I have a chance to by a Lamson LP 3.5 unused for a very low price. But I have heard that the clutch can give you trouble on these. Has anyone used these longterm without any problems?
Janus
I have and bought a spare spool for it…and no probs now in about 7 years of use.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Have a 3.5 & a spare spool with a lifetime warranty :shock: for the #8 weight. Only time it was a problem when I was casting to a spot behind a rock about 50 feet away to retrieve the fly in front of a big snook & a spanish mackeral that was behind the rock bit. I strip striked, raised the rod tip & blinked my eyes…all I saw was backing after that. The pawl flipped up & there was virtually no drag. Had to field strip the reel, realign & fix the mechanical parts, then really tighten up the drag. Landed the spanish, & after talking with the guides at the fly shop later about the reel they said the same thing happens when bonefishing with the reel if the drag isn’t tight enough. Reel is very easy to clean, disassmble & adjust after fishing. The nut that sets the drag range has to be adjusted, then it is held by a retaining ring. The spool should revolve freely when the adjustment is proper, but sometimes another 1/4 or 1/2 turn sets the drag nut better if you don’t care about initial start up ( fishing with 12-16 lb & a bite tippet )
Forgot to mention that you can take some 1500 sandpaper ( start with lower grits 1000, 1300…) to polish the drag surface to a mirror finish ( not the little rulon piece ! ). Sandpaper polishing was the standard for making the SA System Reels really smooth & making the drags almost as good if not better than the expensive cork drag reels, as stated in a FF mag article many years ago.:idea: