Hardy Cascapedia, Trout Reel Series

I recently purchased a Hardy Cascapedia 6/7 reel.  I loaded it with 6 WF, 160g floating line from 406 fly lines out of Montana.  These lines are designed especially for glass and bamboo rods with slower actions.  The Cascapedia has a large arbor and holds a generous amount of backing.  I put 100 yards of 20pd Dacron backing with 30 yards of 6WF fly line and still had plenty of room.  The reel is heavier than the Hardy Perfect wide spool model at 8.4oz which worked out nice in the situation because I bought it for use with my new Oyster Bamboo 6wt, 9-foot rod and the reel balances nicely on this rod.  I think it would also work nicely with a 7wt carbon switch rod. 

The reel is made in England and is made of high-quality materials.  It is engineered from bar stock aluminum.  It has the classic S shaped handle and comes with a nice leather and sheepskin lined pouch.  It has a black anodized finish and comes with an adjustable drag with position detents. 

After I took delivery of the reel, I took it out for a try.  I went on an afternoon fishing trip below the Dam of the Coosa River (Alabama)  in a boat, in the strong current when they were letting water through for power generation.  The White Bass were busting the shad in the current, so I was able to cast a shad pattern into the frenzy and had a lot of hookups.  I landed around 30 fish, mostly white bass and a few small strippers and some spot bass.  The reel performed flawlessly and balanced well on my new bamboo rod.  I look forward to taking it up to North Georgia soon to fish some of my favorite trout streams where there is an opportunity to catch 5 to 10-pound Rainbows and Brown Trout.  I believe this will be the ideal rig for that!