DD,

Not an issue. All my fly reels are spring and pawl except for some I got for saltwater fishing. And the "no drag" method is to loosen the disc drag all the way, not tighten it down. I've used spring and pawl for saltwater fishing for bonefish, and that's just fine. Bones run long, but are otherwise easy to handle without a disc drag. My first Allen reel, prior to their Alpha II series, had a freshwater drag, and I landed my first permit on that, mainly by palming it as the drag didn't have more than 2 1/2 or 3 pounds resistance. Doable, but a bit of work. I think people forget that it wasn't all that long ago that reliable disc drags that were affordable didn't exist. A lot of saltwater fish were landed on spring and pawl reels because that's what anglers had. A lot of saltwater fish were caught on Pfluger Medalists, but my guess is that they had to be replaced on a regular basis.

Coley,

If it's that bad, you should see if you can trade for some less failure prone gear. You could probably come by some pretty good coffee grinder reels for those Lamsons.

Sg

Yeah, Stone got it right, as usual. The older LP Lamsons were known for freespooling when the drag got wet. The newer Lamsons are nice reels and I have owned a few but sold them because they were just too light. The spools and rims were so light that they are pretty fragile, in my opinion. You have to be real careful not to drop them or else they will bend.

I much prefer the Ross CLA and feel it is one of the best deals/values on the market for a disc drag, US made reels.

I also own multiple models of Nautilus NV Galvan Torques, and Galvan Rush and while they are all very nice and overkill for the species I use them for, I would feel fully confident chasing pretty much everything with the Ross CLA.

I wasn't referring to the performance of my reels

Not so fast Stam. I have a fly reel that if you're not careful the spool won't fully click into place. I've been on the river casting away had the spool come out of the cage and into the river. Then again, that might be operator error.

Commenting on the drag system, I think Bauer reels makes one of the best sealed drag systems I've seen. The Konic drag by Lamson is pretty ingenious, but, I wonder how it would hold up to a hot bone fish, or other big game fish. There doesn't look like enough material to dissipate the heat with the drag set playing a big hot fish that will take you into your backing in 0.5 seconds flat.

Stam wrote: "Not too much to go wrong with a fly reel.... except the drag. "

As Sam points out, that isn't all that can go wrong. Fish long enough with enough different reels, and you'll find out what else can happen. I had one where the side plates of a reel made of stamped aluminum pushed outward due to to much pressure while winding in line. The plate on the inside pressed against the cage and inner workings and came to a stop. That resulted in the loss of a red hot springer.

I've had two reel handles come off while playing fish, one a hot summer run on the Stilly that I still managed to land by winding all the backing and line back in by pressing my thumb or finger on the outer side plate and rotating it. That happened with a cheap $5 reel, so quality was bound to be a questionable issue. The last one however, was just last winter, using a not so cheap $400 reel, and I almost landed that fish except it spit (for Coley's benefit) as I was trying to land it.

Sometimes it is the drag that fails. I recall another time with an early summer run and high water. Not all pawls in spring and pawl reels are made of the right stuff. This one just ground itself into bits of metal shavings inside the reel, leaving me to play the fish in free wheel. I did land it, but it's experiences like this, that are outside the norm, that make for a more exciting day and the best fishing stories.

Weird stuff can happen to fly reels if you as the customer end up being the beta tester for the manufacturer.
Drag knob seized up on day one. Handle fell off while playing a bonefish that was into my backing the next day. Nothing more fun then hand lining bonefish.

Had another where the reel seat broke off while playing a fish.

For the money, Redington makes a solid reel. I've had no problems with those. For a little more, the Ross CLA is a good tool. I would second the remarks about Bauer reels; those are sweet, but too spendy for a man of my means. I have a couple older Lamsons. Super smooth, but the drag does seem to loosen up the first time they get wet each day. No biggie; just tighten it up a bit more. I have heard lots of good things about the new Lamsons.

Enjoy!

Thanks all for the thoughts and laughs. I went with the Allen that was recommended, I'm impressed with the reel. It's slightly heavier than my buddies galvan torque but not much. We had the opportunity to put them to the test yesterday, going 7 for 7 on steelhead with a few nice bull trout mixed in. Nothing huge but hatchery fish were to ten lbs and wilds to about seven. The drag was smooth on a couple of searing runs and was all I needed when I cranked it down to horse a fish in entering the top of a rapids.

IMO, the Allen is an amazing value. Much thanks for the suggestions.

C & B,

What? You went with my recommendation? You weren't supposed to do that! (kidding) Hope that reel continues to perform well for you. They've been out less than two years, so there is no long term data on them. Fortunately steelheading isn't very demanding on reel mechanics, but I bought mine specifically for saltwater, which you mentioned as a potential use. Good luck and good fishing.

Sg

That was unsportsmanlike conduct.

Good luck with that Allen reel and let us know how it goes.

I have both Reddington and Sage reels that would fit the bill. Have'nt fished the Reddington Delta much, but it balances an 8 weight well. I am very pleased with the Sage 4280 matched to a 7 weight Reddington switch. Plenty of spool space for backing, line and a fat skagit or long scandi head. Only downside is the cost of an extra spool. I actually spoke to the gent (can't remember his name) at sage that does their reel repairs. He was very impressed with the 4200 line of reels and had not seen many come into the shop.

+1 Sage 4280

Guess I should have read the rest of the thread. Congrats on getting your reel. Now if the rivers, weather and work would align so we can all go chase steelhead life would be good.

tight lines