Very nice reel. Excellent drag, workmanship, most ergos are fine, attractive, capacities. The main issue for me is the very light weight does not balance well with my Sage X 7wt or Scott Sector 8 making wading for bonefish less than ideal. The rod tips drop into the water interfering with quick casting and the tip can even catch the bottom or turtle grass while walking. An unnecessary extra thing to be aware of while fishing.

Decided to spend money on a nice reel for a trip to Alaksa. After catching two salmon the reel was super wobbly because the screws that mount the spool to the reel seat were backing out. They are tiny Torx screws that are very tough to get to. I had to keep retightening them with a knife all day and it wasted my time. Having to use a knife also scraped up the reel and partially stripped out the screw head. I was so annoyed with this reel, eapecially because I paid a lot of money for it. I wish I would have had my super cheap Orvis reel. The smallest torx wrench in a standard set you get from the store is too big so I had to go buy a really small torx set that would fit it. I added LocTite to the screws so hopefully I can enjoy this reel, but those two screws almost completely backed out while I was fighting the second fish.

I bought the 9+ and paired it with an 8wt glass rod for striped bass & bluefish around Cape Cod, the Vineyard and Nantucket and the reel is ideal for this. It is super light weight, which is nice because the glass rod is heavy, compared to graphite. Plus the drag is very smooth and consistent which really helps when you get the occasional bass that’s bigger than expected. I use half a dozen Lamsons in saltwater throughout the season and they are absolutely dependable and a pleasure to fish.

This reel is perfection. There is nothing more to say. Lamson are the only fly reels that I would buy. Very happy with all of my Lamson reels. If you are on the fence. Jump over and you wont be disappointed.

Brought a two foot carp to hand in a river with the 3+. Was targeting small small mouths when this school bus lumbered by, couldn't resist. I credit this drag to the success. I have several Lamson reels for fresh and salt along with many other brands - I will continue to add more Lamsons.