presses a friction surface against the spool to slow it, and sealing it keeps water, grit and salt away from that surface, so the pressure should stay even when conditions get rough.

Is 10lb enough? For heavier freshwater fly fishing and most saltwater work with 7 to 10-weight lines, I think it's plenty. Trout reels rarely need a strong drag, but salmon and saltwater fish need a smooth, strong, sealed one, and that's exactly the job this drag is built for.

Just set it lighter for finer tippets and tighten it as the fish and the lines get bigger.

That's why the drag is the AW's top score, at 8.6. If you want a certified waterproof drag, the Lamson Liquid Max Cadet has an IPX8 rating, but for a sealed drag at a sensible price, the AW is a sound choice.

Weight & Balance

The 7/8 size weighs 7.20oz, and the 9/10 is a touch heavier. The large arbor spool means the core is wide, so each turn of the handle brings back a lot of line, which gives you the rapid retrieve you want when a fish swims back towards you.

Backing is the thin line that sits behind the fly line and gives a fish room to run. The 7/8 holds a WF8 with 80m of 20lb Dacron, and the 9/10 holds a WF10 with 100m of 30lb Dacron, which is a decent amount of backing for the sizes and the fish they're built for.

Fly lines are numbered by weight, and a reel balances on a rod of the matching number, so the 7/8 suits a 7 or 8-weight and the 9/10 a 9 or 10-weight. It's not a light reel, but heavier rods need some weight in the reel to balance, and the 8.3 reflects that fair trade.

Is it good value for money?

The AW is a mid-priced reel, dearer than the standard Greys Fly Tail and a lot cheaper than the Lamson Liquid Max Cadet or the Guideline Aeon. For a sealed drag of more than 10lb and a corrosion-protected finish, that's a sensible price.

You also get a reel pouch to keep it safe between trips.

The Cadet has certified waterproofing and a more advanced frame, but the AW covers the essentials for heavier lines in fresh or salt water, and with two sizes and a sealed drag it'll take you from big stillwaters to the coast, depending on the line and rod you pair it with.

Overall, I'd recommend the Fly Tail AW to anglers stepping up to heavier lines, whether that's big reservoir fish on a 7/8 or salt water and salmon on a 9/10. If you only fish light lines for trout, the standard Greys Fly Tail is the better-suited reel.