Lamson Vanquish

Trout
Trout

I recently had the amazing opportunity to use the Lamson Vanquish. Lamson touts this reel as being designed for “total victory” and from what I saw of it, they weren’t lying. I will be the first to tell you that this is not dirtbag material. This reel costs more than all of my rods combined but since it is from Lamson, it’s always worth a glance.

First look at this thing and you realize that its light. I own a litespeed 3.0, and it feels like a brick compared to this thing. I had a Ross Evolution 1.5 on a buddy’s rod and it also completely outweighed Lamson’s newest toy. I had the Vanquish strung up with almost 300 yards of gelspun (because I like the color) and put some garbage 5 wt line on it. I still had some room on the spool and wouldn’t hesitate putting 6wt line on the thing. The 3.5” spool obviously picks up line faster than comparable alternatives and on top of that, the reel operates very smooth.

Bull-trout Test
Bull-trout Test

Ok, so when using trout reels you need your drag exactly 0% of the time. Even so, I thought it would be nice to give the Vanquish a workout. I have tried it against carp, trout, bull-trout, lake trout, and bass. I have put some nice fish on the reel that have tested the drag more than anyone will ever test the drag on a reel designed for 5/6 weight rods.

The drag was smooth and consistent. I set the reel in the water during a long fight with a carp to see if the drag was as sealed as everyone said it was. The drag never mal-functioned and so, short of putting the thing in the freezer overnight and taking it on the water I’m not sure how else I can test the sealed drag concept. I will say that it has been designed with the same principles as previous sealed Lamson drags, all of which have performed extremely well for me under duress.

Carp Test
Carp Test

Other than the weight I found the greatest benefit to be in the start-up inertia. Generally I discount what salesmen and websites tell me about products but in this case the start-up inertia worked as advertised. While a subtle benefit, the fact that you could get the drag to engage exactly where you wanted it and as smooth as anything you have ever felt was in my mind, a substantial advantage. I have broken a lot of large fish on light tippets as they make their initial run and because drag requires more initial energy to engage than the drag itself is set for (i.e. it takes 2.1 lbs to engage a drag set a 2.0 lbs). This is a very subtle difference that most of the time has little impact on your fish count. It does however, have a substantial effect when you are trying to land a 15+lb rainbow on 5x.

Finally, the last benefit is in the actual reel handle. One of the things that annoys me about some of Lamson’s other models is the small reel handle. It is difficult to grasp in the winter when you have gloves on and is just not convenient during other applications. The Vanquish handle is longer than their other models which I find extremely convenient. Obviously with a larger handle you also run the risk of having your line grab the handle as you are casting. In my mind this compromise is well worth it, I will take a longer handle all day long.

The negative’s of the reel are obvious, price point is without question the biggest negative. At nearly $600 you could buy several other reels of comparable usability for the same cost. As with most things, when you get into the higher end you are paying what seems like $100 for every ounce you are shaving off the finished product (think bicycle components). The reel handle does produce more line snags as you are casting, but as I alluded to earlier, I feel that the benefit of this far outweighs the negative.

If I could, I would have one of these on every rod that I own. It is simply the lightest most well designed drag that I have used…ever. If you are in the high-end reel market I’m sure you have looked at reels like Bauer, Abel, Hatch, etc but I can assure you that in terms of performance they don’t hold a candle to this entrant into the high-end market.

Total Victory
Total Victory

Comments

  1. Jeff Dickerson

    The negative’s of the reel are obvious, price point is without question the biggest negative. At nearly $600 you could buy several other reels of comparable usability for the same cost. As with most things, when you get into the higher end you are paying what seems like $100 for every ounce you are shaving off the finished product (think bicycle components). The reel handle does produce more line snags as you are casting, but as I alluded to earlier, I feel that the benefit of this far outweighs the negative.

    I’ve said on a number of occasions that if you use the words gram and bicycle in the same sentence when you’re talking to me, you’re talking to the wrong person.

    But this ain’t about bicycles…

    If near-weightlessness is the goal of the reels, and cost per ounce is the gauge for value, I see that the Vanquish in the 5.6 model is 3.5″ in diameter, holds 100 yards of 20# with 6wt WF line, weighs 3.8 ounces, and retails for $599.00, with a cost/oz ratio of 157.631/oz. The Litespeed 2 shares the exact specifications and has a cost/oz ratio of 78.682/oz. Did you fuck yourself because you could have bought TWO Litespeeds for the same price as the Vanquish…?

    Hardly.

    You are, of course, correct in asserting that $600 will buy several other reels of comparable usability, however, if the benchmark for austere utility is dynamite, then all money spent per trout-pound-harvested above the prevailing price of TNT can be argued that it reflects poor financial stewardship on the part of the purchaser (released or not – however I’ll allow that releasing dynamite-harvested trout presents unique challenges).

    It ain’t about stewardship, it’s about fly fishing.

    I love that reel of yours – the feel, the drag. Hell, I even like the way it smells. I want one. No, I want six…

    BTW, apparently Waterworks is modifying the ULA LT for 2011, the 2010 models are on sale, and cheaper than shit, at http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4
    I just bought a 3 XLT with spare spool over the weekend (for the streamer rod I’ve yet to buy) and I don’t give a shit WHAT the cost per ounce ratio is…

    Personal note: Do you have any streamer rod suggestions? I was thinking of the S4 in a 6wt. The 7 seems a bit much for an old bastard to sling all day, I’m just wondering it the 6 will carry heavy meat (articulated Circus Peanuts and such)

    1. Post
      Author
      n.taylor

      Very eloquent, I like the criticism. I guess for the money you aren’t paying for performance at that point, you are paying so that you can make a statement by saying, “look how much money I can spend on something that is seemingly worthless”. The ULA is a great reel, and the Litespeed for the money is about as good as you can get. In terms of a streamer rod I guess it would depend on where you were fishing. Don’t forget to look at some of those 10 foot rods. You going to be using it for trout? The 7wt in general for trout is a good streamer rod that would work not only in the little rivers and “cricks” but also the still-water as well. I’m a TFO guy myself and in that case my personal favs are either the Axiom or the Clouser series (if you like em’ a little softer).

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