The Best Four Fly Reels for Trout

The Best Four Fly Reels for Trout

If you’re spending more than $400 for a fly reel for trout fishing, you’re either paying for art or you’re buying an artifact. And that might be perfectly fine. Some reels are so beautifully crafted, they belong in the Museum of Modern Art, like the creations of Ari ‘t Hart. And if you can get your paws on a classic Hardy, or Charleton that flips your switch and fills out a collection, by all means, go for it.

But nobody needs to spend more than $400 to get a perfectly functional reel that should last a lifetime and work fine in any trout fishing situation, anywhere in the world.

To narrow the field, we zeroed in on three factors:

1. Made in America. It might not matter to you, and there are some very capable imports, often priced less, to be sure, but I like American-made products, and over the years, my American reels have performed and held up best.

2. Disc-drag. Do you need a drag that could rein in an elephant? No. We’re talking about trout that have a max swimming speed of 9 m.p.h. That said, disc-drags do have advantages over click-pawls when it comes to things like start-up inertia, adjustable drag settings, etc.

3. Price. $400 retail is the absolute limit, and we chose models most compatible with a 4- or 5-weight fly rods.

After a lot of testing, in some cases over years–fishing, pulling on them with motorcycles and quads, freezing them, baking them, stepping on them, packing them in gear bags and boat boxes, dunking them in the river and dropping them in the dirt–I think the four best reels that meet those criteria are, in no particular order:

The Ross Animas. The Nautilus XM. The Lamson Guru S. The Galvan Rush Light.

Let’s stack them up, then talk about each a little bit:

Ross Animas 4/5: Cost $385; Spare Spool $192.50; Weight (minus backing and line) 4.1 ounces; Diameter 3.25 inches; Spool Width 0.98 inches.

Nautilus XM: Cost $375; Spare Spool $175; Weight 4.5 ounces; Diameter 3.5 inches; Spool Width 1 inch.

Lamson Guru S -5+: Cost $300; Spare Spool $160; Weight 4.41 ounces; Diameter 3.55 inches; Spool Width 1 inch.

Galvan Rush 4 LT: Cost $315; Spare Spool $155; Weight 4.8 ounces; Diameter 3.25 inches; Spool Width 0.85 inch.

General impressions

Ross Animas: The 2019 Animas is really where Ross made the statement that a great disc-drag can live inside a pretty reel that doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Cimarron is good, but not nearly as handsome, or light, as Animas. The Animas has a bell-shaped arbor, which you’ll notice collects backing and line and naturally disperses it–coming and going. That matters when you’re spooling up, but more so when you’re fighting fish, meting out and collecting fly line. The Animas reel is also plenty sturdy. In terms of startup inertia (no hiccups when that fish grabs the fly and starts peeling line), this drag is butter. But it’s also at the top of this price range. Other factors like drag adjustment, switching spools, converting left to right, and so on, are all simply adequate. The bonus, to me, is that I like how it sounds when a trout is ripping away line. For some people, that matters none, and for others, there’s no sweeter music. Made in Montrose, Colorado.

Nautilus XM: Miami-based Nautilus is clearly a saltwater reel company. And for years, for many reasons, I have wondered whether Nautilus truly gives a rip about trout fishing. But I have to hand it to Nautilus, the XM is far, far more than a “trout-ized” version of a saltwater reel. It offers a highly-sophisticated, fully-sealed drag system, obviously born of the company’s salty expertise. But it’s also light, and super-easy to work with. The “X” design is kinda quirky–almost half of the frame is flat-out missing. But that also leads to a very distinctive, arty look. And it makes for a light-for-power reel, packing all the performance “oomph” into a package that’s leaner and cleaner. Granted, the unique angles and overlapping interfaces make for many more ways for your 5X tippet to get stuck and gummed up between fishing sessions. But the spool release is easy, and we can forgive that.

Lamson Guru S: Years ago, I named the Lamson “Konic” reel a “Best of the Best” selection for Field & Stream magazine, and I still haven’t found a company that packs more disc-drag performance into fly reels at lower cost to consumers than Lamson does. The company DNA was partly derived from cycling, and that engineering moxie still shows. The Guru S we tested is a little bigger in diameter than the others in this group, but that’s just a factor of making a 4/5/6 reel versus a 4/5, or 3/4/5, etc. At face value, Guru is a pretty basic reel. It doesn’t make any statements with looks; it looks like a fly reel. But it’s certainly not ugly. Nor is it heavy, or difficult to take apart and clean. It’s just a really good reel, with an exceptionally smooth, fully-sealed, maintenance-free drag system. This is a “safe” bet in all regards. Made in Idaho.

Galvan Rush Light: I’ve always considered Galvan reels to be more workhorse than racehorse, and that’s meant to be a tall compliment. They aren’t particularly flashy in an artsy-fartsy way, rather, they’re tough, reliable, not ever temperamental and easy to operate. The Rush Light is a bit heavier than the other reels in this mix. But the weight difference really equates to a small handful of peanut M&M’s, so I decided to eat the M&M’s, put the kitchen scale away and talk more about other things. You naturally don’t want to drop any reel on the rocks, but if it happens, I’d rather it happened to a Galvan. Releasing the spool could not be easier–you push a button. The drag is fully sealed, and quite smooth, especially at the start-up. It has the largest diameter and narrowest spool of this bunch, which is a differentiation to consider if you want to pick up more line per crank. This is a working guide’s reel, and a good fit for the angler who cares more about substance than flash. Made in California.

Functional Details

Sound (the “purr factor”)–You might not believe this, and it might actually not matter to you, but reel companies invest tons of effort into refining the sounds their reels make. When that fish grabs the fly, they want you to hear music. In that light, here are the rankings. 1. Ross Animas. It actually sounds one pitch cranking in, and another going out. 2. Nautilus XM, even both ways. 3. (TIE) Lamson Guru S, actually louder cranking in than going out. Galvan, pretty subdued, understated and mellow, which is fine.

Drag adjustment knob–The truth is, if you’re futzing around with a drag knob when you’re fighting a trout, you might be in over your head. You should set it, and forget about it. But a little tick here and there, up or down, is understandable. For making subtle drag adjustments on the move, these reels rank as follows: 1. Nautilus XM. 2. Galvan Rush Light. 3. Ross Animas. 4. Lamson Guru S.

Detaching the Spool–Say your tippet is all stuck and fouled up, which, for me, is a frequent annoyance, how easy is it to detach the spool from the frame? 1. Galvan Rush LT (you just push a button). 2. Nautilus XM (you loosen a screw, but the screw cap remains attached). 3 (TIE) Both Lamson Guru and Ross Animas require pulling the spool, with force, from the frame. Lamson is easier to do that with than the Ross.

Left-to-Right Conversion–Granted, this is usually a one-time-only-concern, but I’d rank the ease of switching as follows: 1. Galvan. 2. Ross (though it requires a small Phillips head screwdriver). 3. (TIE) Lamson and Nautilus (see instructions or a dealer).

Reel handle–this may seem really silly, but the Animas has a “gripper” canvas handle that expands when wet. It makes a difference. 1. Ross Animas. 2. (TIE) Nautilus and Galvan have shaped, fluted knobs. 3. Lamson, with a simple plastic, flat knob.

Counter balance–They’re all equal.

All these reels carry the same basic warranty: any defects attributable to the manufacturer are covered for the life of the owner; normal wear and tear, you break it, you pay to fix it.

Bottom Line

I like all these reels for their various attributes, and there really isn’t a stinker in the bunch. I’ve fished dozens of other reel models, foreign and domestic, and they all have pros and cons. But at the $400 price point or lower, for American-made, disc-drag reels, this is the cream of the crop.

‍End note: I have to say that the Orvis Mirage LT—also American made, and very much a bad-ass reel that would rate favorably against these reels is also worth considering, but it costs $429, and barely misses the price cut.