Hardy is one of the most iconic names in fly reels, having produced beautiful reels since 1873. Longtime fans of Hardy’s heritage reels will be intrigued by the remastered Hardy Sovereign, a classic solid-plate reel that hasn’t been available to consumers since the 1970s. The new Sovereign maintains the original model’s elegance and thoughtfulness, with significant modifications for the 21st century. Read on to learn more about this charming heritage reel from Hardy.
Last but not least from Hardy is the Ultralite MTX 7000. Like a sports car, Hardy has added a little extra carbon fiber, a few extra letters after the name and raised the price in the name of performance. Yes, the MTX is like the souped-up version of the Ultralite series. But do these enhancements mean that it’s also… better?
When we first test the Hardy Fortuna 5 years ago, it blew us away with its drag strength. There was just nothing else on the market that was even close. Today, that has changed, but only a bit. The new Fortuna XDS still touts its huge drag, but how has it progressed since the last time we tested it?
Hardy has been making fly reels as long as anyone and we have been a fan of Hardy from day 1 at Trident. The SDSL replaces the little talked about SDS in the Hardy lineup and sits between the hardcore Fortuna and the freshwater oriented Ultralite series. While I always thought the SDS was a fabulous reel, it seems like the Hardy marketing team just forgot about it and I doubt if we sold 5 throughout its lifetime. They’ve stepped it up bigtime with the SDSL and we’re excited to see how it performs.
Hardy has been building fly reels for nearly a century. Reels like the Hardy Perfect defined what a fly reel should be for generations. Over the years Hardy has changed ownership a few times and they’ve come out with some great new products, like the Hardy Zenith. Certainly Hardy’s most talked about trout reel release in many years is the Hardy DD. It’s got a sleek modern design, and has won many awards. Dive in and see if its performance stands up.
