In Lefty Kreh's book "Fly Fishing in Salt Water", fe refers to the Pflueger Medalist as a reel "that has taken literally thousands of fish". I have a few Medalist, a couple of which I have used for over 50 years. I have one which I altered like in his book, that is cut away the frame to be able to finger the spool to act as a drag to slow a running fish. I now use this reel exclusively in the surf as the sand gets in the other precision reels that I have. I have had to take reels apart while fishing because of the sand. Carry some fresh water with you if possible to rinse them. The Medalist is not so fussy about the sand. The new ones are cheap and now have a rim control model. For about $55 you can get a reel with an extra spool. For boat fishing I have a Billy Pate "Bonefish", a couple of Sa System two's, and an antique reel which has the markings TBS 312 CWH this is an anti-reverse reel, who made it I do not know, but it doesn't like sand. I just purchased a new Medalist with rim c
ontrol. Hope this adds something, Good Luck Art B.