Nautilus reel owner hard at work

A little bonefish gearhead satire, sent to us by Kristen Mustad of Nautilus Reels

20 years of pursuing the speedy and smart bonefish of Biscayne Bay had prepared me well for what lay ahead for me this past January. Impossible conditions: Predatory barracudas scattered across endless bonefish flats, 300+ pound lemon sharks and 1.5 lb bonnet head sharks!

My expert guide Joe Gonzalez poled me towards a school of Biscayne Bay Tailers, the most elusive of all bonefish subspecies. One miscalculation or bad cast, and the day would be spoiled by a dozen scattering bonefish at high noon. It was now or never, and the way the day had been going, it looked like never.

All it took was a quick look at my trusted companion of six years: my Nautilus CCF 8 in the commercially unavailable custom “Teflon-coated apache attack helicopter grey-green type III anodizing” finish. As usual, the reel inspired the confidence of a 7th generation industrialist perfectionist lottery winner in my shallow soul, and I let go of the Canadian-Cuban coco loco custom bonefish pattern in my right hand and began my back cast. Amazing!

The perfect balance of this sublime piece of machinery turned my otherwise bland $850 9’ fast action rod into a precise hunting tool that delivered the fly not close to the fish, but perfectly where it needed to be.

Three strips, a pause and one more strip was all it took to let the fish feel the sting of the barbless fly that I courageously had removed the weed guard from. No weed guard on a grass flat in Biscayne bay? Am I crazy? No. I just like a challenge. So the fish ran, the drag sung, and the rod tip never bounced as it would have with any other manufacturer’s reel. Sublime. One more click on the drag knob and the fish just gave up: raised his fins and turned over like he had been tasered. Now that is what we expect of Nautilus Reels!. Come here puppy!

As the sun settled on the western horizon, Captain Joe and I looked each other in the eye (he only has one) and knew we had had a good day. We fired up the 4 stroke and headed off to dream of yet another day.