Shilton Fly Reels at Mad River Outfitters

Tony Fritelli, an avid fly fisherman and founder of Shilton Reels, saw a gap in the fly fishing market in 1997. Combining his engineering expertise and his extensive knowledge of what was missing in other fly reels, he designed the first reel in the Shilton lineup, the CL Series. This reel is still one of the most popular reels sold into the market today. On the back of the success of the CL, Shilton Reels began R&D on a saltwater range. The challenges of saltwater bring about a whole host of problems in reel design. Sand getting into the drag system, the build-up of salt in the reel, and of course, the need for the smoothest drag possible to stop the beasts of the flats. This brought about the SL and more recently the SR Series. The easily accessible full open cork drag system makes it is easy for you to clean and service your reels. Any issue can be resolved in seconds without even taking your reel off your rod. Shilton has a full selection of replacement parts, meaning you don’t even need to send your reel in to be repaired – you can do it yourself!

Custom Colors available for a small upcharge: Burnt Gold, Blue, Red, Turquoise.

* Please note that all custom colors are available in the CR and SL series although they may not be listed here. Please give us a call to check availability. We are still waiting on images as of 10/22.

Line This Reel - When you purchase a fly line along with this reel, upon checkout simply pair the two together and choose your backing color. We'll put the correct amount of backing on the reel and load it up properly for FREE. Click Here to watch a video on exactly how to do this.