Fishing a Ross Reel on Western Colorado Rivers
A fly reel does not catch fish. The angler catches fish. The reel is the piece of gear that protects the work the angler is doing, holds the line, and stops the run when a big trout decides it wants to be somewhere else.
That said, the right reel makes the work easier. And on the rivers we guide here in western Colorado, the right reel for most days is a Ross.
We are not biased because Ross Reels is made in Montrose. We are biased because we have fished these reels on the Gunnison, the Uncompahgre, the San Miguel, and the Cimarron for years, and they hold up to everything the water throws at them.
The Lower Gunnison and the Gorge
The Lower Gunnison and the Gunnison Gorge are big-water trout fisheries. Rainbow and brown trout in this stretch routinely run 16 to 20 inches, with the occasional fish well above that. When a trout that size hooks up in fast water, you need a reel that can dump line cleanly and stop the fish before it reaches structure.
The Ross Evolution LTX is the reel most of our guides fish on these rivers. It has a fully sealed carbon drag that runs smooth from the lightest setting all the way down to lockup. The arbor is sized large enough that line picks up quickly when a fish turns and runs back at the boat. And the reel sheds water, sand, and the occasional dunk in the river without complaint.
For anglers stepping up to the three-day Gorge trip, this is the reel we recommend bringing. If you want to learn more about that trip, our Gunnison Gorge 3-day guided fly fishing page walks through the experience.
The Uncompahgre
The Uncompahgre is technical water. The Pa-Co-Chu-Puk tailwater section below Ridgway Reservoir holds selective trout that have seen plenty of flies, and the in-town stretch through Montrose offers year-round opportunity for anglers willing to fish small flies and light tippet.
This is where a smooth click-pawl reel earns its keep. The Ross San Miguel or the Ross Animas are both excellent choices for the Unc. The click-pawl drag is light enough that a 5x or 6x tippet will not pop on a hookset, and the audible click tells you exactly what your fish is doing. There is a reason these reels have been the standard for technical trout work for fifty years.
If you are planning a trip on this river with us, our Uncompahgre River guided fly fishing trips cover both the tailwater and the float sections.
The San Miguel and the Cimarron
The San Miguel and the Cimarron are smaller water. Tighter casts, lighter tippets, smaller fish on average, and more wading. For this kind of fishing, the Ross Colorado LT or the new Ross Cimarron Creek are hard to beat.
The Cimarron Creek is Ross's newest small-stream reel. It is built around a customizable click-pawl system with replaceable pawls, so you can adjust both the drag tension and the sound to match the fish you are targeting. It is also the first fully machined Ross reel under $300, which makes American-made performance more accessible than ever.
The Colorado LT is the classic small-stream choice. Simple, light, beautifully proportioned, and absolutely the right tool for an afternoon on a creek.
The Saltwater Question
We get this one a lot. Anglers planning a winter saltwater trip want to know if they should fish a freshwater reel in salt.
The short answer is no. Salt is brutal on reels not designed for it. The longer answer is that Ross makes a saltwater reel, the Evolution R Salt, that is fully sealed and built to handle bonefish, permit, redfish, and tarpon. If you are planning a trip to the flats, this is the reel to bring. It will outlast the trip and the tarpon both.
Why Ross Holds Up Where Other Reels Do Not
Every Ross reel is machined from 6061-T6 aerospace-grade aluminum, hand-assembled at the factory in Montrose, and backed by a lifetime warranty. The drag systems are sealed against grit and water. The finish is anodized for corrosion resistance. And when something does go wrong years down the road, you can send the reel back to the factory two miles from our shop and have it rebuilt.
That last point matters more than people realize. Most fly reel brands ship warranty work overseas, or to a third-party repair facility, and turnaround can take weeks or months. Ross handles their warranty work in-house, in Montrose. The same machinists who built your reel are the ones who rebuild it.
For more on the local manufacturing story, read our piece on why Ross Reels are made in Montrose, Colorado.
Come See the Lineup
If you are planning a trip to western Colorado and want to fish a reel matched to the water you are coming to fish, stop by the shop at 432 East Main Street in Montrose. We have the Ross lineup on the wall. We can put you on a rod from our inventory, match the right reel to it, and tell you which fly to tie on for the river you are headed to next.
If you cannot make it in person, shop our full Ross Reels selection online. We ship anywhere in the country.
Either way, you will be fishing a reel made in Montrose. That is the kind of gear we like to put in our customers' hands.