Saltwater asks more of a reel. Salt and sand find their way into the smallest spaces. Heat, spray and repeated exposure add to the demands of powerful fish, long runs and sustained pressure. A reel has to deliver precise, consistent performance while living with all of it, day after day.

In this environment, closing the gap between factory testing and performance on the water takes time. Controlled tests provide essential measurements, but understanding how a reel performs through repeated exposure to saltwater fishing requires a longer process: testing, assessing, refining and taking it fishing again.

The Saline spent nearly four years in development, moving back and forth between the factory, the UK and Scandinavia, and travelling to saltwater destinations around the globe. Factory testing and stress cycles formed one part of that work. Time on the water with experienced anglers formed another, bringing the development process into contact with the conditions the reel was being built to face.

Off Mexico’s Magdalena Bay, that meant hundreds of metres of backing disappearing into the Pacific, with a striped marlin at the other end. For Max Kantor, fishing Saline prototypes there was an opportunity to discover how they responded when powerful fish took control of the encounter.

“We watched hundreds of meters of backing disappear, cranked on fish until our knuckles were bruised and bloody, and had the time of our lives.”

Such moments bring nearly four years of work into sharp focus. Every design decision and every round of testing eventually has to translate into something an angler can feel: smooth resistance as a fish accelerates, controlled pressure during a prolonged fight, and confidence to make the next adjustment.

A demanding test programme needs to examine more than maximum drag. How resistance builds through the adjustment range, how the reel behaves under load and whether it continues to perform consistently through repeated use all matter to the person holding the rod.

The advantage of factory testing is the ability to control and repeat those demands. Stress cycles allow performance to be assessed beyond a single application of load, while comparable conditions help the development team evaluate successive prototypes.

Field testing adds another layer of scrutiny. Current changes the pressure on a fish. A sudden surge forces an adjustment. Sand, salt and handling become part of the working day. Experienced anglers can assess how the equipment responds within that wider picture—and explain which characteristics make a meaningful difference.

For Espen Myhre, Max Kantor and Fabrice Bergues, that assessment draws on years spent pursuing demanding saltwater species.

For Max Kantor, much of the Saline’s time on the water has taken place close to home, on the northeastern coast of the United States. Here, striped bass provide both regular fishing and opportunities to encounter exceptional fish.

“For the last two years now, the Saline reels have been a staple on my boat chasing stripers, both in the 9/10 size for all-around use and the larger 11/12 size for the best weeks of the year.”

The 9/10 has been his everyday workhorse, usually paired with a NT11 Saline 10-weight rod. It is also the setup he reaches for when false albacore arrive in September. Across his striper fishing, Max reports hundreds of fish landed on the Saline range, giving him repeated opportunities to assess its performance.

Western Long Island Sound offers a particularly demanding chapter in that experience: a short window to target trophy stripers exceeding 30 pounds and approaching 50 inches.

These fish demand patience. Max describes casting 10-inch flies for hours while waiting for conditions and tides to produce a brief burst of feeding activity.

“10 hours for 10 minutes? Seems worth it to me…”

When the opportunity comes, large fish and strong current make controlling the fight a priority. For this fishing, Max pairs the Saline 11/12 reel with a 9-foot, 11-weight NT11 Saline rod.

“Upon receiving the prototypes of this reel, it was the first time I got to test the drag to its full capacity, and I was happy to report I was turning large fish in heavy tides and current and landing them faster than ever.”

That observation gives drag power a specific purpose. Max wants to bring these large, breeding-size stripers to hand efficiently and avoid unnecessarily prolonged fights before release. The ability to turn a fish in heavy current is an important part of doing so.

For Fabrice Bergues, bluefin tuna fishing off the southern coast of France begins with a search for activity at the surface. Birds often provide the first indication. Then comes the disturbance beneath them: churning water, splashes and schools of tuna driving through anchovies. The opportunity is exhilarating, but getting a fly into the right place requires coordination. Approach and boat positioning, wind direction and a quick, composed cast all contribute to the encounter. Once a fish takes, the challenge changes immediately: loose line must clear smoothly as the tuna accelerates away.

“The success of this fishing trip is the result of teamwork.”

Throughout the season, Fabrice uses #10, #12 and 14-weight NT11 outfits equipped with Saline reels, matching the tackle to the size of the fish. The 12-weight is his most versatile option. He values the reel’s low weight, fast line retrieval and backing capacity, describing a setup with 400 metres of 60-pound backing on the 12+ model.

In these waters, that reserve has a purpose. Fabrice fishes grounds around 800 metres deep, with depths in the wider fishing area reaching a thousand metres. The spectacle begins at the surface, but bluefin have ample room to take the fight downwards—and a tendency to use it.

His account divides the fight into two distinct phases. During the first, fast runs near the surface call for restraint. He keeps the drag relatively light to protect the leader, allowing the fish to run rather than trying to stop it prematurely.

“The Saline’s exceptional drag system, with its large-diameter knob and 720° adjustment range, allows for precise, smooth adjustment of the pressure applied to the fish, without any sudden jerks.”

As the tuna begins to turn beneath the boat, the demands change. Pressure increases progressively, and the angler works with the rod angle and the boat’s position to bring the fish upwards. It’s sometimes necessary to move the boat to maintain the correct angle during the fight. Ifall goes well, you can increase the drag to apply more and more pressure on the fish. Moving the boat sideways creates a steeper angle; since the tuna will inevitably try to repositionitself vertically, it will tire more quickly as it drags the thick-diameter line behind it. This is where the excitement of the opening minutes gives way to sustained physical work.

Every metre lost to the depths must eventually be recovered. A tuna holding deep can turn that recovery into a long sequence of pumping and winding, with each lift demanding effort from the angler and placing the tackle under load. During this phase, the Saline’s powerful drag offered a particularly useful advantage: it was easy to apply enough resistance to hold the spool against the fish’s pull during the lift. That firm resistance helped translate the pumping action into gains of line, recovered as the rod was lowered. The reel’s structural stability was equally apparent. Under sustained pressure, the spool and frame remained free of rubbing, and operation stayed smooth. With no unwanted friction interrupting the movement, the angler could concentrate on maintaining pressure and the rhythm of recovery.

“This phase of the fight is the most grueling—both for the angler and the equipment—and leaves no room for error.”

Fabrice’s experience brings an important perspective to the Saline’s testing. The initial run demands smooth, carefully judged resistance. The deep fight demands greater pressure, structural stability and repeated effort over time. The same reel has to support both, and the transition between them. For Fabrice, the reward is inseparable from that challenge.

“It’s an exciting, frustrating, and demanding form of fishing, but when everything comes together, it’s incredibly rewarding.”