By Joe Cermele

I so badly want to tell you that the huge steelhead bending my rod in the photo at left was landed. Unfortunately, I cannot. Nor can I tell you the four other steelhead hooked during the same session were landed. Luckily for L.L. Bean, I wasn't field testing one of their nets in Pulaski, NY, this past weekend. Equally lucky for Bean, my horrible landing ratio was a product of the need for 4-pound tippet, a crowded river, and making dumb decisions at critical points in the fight...not the performance of new Quest Large Arbor reel I was using.

L.L. Bean's Quest fly reels have been around for a while, marketed as introductory reels for  beginner fly fishermen. The original Quests are made of a composite resin. This year, Bean upped the ante with the Quest Large Arbor series, which have spools and housings made of die-cast aluminum, and some extra beef in the sealed disc drags. The model I got to play with was the #2, and it sells for only $45.

Even before I got the reel wet, I noticed that the tolerances felt incredibly tight while spooling up some 7-weight line. No metal-on-metal rubbing within the frame or jiggling in the reel foot. I also like the no-click line intake and comfortable inward-tapering handle. Frankly, based on feel, I wasn't at all surprised that when I tied into my first steelie, the reel performed flawlessly. The drag was buttery-smooth, and I couldn't feel any torquing or shifting in the frame when cranking like crazy to keep up with the fish. I own a few reels with much higher price tags that don't perform as well, so I'm thinking this utilitarian Quest is going to become a workhorse I lean on often.

Now, you could argue that one trip out cannot gauge overall worth. That's fair, but let's be honest here: if a reel that's ice cold because of the conditions can tolerate the smoking runs of super-angry winter steel without crapping the bed, I don't think it will have any problems dealing with trout, bass, or carp that won't take a fraction of the line half as fast. Whether you're looking for a new reel, or perhaps a reliable back up to keep in the truck, it's hard to go wrong with the new Quest series that range in price from $40 to $50.

Comments (7)

from Micropterus24 wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

I have the previous model quest composite reel and while I can say I was impressed with the drag in warm water situations, I recently used it for steelheading and it froze up pretty bad. Its good to see they upgraded it to aluminum, I may have to bring mine in for an exchange.

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from buckhunter wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

Joe, I heard you were in Pulaski and was hoping you would have better numbers. I've had fresh fish break 4lb tippet just by the pressure of dragging the fly line through the water. The best reel drag in the world would not keep that from happening.

The Ohio steel have been very cooperative this year. The usual sucker spawn patterns are working well.

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from Joe_Cermele wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

Buck, we may have if we had room to chase, but man oh man was it a mob scene. That's what one nice, warm Saturday in January gets you I guess. That shoulder to shoulder stuff isn't really my cup of tea, come to find out.

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from themadflyfisher wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

LL. Bean seems to have some good stuff at low prices. I was talking to a local guide who guides for big browns and also small backwoods creeks and he had mentioned the LL. Bean Angler ll as one of the better rods he's used in a while and it's only $100. He picked them up for teaching a class and was very impressed with them. He has been in the making of a how-to-cast video and says he uses the rod in it as an example that you don't need high dollar stuff to do it right.

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from treelimit wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

Joe, at the risk of transparently trolling for additional free advice, do you have an opinion of the Quest rods, specifically as to their suitability for the "part-time" fly angler? Thinking about the Quest combo/outfit.

More importantly, did you stop off at a Wegmans or Topps and get some Hofmann's hot dogs?

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from Joe_Cermele wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

Tree, I've never used a Quest rod, so I can't speak to those, and no, no Hoffman's hotdogs. More like granola bars in the truck.

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from dirtybillsguidesvc wrote 18 weeks 2 days ago

I've used many different rod and reel combos during my winter steelhead craze. LL Beans Quest combo was my first 8 wt rod that I used for both Salmon and Steelhead. I can definitely say that it performed as good if not better than some reels Ive paid twice as much for.

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from Micropterus24 wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

I have the previous model quest composite reel and while I can say I was impressed with the drag in warm water situations, I recently used it for steelheading and it froze up pretty bad. Its good to see they upgraded it to aluminum, I may have to bring mine in for an exchange.

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from buckhunter wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

Joe, I heard you were in Pulaski and was hoping you would have better numbers. I've had fresh fish break 4lb tippet just by the pressure of dragging the fly line through the water. The best reel drag in the world would not keep that from happening.

The Ohio steel have been very cooperative this year. The usual sucker spawn patterns are working well.

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from Joe_Cermele wrote 20 weeks 5 days ago

Buck, we may have if we had room to chase, but man oh man was it a mob scene. That's what one nice, warm Saturday in January gets you I guess. That shoulder to shoulder stuff isn't really my cup of tea, come to find out.

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from themadflyfisher wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

LL. Bean seems to have some good stuff at low prices. I was talking to a local guide who guides for big browns and also small backwoods creeks and he had mentioned the LL. Bean Angler ll as one of the better rods he's used in a while and it's only $100. He picked them up for teaching a class and was very impressed with them. He has been in the making of a how-to-cast video and says he uses the rod in it as an example that you don't need high dollar stuff to do it right.

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from treelimit wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

Joe, at the risk of transparently trolling for additional free advice, do you have an opinion of the Quest rods, specifically as to their suitability for the "part-time" fly angler? Thinking about the Quest combo/outfit.

More importantly, did you stop off at a Wegmans or Topps and get some Hofmann's hot dogs?

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from Joe_Cermele wrote 20 weeks 4 days ago

Tree, I've never used a Quest rod, so I can't speak to those, and no, no Hoffman's hotdogs. More like granola bars in the truck.

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from dirtybillsguidesvc wrote 18 weeks 2 days ago

I've used many different rod and reel combos during my winter steelhead craze. LL Beans Quest combo was my first 8 wt rod that I used for both Salmon and Steelhead. I can definitely say that it performed as good if not better than some reels Ive paid twice as much for.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.