Lamson Liquid S-Series Daybreak Fly Reel

How well is it built?

Unlike the Lamson Guru S-Series, which is machined from 6061 aluminium and stainless steel, the Liquid S frame and spool start out pressure-cast. Casting forms the frame and spool in a mould, and machining then tidies them up and adds the finer details.

It's a cheaper way to make a reel than machining every part, which goes a long way to explaining why the Guru is the dearer of the two.

The pocket spar design is there to raise the strength-to-weight ratio, so the frame should stay stiff without carrying extra metal. The polyurethane finish should protect it from knocks and scratches on the bank or in the bottom of a boat.

To be fair, I'd expect it to feel a little less refined than a fully machined reel, and that's why the build scores 8.4 rather than nudging 9. For a reel that's meant to be fished hard on stillwaters and swapped between lines all day, though, I think it's well made.

Drag System

The drag is where the Liquid S punches above its price, and it's the feature I'd put at the top of the list. It's a sealed conical design that works in fresh or salt water, so it should stay smooth through a wet day and need very little looking after.

So, why does sealed matter? An open drag leaves the braking surfaces exposed, so grit, weed and water can get in and make the setting feel uneven from one fish to the next.

Sealing it keeps the feel consistent, which helps protect a light tippet when a stillwater rainbow tears off, and the bigger -7+ and -9+ sizes should cope with harder-fighting fish too.

The drag knob is large and easy to grip, which makes small changes easier with cold fingers. For me, a sealed drag at this level is the main reason to buy it, and I think the 8.6 is a fair score.

Weight & Balance

The lightest size weighs 4.2oz, and the reels grow with the line weight, so each one should balance a rod of the matching line class. Match the size to your rod, from the -3+ for #2 to #4 lines up to the -9+ for #8 to #10, and the outfit should feel neutral in the hand.

The reshaped arbor should give firmer handling as line goes on, too. Put simply, a large arbor is a wide spool core, so every turn of the handle recovers more line, and the line comes off in looser coils with less memory, which is handy with stiff sinking lines on a cold morning.

Spool widths run from 25mm to 32mm, and capacity goes from WF4 with 100 yards of 20lb backing on the -3+ to WF10 with 250 yards of 30lb on the -9+. Overall, I think it balances and picks up line well, which is what a stillwater reel needs.

Is it good value for money?

The three-pack is the main reason I rate the Liquid S so highly for value, and I think it's one of the better-value reels from a premium maker.

You get one reel and two spare spools, so you can load a floater, an intermediate and a sinker and swap between them on the bank without restringing. That's pretty much a whole stillwater line system in one pack.

The Liquid S spools also fit the same-size Remix S and Remix S HD reels, so if you already own one of those, your spools will swap across and you won't need to buy new ones.

The Lamson Guru S-Series is the dearer, fully machined option, and the Guideline AURA is dearer again, while the die-cast Greys Fly Tail is the cheaper alternative with a sealed drag.

Overall, I'd recommend the Liquid S to stillwater and reservoir anglers who want a sealed drag, several lines on spare spools and four sizes to choose from, without paying for a fully machined reel.