The Colorado is Ross's click-pawl reel and the lightest thing they build — 3.2 ounces in the 2/3. No disc drag, no sealed stack, just an all-metal external clicker on the back of the reel with the San Juan Mountains machined into it. On a 2, 3 or 4 weight that is not a compromise, it is the entire experience. This run came in Spruce, one 2/3 and one 4/5. Spruce reads as a deep satin forest green — dark enough to look nearly black in flat light, and unmistakably green the moment sun gets on it.
Why It Works:
A click-pawl works because a small trout on a light rod does not need a drag, it needs a reel that gets out of the way and makes a noise worth hearing. Ross moved the clicker outside, machined it from metal rather than hiding a plastic pawl inside, and gave it a crisp note instead of a buzz. The practical result is that you palm the rim when you need pressure and the reel does nothing you did not ask for the rest of the time.
Product Features:
- Unidirectional all-metal external click-pawl — serviceable, visible, and audible from across a run
- 3.2 oz at 2/3 and 3.5 oz at 4/5 — light enough that a glass 3 weight outfit nearly disappears in the hand
- Semi-caged frame with a beveled, very open large arbor — fast pickup and line that lies flat instead of coiling
- Industry-first Vesconite bushing — a material developed for hard marine bearing duty, so the spool keeps spinning true
- San Juan Mountains milled into the clicker and a canvas micarta handle — local detail, and a grip that stays put wet
- Hard-anodized in Ross's closed-loop Montrose facility — durable finish, nothing discharged into the river
Best For / Not For:
Best for creeks, brookies, glass rods and dry-fly trout: the 2/3 on a fiberglass 3 weight, the 4/5 on an 8½-foot 4 weight. Also the right answer for anyone assembling a deliberately simple outfit. Not for you if your light rod also pulls duty on bigger water or you expect to put a reel between you and a hot fish — there is no disc drag here, and the Animas 4/5 is about half an ounce heavier with a real one. Not a streamer or salt reel in any size.
Ed's Take:
We sell the Colorado to two kinds of people: the angler who has been fishing forty years and wants the sound back, and the one who just bought their first glass rod and does not yet know that is what they want. Both end up happy. The 2/3 is the one we would take up a small freestone in July. One each in Spruce, and seasonal finishes on this model do not come back around.
Care & Warranty:
Rinse and dry with the spool off; the external clicker means you can actually see what you are cleaning. Ross limited lifetime warranty to the original owner, valid only on reels bought from an authorized dealer, which we are. Service is done at the Montrose factory, usually inside four weeks, and you can bring it to the counter.
Ed's Fly Shop, 432 E Main St, downtown Montrose, Colorado.
