I’ve been fishing with Lew’s reels since I was a boy. And while I loved my those reels I had as a kid, I love the new stuff from Lew’s even more. I like that they just keep it simple and make good reels that they would want to fish. I joked when they released their new Speed Spool a few years that they made it too good for $100 reel. Well now they’ve improved that great reel with the new Lew’s Speed Spool LFS Series baitcaster reel and it’s still $99.
The new LFS Series (stands for Lighter Faster Stronger) Speed Spool reels include the following features:
- Four models (5.6:1RH, 6.8:1RH, 6.8:1LH, 7.5:1)
- Aluminum frames/graphite side plates
- 10 ball bearings
- Aluminum handle
- 10-pound Rulon drag system
But I thought the reels themselves stood out more because of the following things:
- Price
- Smaller form factor
- Lightweight
- Smoothness
- Adjustability
Price is right
I’m not saying $100 is cheap, but anglers more and more are demanding better performance at affordable prices. Obviously you can’t include every feature or quality material available without incurring additional costs. So it’s nice when manufacturers focus on not only improving their products but focusing on using technology to lower costs for producing them and for their customers.
The Speed Spool LFS has got to be one of the best reels at $99 on the market. An aluminum frame and handle, smooth spool operation and very adjustable settings make it a great buy at the price point.
Smaller in your hand
When you fish as much as I do, and suffer from arthritis like I do, hand fatigue is a big deal. A smaller palmable reel makes fishing all day or all week a lot more tolerable. They were able to shrink the frame and lower the gearing in this reel to make it fit on the rod really well. That makes it very comfortable to fish all day.
Lighter Faster Stronger
The reel also went on a weight loss program. It made it a lean mean fishing machine. It’s lighter, comes in gear ratios of 6.8 and 7.5:1 on the upper end of the spectrum without sacrificing strength and rigidity in the reel. And the 5.6:1 ratio reel comes with a wider spool that holds 150 yards of 12 pound line instead of 120 yards like the other models.
Adjustable and usable
In the past, I’ve seen some reels that were twice as much prove very hard to adjust correctly and get the spool tension and braking systems set to cast consistently without having constant overruns. The Speed Spool LFS has easy adjustments and casts really well with just slight adjustments needed.
I’ve flipped with, cast swimbaits and topwaters with it and have caught several bass already. The reel is smooth casting, the line spools evenly on and off the reel without overrun and the drag is strong enough to set the hook on quality fish and take control of the fight when necessary.
Basically if you’re looking for a $100 reel or a bunch of $100 reels to match on just about any rod, I’d recommend considering the Lew’s Speed Spool LFS. You will find lighter reels, with heavier drags, more advanced braking systems and made of more expensive materials. But for the money, I consider this reel a heck of a good buy for fishermen.
While this reel is technically new for 2015, you can already find them at retailers like tacklewarehouse.com. To read more about the reels, visit lews.com or tacklewarehouse.com.
