Nautilus X-Series Fly Reel
Kirk Deeter
July 17, 2024
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I have liked Nautilus reels for many years. That’s mostly centered on the saltwater and steelhead/salmon fishing realm. The company is based in Miami, Florida, and focused on both engineering and aesthetics for the salt, and if you transpose some of that thinking to trout reels, so much the better, right? Especially if they don’t price things out of the ballpark.
In my view, which I’ve shared throughout Flylab and elsewhere, I think $400 is a reasonable cap for a high-performance, made-in-America disc-drag reel for trout and other freshwater fish, and this X-Series is one of only a handful of reels that fits comfortably in that space.
I also think the Nautilus X-Series is more than a “trout-sized” version of a saltwater reel, being light and super-easy to work with. The open “X” design and heavy porting is quirky–it’s like a quarter of the reel is missing–but that also leads to reduced weight and its distinctive look. The X-Series offers a light-for-power feel, packing all the performance “oomph” into a package that’s leaner and cleaner.
Granted, the unique angles and overlapping interfaces make for many more ways your tippet can get gummed up in the nooks and crannies between fishing sessions, but the spool release is easy, and we can forgive that. Once on your fly rod, when everything is rigged and stretched out, the reel is just fine and tangle-free.
If you like to store your reels out of their cases, just sitting on a shelf, this one lists to the side a little because of how the frame is trimmed down. At least you know which one is the Nautilus when you look at the lineup, and this is a very minor detail.
Do 99% of trout anglers even begin to feel and appreciate the drag performance Nautilus brags about? Probably not, but we do think the start-up smoothness is legitimately exceptional, and as you crank and fight fish, the pick-up is fast and clean due to the generous size (3.5-inch diameter) of the arbored spool. The light weight makes it a natural on fast- or medium-action graphite fly rods, even fiberglass.
Being a fan of the reel’s looks, or not, is purely a subjective matter. I don’t consider the Nautilus X-Series an artistic breakthrough, but I also don’t think it’s an eyesore.
And for me, that’s good enough.
Pros
Proven teflon carbon fiber drag, fully sealed, bringing saltwater DNA to trout fishing.
Best-in-class drag adjustment.
Shaped, fluted grip knob.
Heavily ported and light.
Good pick-up per-crank due to its large (3.5-inch) arbor diameter.
A clean look and design.
Cons
We don’t love the red on titanium color choices.
Other similarly-priced reels are easier to convert, left-to-right.
Line storage tangles.
You’ll get your full $375 worth of value from this reel, because it’s light, well-designed and performs as advertised.
As for durability, I’ve fished Nautilus reels all over the world in pretty challenging environs, and have never had any issues.
We have heard some nay-sayer scuttlebutt from hard-core, big game saltwater fishermen, but that isn’t relevant in the context of this reel for trout fishing.
- Price: $375
- Sizes: XM, line weights 4-5
- Weight: 4.5 ounces
- Colors: Brushed titanium, black anodized
- Drag: Teflon/carbon fiber sealed drag system
- Handle: Fluted
- Arbor: Large (3.5-inch diameter)
- Spool release: Unscrewing (screw attached)
- Warranty information: Nautilus warranty
“All Nautilus reels carry a limited lifetime warranty for the original owner covering any defect in materials and workmanship. This warranty provides that defective Nautilus fly reels will be repaired or replaced at our option at no charge for parts and labor. This warranty does not cover damage caused by accident, misuse, improper maintenance or modification.”
You have to decide for yourself on the design. This definitely doesn’t look like an old classic reel your grandfather would have hung off his bamboo, or glass rod. I think it’s kinda fun, but also funky.
Do you need “stop a tarpon” drag technology in a trout reel? Of course not, but Nautilus isn’t professing that here. Sure, there’s some serious born-of-the-salt DNA in the guts of this reel, and that certainly won’t hurt on a trout river. The question is whether that’s overkill, and I don’t think it is.
Why? Because Nautilus doesn’t overcharge for that.
Through the process of testing a number of sub-$400 reels to hang off my 4-weight fly rod in Colorado and Michigan, I landed on the Nautilus as one of the reels I consistently fish with these days.
You get good performance in a package that lands right in the pricing sweet-spot–a solid reel choice that stacks up against any American-made, disc-drag reel.
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