By Tackle Warehouse | Updated September 2023
The brand new Lew's HyperSpeed LFS Casting Reel delivers high-speed performance with its 9.5:1 gear ratio
Our goal with the Tackle Warehouse Product Review is to provide customers with an honest opinion on the latest bass fishing tackle and equipment, so they can make the most informed and optimized purchase possible. The products are distributed to a team of trusted Tackle Warehouse employees who have a wide breadth of fishing knowledge and experience. Each reviewer is responsible for testing and grading the product before and after use. After we are done testing, the grades are averaged and the reviews are compiled to highlight the most important elements – all in an effort to provide as much information as possible before you proceed to checkout.
All scores are rated from 1-to-5 with 1 being the lowest score and 5 being the highest score.
No matter how old we get, we can all relate to that kid-on-Christmas feeling you get when you pull a fresh reel out of the box. It gets us daydreaming about big fish, improved performance, and creates an overall excitement to hit the water. When we pulled the Lews Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel out of the box, all of that childhood excitement came rushing back.In hand, the Lew’s LFS HyperSpeed LFS Casting Reel feels solid, without feeling weighty or clunky. Equipped with soft EVA knobs and a 95mm handle, which some reviewers felt could be a touch longer, the Lew’s HyperSpeed LFS Casting Reel has very little play when you turn the handle, which can probably be attributed to the P2 Super Pinion gear support system. Engaging the reel in and out of freespool feels effortless, and we were immediately in favor of the rubberized thumb bar. Give the spool tensioner a twist and an auditory click lets you know exactly how much adjustment you’re making. After filling it with line, getting acquainted with Lew’s cast control, and giving it a few practice casts it became immediately apparent that the candy-apple red colorway wasn’t chosen purely for aesthetics.
For those who like turning the trolling motor on high and covering water, the Lew’s Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel is a shoo-in for your new go-to reel. Aptly named, the Lew’s Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel's blazing 9.5:1 gear ratio fills a gap in the Lew’s casting reel lineup that traditionally did not venture above the 8.3:1 range. Picking up 40-inches per turn, the Lew’s Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel was put through the ringer by our reviewers with a wide-range of techniques, including jigs, flipping, pitching, lipless cranks, and topwater. Most notably, the Lew’s Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel seemed to shine with buzzbaits, giving anglers the ability to cover water efficiently and get their buzzer up on pad quickly. While the added speed was a plus for all anglers, it was noted that if it wasn’t offset with a slower retrieve you might run the risk of washing out your bait. Dealbreaker? We don’t think so, just something to keep in mind when you hit the water. Cosmetically, the candy red coloring appealed to about half of the group out-of-the-gate, but as the testing continued it seemed to grow on almost everyone. It was even noted that it provided a functional advantage as you can look down and immediately identify your buzzbait, jig, etc. setup.
There's no mistaking the Lew's Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel with your other setups on the front deck.
Like most tournament anglers, we do our best to keep up with maintenance and respect our equipment. However, “gentle” is probably not the word that best describes how we treat our gear here at Tackle Warehouse. We like to put everything through its paces to make sure it won’t fail when we need it the most, and the Lew’s Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel got the same treatment. After a couple months of braid-heavy fishing, we are happy to report that the Lew’s HyperSpeed LFS Casting reel still feels, functions, and looks like it did when we first took it out of the box. We think that this speaks very clearly to the reel’s quality, especially considering how often it was used for buzzbaits, a technique that imparts a ton of stress on the reel and often includes premature gear engagement to keep the bait on the surface.
When evaluating the value of a reel, most people just want to know one thing: how does it stack up to similar reels?There are a handful of specialty high-speed reels on the market, like the Daiwa Zillion 10.0 TW Casting Reel ($399.99), Abu Garcia Revo Rocket ($329.99), and KastKing Speed Demon Elite Casting Reel ($119.99) that deliver similar gear ratios. Among these reels, the average price is roughly $282, which is well above the Hyperspeed’s competitive $199 price tag. With this in mind, we feel there is plenty of value at $200, considering that it provides dependable access to a specialized sector of the reel market.
The upside of a specialty reel is that it provides a clear-cut advantage with a select number of techniques. The downside of a specialty reel is also that it only provides a clear-cut advantage with a select number of techniques. This can be viewed as a pro or con depending on how you like to fish. If you like being able to shuffle reels from rod to rod, it will have limited applications, but if you like having a specific setup for each technique, this reel is going to shine. While it isn’t going to replace every reel in your boat, the Lew’s HyperSpeed LFS Casting Reel will find a starting position on your front deck when it comes to a handful of key techniques, like buzzbaits, jigs, topwaters, and especially flipping and pitch – a technique where efficiency equals fish catches.
Great for jigs too, the Lew's Hyperspeed LFS Casting Reel's makes quick work of this chunky spotted bass.
Combining their unshakeable commitment to quality with highspeed performance and a competitive price point, Lew’s nailed it with the ultra-fast Lew’s HyperSpeed LFS. The supercharged Lew’s HyperSpeed LFS Casting Reel performs exactly as advertised, boosting efficiency with a handful of techniques. But why is this a big deal?For those who don’t fish competitively, it might not matter if they can squeeze 50-extra flips out of a day of fishing, or cover 20-extra yards of bank every time they put the trolling motor down. But for those with a competitive streak, we know efficiency is everything. Every precision cast, every optimal moment of fishing, every extra foot of coverage works to tip the scale in your favor – not just against fish, but against other anglers as well. With this in mind, we feel overall that Lew’s hit it out of the park with the Lew’ HyperSpeeds LFS Casting Reel’s blend of performance, pricepoint, and quality.
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