Tonight on the Podcast: Lamson's Ryan Harrison

[Zach Matthews]

This is a good one, guys. He reminds me of some of the dudes who design product for Apple.

[Gerard S]

Thanks Zach. I look forward to it.

Your podcasts have been a life saver as I have been painting the house which is mind blowing boring (especially when I should be on the river!) and the podcasts, which I have re-listened to them all, have kept me sane.
So thanks so much for all the hard work.

Regards
Gerard

• This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by Gerard S.

[Chris Ray]

I agree, I listened to them while I trained and ran a half marathon. some people are motivated by the black eyed peas, me, pod casts on nautilus reels.

[Zach Matthews]

That’s awesome Chris. Also pretty hilarious.

[Tim Angeli]

I’m really looking forward to this one. I’m a big fan of Lamson reels, and in my opinion, they are one of the best in the industry at striking a balance of design, function, and cost.

Zach, are you still planning to interview Bryan Gregson? He was on your list before this ‘season’ of podcasts and I would love to hear some of his stories and insights into his success as a photographer.

[Zach Matthews]

Tim –

Yes; Bryan had a project going this summer so we decided to hold off until he could potentially include that as something to discuss.

Obviously I didn’t get the new show out tonight – sorry, had to get some fishing in. 🙂 Look for it tomorrow night.

[John S.]

Zach, great podcast as Lamson is my favorite reel in it’s price range. In the podcast Ryan Harrison mentioned that Waterworks/Lamson does not machine any of its reels, but instead subcontracts out the machining to several machine shops. Is this typical of most high end fly reel makers? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it frees up Ryan Harrison to focus on his strength . . . . . design.

Thanks.

John

[Zach Matthews]

Hey John –

It largely seems to depend on whether the reel is made in the U.S. or not. Nautilus, Ross, Abel, Hatch, Galvan, Tibor and many other high-end makers all machine their reels here themselves, typically while also making other products (except, I think, in the case of Nautilus). For example Tibor makes a security camera mount when it is not machining reels, sold under the brand name of Ted Juracsik Tool & Die (or at least they did).

Meanwhile imported reels are all, obviously, subcontracted. Orvis, Sage, TFO, Lamson, and the like typically import. There’s a trend here, I think: rod companies who sell reels are usually re-badging them, although they can still be very high quality, since a CNC machine station can be manned anywhere. Hardy proved that by turning out identical or even arguably better reels when they moved manufacture to Korea a few years back. Their Korean reels remain excellent and are just about indistinguishable from their English-made models.

Zach

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