Hi Patrick. I truely was looking for a reel that would cover all catagories of my taste: lightness,quality,drag,performance,durability,dependability and most of all VALUE! I finally came to a conclusion and ended up with a Lamson Litespeed 3 for Steelhead and Velocity 1.5 for Trout. I got the Litespeed new last year on Ebay for 200.00 and the Velocity new last month for 150.00 also on Ebay, both at the "Buy it Now" option.
I let my patience take over for months til finding these deals on Ebay. My patience sure paid off because I wasn't about to pay Retail prices for these reels.
For under 200.00 off the shelf, seriously look into Lamson's Velocity Large Arbor reels:
http://www.waterworks-lamson.com/velocity.html
IMO, NOTHING under 200.00 can touch this reel!
I'll get ahold of you this spring/summer and promise to get you hooked into a Steelie if you haven't already by then.
Good luck! Peter ><>
"Follow Me and I will make you fishers of Men"
Matthew 4:19
