With new products from brands like Shimano, Quantum, Lew’s, Daiwa, Abu Garcia, and even some newer industry contributors like 13 Fishing and Favorite flooding the market almost monthly, what “new” thing could possibly break the surface and actually be worthy of fishermen’s time, attention, and dollars? Enter Seaborn Outfitters from Celina, Texas and their new line of CNC machine cut, aluminum baitcasting reels. Seaborn takes to heart the mantra that “anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards,” and boldly overdoing is exactly what was done in their Salty 150 “saltwater ready” reel.While most modern fishing reels are an assembled conglomerate of poured and molded plastic pieces, the Salty 150 frame begins as a solid barstock block of 6061-T6 aluminum. It's then precision cut on a 9-axis CNC machine and assembled with tolerances unmatched in the industry. This gives each reel a housing that is all but bombproof to the end user, and as saltwater resistant as any reel concept you can find. Additionally, Seaborn goes as far as engineering and machining their own stainless steel gears rather than pulling and plugging from a warehouse shelf. Seaborn’s Salty 150 features stainless bearings and an adjustable magnetic breaking system, all of which make these machines silky smooth and a real pleasure to fish.If the quality of engineering wasn’t enough, the fit and finish qualities of the Salty 150 is a must see. Each frame is treated with an anodized nautical blue finish to provide further anti-corrosion properties that also give a pop of color that’s sure to be the envy of other brands. Add grade AA cork branded in “Seaborn" to the thumb bar with matching cork handles, and you’ve got a reel whose fashion and function is in a class of its own, not to mention the custom cut and sewn neoprene sleeve that fits over each reel, standard in the box.So what’s actually new and innovative about these Seaborn Outfitters fishing reels? Well, the machined frame is certainly new for its class—that class being a modern, low profile bait casting reel. But their greatest innovation is really just a return to something old. In an age where “good” has been replaced with “good enough,” and in an industry that seems to increasingly value volume and the bottom line, Seaborn is bringing us back to a time forgotten when pride, quality, and longevity were all terms associated with craftsmanship.For the fisherman already spending too much on too little, why not spend the same amount on much more. These Salty 150 reels truly are built to fish and built to last.
Saltwater Baitcast reel