Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
Startup inertia is the moment a reel goes from zero to drag as a running fish takes line off the spool. If that transition is bumpy or the spool back-spools, that is where fish are lost, especially large or powerful saltwater fish. Cheeky spent 18 months developing its Launch reel largely around making that transition smooth.
Peter Vandergrift runs marketing and brand direction at Cheeky Fishing after nearly two decades guiding in Alaska and Montana and marketing roles at Simms and Costa.
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Why did Cheeky put color on fly reels?
When Cheeky started, essentially every fly reel on the market was black or gunmetal. Cheeky came out with oversized large arbors and bright colors at the same time, and a meaningful share of traditional anglers rejected the colored reels outright. Within a few years nearly every reel maker was building color into at least part of the reel, which makes the color decision one of the clearer cases of a small brand moving the whole category.
What is startup inertia and why does it break fish?
Startup inertia describes the reel going from stationary to full drag as a fish runs. Line slipping out under a stripping finger reaches the reel and the reel has to pick up load instantly; a bumpy handoff or any back-spool at that instant is where most fish are lost, and it matters most on big fish and powerful saltwater species. Cheeky's Launch reel was developed over 18 months, with a sealed drag built to make that specific transition smooth.
How does Cheeky's reel lineup step a new angler up?
The lineup is built as a progression. The entry reel ships preloaded with backing, fly line and leader so a new angler can mount it and fish. The next tier holds a low price point for a second reel as anglers add saltwater or bass. Above that sits a lightweight sealed-drag model suited to bonefish or steelhead, and at the top a fully sealed-drag reel sized up through 10- and 12-weights for the largest fish.
Why does a free-spinning reel matter to a guide?
Cheeky builds a no-resistance retrieve into its reels so a pile of loose line at your feet can be recovered by spinning the spool by hand: strike the reel three or four times to get it turning fast and the line winds itself back on. It is a small feature, but it is fast enough that it drives reel selection for anglers who do not want to crank line in a handful at a time even with a large arbor.
What is the Cheeky Schoolie Tournament?
The Schoolie Tournament is a one-day catch-and-release striped bass event and, in its tenth year at the time of recording, the largest fly fishing tournament in the world. Entry is 90 dollars per person or 180 per team, teams of two must fish together, and the boundary is all of Cape Cod, hundreds of miles of coastline, so anglers are never concentrated in one spot. Each team catches, photographs, measures and releases its four largest stripers, and the most total inches wins.
How much does the Schoolie Tournament raise for striped bass?
The 2020 event drew over 220 teams, 440 anglers, after being pushed from May to September, with full refunds offered to anyone uncomfortable fishing. Fifteen thousand dollars of the proceeds went to striped bass conservation, and three organizations working on policy and fish handling were given a platform at the event. Handling rules are enforced: teams that mistreat fish are disqualified. The 2020 awards were live-streamed with a running leaderboard when the usual party could not be held.
What does demystifying fly fishing mean for gear buyers?
Cheeky's stated position is that rod and reel technology is now good enough that it is harder to find a bad casting rod than a good one, so leading with layered tech language mostly builds a barrier for new anglers already juggling casting, bugs and rigging. The alternative is telling a buyer the gear is good and to go fish. The same posture shapes customer service: treat every call and message as half retail, half instruction, with no dumb questions.
Key takeaways
- The reel loses fish at the handoff from hand-stripped line to drag, so judge a reel on startup inertia rather than sealed-drag marketing alone.
- A no-resistance spool you can spin by hand recovers loose line far faster than cranking, even on a large arbor.
- An entry reel that ships with backing, line and leader already on it removes the single biggest setup barrier for a new angler.
- The Cheeky Schoolie Tournament spreads hundreds of anglers across all of Cape Cod rather than concentrating pressure on one stretch.
- Tournament scoring on total inches from four photographed, measured and released fish keeps a catch-and-release format competitive.
- Rod technology has converged enough that a bad-casting rod is now the harder thing to find.
