I didn’t grow up fly fishing. It is something I picked up later in life. For the most part, I am self-taught, and I’ve learned a lot the hard way, especially when it comes to gear. A lot of people will tell you to get something cheap when you’re getting started out, and for that, I call bullshit. I wasted my first year of Fly Fishing going through cheap gear that I quickly outgrew. I equate Fly Fishing Reels to the Wheels on a bicycle. Once you have nice wheels, you will never have shitty wheels again.

Colorado-based Ross Reels first appeared on my radar at one of my local fly shops. I loved the clean aesthetics, the machined aluminum, and the copper branding; it’s all really well done. So, after countless trips looking at the shiny reels through the glass countertop, I finally pulled the trigger and picked up my first Colorado Reel for my Euro setup.

On a side note, traditionalists hate Euro Nymphing; it’s pretty lame but not surprising. There is a lot of shit I hate about Fy Fishing, but that’s for another time and another place.

Ok, back to the Ross Colorado! The Colorado is a super light click-pawl reel that has a beautiful clicking sound when in use. It was a massive step up from the Redington reels I had previously been using. After my first trip with the Colorado, I knew I had to update all my reels because there was definitely no going back!

Fast forward to 2024, and I’ve built out quite the collection of Ross Reels. I have Ross Colorados in 2/3 weight for my euro setup and 7ft 3wt, a 3/4 for my 4wt dry fly rod, and a 4/5 for my 5wt trout rod. The click-pawl drag system easily handles large fish such as steelhead and bull trout. I’ve used the Colorado in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.