Like someone said - reel type is personal preference. Most of the responses have been favorable toward the medalist. I had a medalist from the early 1970's when I bought it new. I used it for many years - I broke a reel seat and tracked down the parts to repair it. Must be about 6 or 7 years ago, I retired it. While I like the medalist a lot, it is inferior to more modern reels and this was the main reason that I retired it. I found that my newer reels (and these were not overly expensive) had better drags, palming spool design, and were lighter. I feel better able to handle that 20+ trout with my newer reels. Yes, I could do it with the medalist but it is easy to get outmatched.