Fish an ultralight reel with big guns, the newly redesigned Quantum Xtralite (continued)

Drag: With ultralight reels we don’t expect out of scale deadly drag pressure. Trout hit hard and run fast, and ultralight anglers use very thin lines, so a smooth, easy starting drag is more important than overall stopping pressure. The Quantum Xtralite uses a stack of metal, felt, metal, felt washers that produced the smoothness we were looking for in both the lab and on the field. The drag pressure in the lab when fully tightened down produced a hefty 4.96 pounds. That’s plenty drag pressure for applications that require two to six pound test lines.

A combination of metal and felt washers are used to achieve a consistent and smooth running drag

Ergonomics: Sporting 6 bearings, the Xtralite XPS05 is one of the lightest ultralight reels we’ve reviewed to date: Bass Pro Microlite Supreme weighs in at 9.1 ounces, TICA Cetus SB500 at 6.3 ounces, and our test subject came in at only 6.1 ounces. The XPS sits well balanced with our TICA rod and is great to cast all day. As one might expect, the wooden knob can be cold to grip during those freezing cold high country mornings. In fact, during our field tests at up to 9000 feet in elevation, it actually snowed night before we arrived. Fortunately, in all other, warmer conditions the wooden handle knob was very comfortable to hold onto all day.

This attractive reel is small and lightweight, great for all day usage

Durability: After a long weekend of trout fishing in the Eastern Sierras we concluded that this little reel holds up pretty darn well in all types of conditions. The bail, although difficult to turn over at first, never failed out in the field. All other components including the attractive hardened maple wood knob held up without any wear-and-tear or problems. Between fishing holes we did toss our rod and reel into sand and dirt covered surface of the truck bed, and though it did scratch the finish of our reel no chipping or flaking occurred. If properly taken care of, the finish this reel should endure many a fishing trip.

The reel broken down to its components for inspection

Application: Ultralight anglers will surely like the Xtralite due to its size, light weight, and high level of performance. Use this Quantum ultralight reel in streams, rivers, and lakes, and since it comes with two spools you can always spool them with different pound test lines. This tiny reel is great for anglers targeting trout of all sizes, crappie, sunfish, and even as a drop shot reel for bass or other finesse fishing techniques.