Reel Preference

[Crippled Caddis]

Terry wrote:

<I think anyone who has read my stories knows about my preference as a child and somewhat still today when I'm spin/cast fishing... Zebco 33... Yeah, I have a lot of memories there... and I'm still trying to put as many of them as I can down "on paper"...>

And many of us are enjoying them as much or more than yourself----and identifying with them.;o)

Even though I started spinning with a Langley ultra-light open-face reel in '61 and was never able to come to terms with a closed face reel---particularly Zebcos. I will be kind and not tell you what I called them.;o) BTW, the Garcia 308 that took the place of the Langley(after wearing out the 2nd one) is still in great working order (though it and the spare spool in original container now resides in a display case) as is an Alcedo Micron (then considered the Rolls Royce of ultra-light reels) which once more graces a fiberglass rod. A DAM Quick (honest---that's the correct name!) ultra-light that came along about the same time is back in service as are my Zebco Cardinals. Even though they have became very collectable no one has yet built a better spinning reel IMO. A recent antique store acquisition, the reel that started the spinning craze in America after WW2, a Bach Brown, is still in fine working order after cleaning and re-lubing. Even back then it had a single finger actuated quick-flip opening bail though it was a half bail that required the user to pick up the line with his finger after a cast in order for the bail to engage it. It is so smooth it makes one wonder about the quality of the current crop. And that without benefit of ball bearings.

I also have a first year model Pflueger Supreme with all accessories except for oil and grease and still in the original box that occasionally cries out as I pass the display case to be taken out to play once more with the Dowagiacs and River Runts. If I ever run across that good bamboo casting rod it deserves I'll do it too. Just as an old bird dog needs to visit the fields of his youth once more that Supreme deserves a day with the linesides. CC

[Leonard]

OK guys... after giving Terry some BS... here you go...

I too fished with a Zebco (the little silver ones.. well I had 2 of them)...

This zebco was a good one (in my youth).. I got one for my birthday.. and the 2nd that same year for X-mas...

the very first Brown I caught (over 20in) was one these reels...

1st one was caught Downwtown Branson fishing off those old docks... fishing with corn.. next to the Main street boat dock..

the 2nd one was caught behind the C of O... we had access to the lake before the camp was built.. and the access just below Phils place..

That little gravel bar on the college side... my family has spent alot of hours fishing that gravel bar...

Leonard

[WebFreeman]

Unlike Norman Maclean, none of us were born w/ fly rods in our hands. I had a Daiwa silvercast with a 4.5 foot rod. It's hanging on the wall of my bedroom at my parents house. That's one thing I love about this forum--we remember out roots. Makes us better fisherman, I think.

[Greg]

I used several zebcos. I had a 404 I think it was. Then moved up to a "33". My first spinning rod and reel was an eagle claw featherlight combo. All nice workable reels.

Greg

[ridered39]

Now that everybody is being honest, I caught my first fish on the old and trusty zebco. If I recall it correctly it was a blue gill that I caught on a worm and a bobber. Memmories are good and so are the old reels we learned on. May God bless us all and the memmories always remain.

Ridered39

[Ibeenfishing]

I prefer scooby doooo too! lol

I prefer the Scooby-Doo combo. The natural colors prevent spooking the fish.
Do you think my "Sponge Bobber" float collection is considered vintage yet?

[cnr]

I think my first fish came on an old Mitchell 300 spinning reel. The bail springs were awful on those. Oh, and the first fish I ever caught was a sail catfish out of a Florida canal.