My kids give me gift certificates for all the holidays. I guess this makes up for the dough I laid out for their education. Just joking !! They are great kids. So I save up the certificates for something really cool . This year I bought the Vanquish. I love this reel. I am lucky enough to fish a lot in water that holds big trout. This reel is the ticket for fighting the big boys. Superior drag system, extra large handle , and wide arbor retrieve ratio add up to a superior big fish fighting machine . I have this reel paired up with my marksman ten foot four weight for euro - nymphing . The reel is made in Idaho and is backed by Lamson's superior service department. .Inside the box there is a letter signed by the workers who made the reel (very cool) . I got my reel finger rapped a few times by the handle when a big Rainbow goes on run but that's just a matter of getting used to placing my hands in the right position during the fight. I know six hundred is a lot for a fly reel but this one really performs.