On Friday I floated the Kenai River with friends and in relatively "big water" caught a small king salmon, an ordinary silver salmon, rainbows, and dollies. A Lamson Guru on a 7wt Echo worked well for all of them. My ordinary click and pawl Hardys would not have done me well on the salmon... I have smoked far too many Ross reels to ever consider using one again and they should be seriously ashamed of the "Vexsis" line.

Last month I had multiple days of king salmon to 30# and up to a dozen per morning. I was using a brand new Bauer and was extremely impressed with how it handled the big fish and how consistent the drag remained throughout. My needs are a little different than most, obviously.

For grayling and trout I absolutely love Hardys and have a huge pile of them. Lamsons are becoming my favorite reel for everything though.

Just a few of the reels on hand.


The Hardy featherweight and some Marquis (2/3/4, 6, 10, and Salmon #1) are serious sentimental favorites. But Hardys have proved to require more maintenence. I have not fished my Perfects for quite a few years due to concerns about their value being reduced.

Orvis BBS are very adequate, as well as SA for general use. Also have several Sage reels in the more modest end of the line and they are fine for click and pawl reels.
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