Spoiler alert. We’ve given away the punch line. The Lamson Litespeed IV is the winner of our 2015 5-weight Reel Shootout. So, you can probably just go ahead and buy it now, but if you really want to know what makes this reel so great, read our full review below.
Redington is well known for making great value-priced products, including great rods like the CPS and the Classic Trout. We test the the Redington Rise II in our 8-weight shootout, and it didn’t do so well. It wasn’t that it was a bad reel, it was just up against some pretty stiff competition. Let’s see if it does better as a trout reel.
Ask and you shall receive. You wanted to see how Galvan reels stack up, and as it turns out, quite well. The Torque turned out to be one of our favorite reels, and we were excited to see if Galvan could churn out a great value reel as well.
The Lamson Guru fly reel has long been the entry point for made in the USA quality, and one of our best selling reels. A top contender among 8-weights, we’re excited to see how it performs as a trout reel.
Based in Montrose, Colorado, Ross is one of the world’s leading fly reel manufacturers. Over the years, Ross Reels have become a virtual household name in fly fishing. We really liked the Ross F1 fly reel the last time we tested it, and we were particularly excited to see how it would fare in a freshwater-oriented test.
Hatch. One of the finest reel makers in the business. We know this, not because their made in the USA, not because we’ve spent hours with them on the flats, and not because we’re Hatch fans (well, we kind of are), but because the 7-Plus won our 8-weight Reel Shootout. But, as we’ve said repeatedly, trout is a different game with different rules. We’re eager to find out hot the 4 Plus measures up to its big brother.
This job is a lot of fun. We get to try out a lot of exciting new gear, and this is certainly one of them. Design, built, tested in Montana, Bozeman reel was born in trout country. We love innovation in the fly fishing world, and we were excited to test a reel from one of the newest manufacturers on the market.
It should come as no surprise by now that classic reels don’t perform as well as modern reels in our shootouts. In our 8-weight Reel Shootout, the Super 8 finished in the middle of the pack. But, trout is a different game. Let’s see if the smaller Abel fairs better.
Sage is undoubtedly one of fly fishing’s iconic brands. While they’re mostly known for their fly rods, Sage also makes some pretty good reels, the now-discontinued 1880, did very well in our 8-weight shootout. While the 4280 was only mediocre, we have greater hopes for the Sage 4250.
The Nautilus FWX is the little brother to the much-loved NVG. The so-called ‘FeatherWeight eXtreme’ is deigned to be lighter weight, but still heavy on performance. It’s also more geared towards the freshwater market, so we expect it to be a hit in this test. Read on to see how it does.
