New Fly Reels: Varioverse

A German company is introducing a new fly reel that uses the reel handle itself to engage and disengage the drag. According to the Varioverse Web site, the design is the result of poring over more than 100 patent documents and the desire to produce a reel that allows for the dynamic increase of drag during a fight while maintaining an upper limit on drag pressure. The Swedish Danielsson Control fly reel uses a similar concept, but according to Varioverse doesn’t offer the ability to easily pull line off of the reel even while the drag is set to maximum.
The Varioverse uses a carbon composite / metal disc drag system that appears to be a self-contained unit. In fact the whole reel disassembles into 4 main pieces and weighs 6.94 oz. /198 grams for a 7-8 reel.