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Thread: What was your first real fishing reel ?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    My first was a Zebco 33 "spincast", but now all i'll use is my zebco cardinal #4. that thing is smooth as glass!

  2. #22
    Boolit Master

    Baja_Traveler's Avatar
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    I dont remember, but it probably was made by the Zero Hour Bomb Company
    http://zebco.com/common/about.html

    Seems like just about every kid starts out with one...

  3. #23
    In Remembrance
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    I believe my first would have been a 202, I was probably 11 or 12 before I graduated to a 33, then at 13 went to the garcia 5000. I have no idea how many I have owned, and probably most brands and types over the years. I have a couple of the daiwa ultra lights that went everywhere with me, even when riding a scooter.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master

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    It's interesting how many started with Zebco's and Mitchell's. Those are exactly what I use to this day. The Zebco 33 , must have 4 or 5 in working order and for some reason I liked the mitchell's. Got a 300, 301 and 2 more for freshwater fishing and have4 salt water reels. Found the last 2 saltwater reels in Flordia antique stores. I look em over and if they are in working order , buy them. The new ones they make today arn't the same as the old ones...I like the old ones better.
    Gary

  5. #25
    Boolit Bub
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    Johnson century still have it.

  6. #26
    L Ross
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    Dad bought me a used Bantam Compac with a 5 ft. tubular glass rod and loaded it with 4# test line, in about 1962. He was really ahead of his time. I remember his first spinning reel was a Heddon that did not have a bail, just a roller. You cast then caught the line on your index finger tip and as the roller came around it picked up the line, simple tension held it on. Next he got a St. Croix 4 ft. ultra light with a Bantam Compac reel with 1.7 lb. test line from France and used spinners I think were called Veltec. I saw him catch a 20" long small mouth bass one Spring on that little rig. I stll remember him running down the bank holding that tiny rod above his head as that bass threatened to "spool" him.
    Because he started me with ultralight spinning well before it got popular I was the scourge of a lot of adults still using bait casting equipment with heavy black braided line or cane poles. I also remember using "Pinky Jigs", and "Doll Flies" and none of the "Old Guys" could imagine a jig with no action could catch fish. God, I was a lucky kid, Dad paid three dollars for that first rod and reel of mine.

    Duke

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
    375RUGER's Avatar
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    ABU-matic 290
    I still have it.
    Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H.L. Mencken

    The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.― H.L. Mencken

  8. #28
    Boolit Bub Wickyd's Avatar
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    Zebco 202 then a 33
    Mitchell 300 and a 308

  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy

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    My first reel was a Mitchell-Garcia 408 around 1962, first catch was a bluegill. I had the bail latch replaced, caught grayling in Alaska with it in the 1990's. Still use it for small alpine lakes or small streams for trout. Best lure for small streams is the Mepps Agila.

  10. #30
    Boolit Mold
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    My first reel was an Ocean City St. Lucie -- a narrow bay reel. Filled it with 9 thread linen line (27 lb wet test) -- had to wash it after every day fishing. Used it with a solid glass rod from Sears -- about 5 - 5 1/2 feet long. Fished mostly in Long Island Sound, caught Blackfish, Sea Bass, Porgies, Blowfish and some Fluke. Later when I was a bit older, I had a Penn Surfmaster. coupled to a 7 foot hollow glass rod (I had to earn the money for that rig). Used mostly Ashaway Nylon "Squidding Line" -- still caught the same fish, but added Bluefish, Striped Bass, and some Weakfish.

    Over the many years from the 1950's I added an awful lot of rods and reels -- some salt water, some freshwater. Don't fish near as much as I once did, but most of the tackle is still hanging around -- including a 1/2 finished 50 lb class trolling rod - from a time before the short stand up types were seen around.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master

    Marvin S's Avatar
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    Man some of you must have been rich as a kid to own a Zebco 33. We started with the 202 which was always junk new or used. The 404 was better by a bit and the 606 to follow. The 33 was the bees knees for a kid. I did finally save up for a new Ambassador 5500D which I still have along with 50 or so other rod/reel outfits.
    Last edited by Marvin S; 09-19-2013 at 06:17 PM.

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy
    brtelec's Avatar
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    My first reel was a Zebco 202. Then a Garcia 300. Seems to be a lot of 60's kids on here.
    'The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
    Daniel J. Boorstin

    The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
    Albert Einstein

  13. #33
    Boolit Master kenyerian's Avatar
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    A Zebco 202.

  14. #34
    Boolit Buddy savagetactical's Avatar
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    Zebco 33.
    Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you.

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy blueeyephil's Avatar
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    Zebco 202. If you had a Zebco 33 you were in high cotton when I was a kid.

  16. #36
    Boolit Master AlaskanGuy's Avatar
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    Mitchell 304 cap... Remember these? Attachment 83259. I still have a couple.... Guess i am old....

  17. #37
    Boolit Master Garyshome's Avatar
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    A Zebco! and a fine reel it was at that.
    Last edited by Trey45; 10-03-2013 at 10:24 AM.

  18. #38
    Boolit Master



    retread's Avatar
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    Mitchell 300. Still have it. It has caught a lot of trout.

  19. #39
    Boolit Master

    LUCKYDAWG13's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jules View Post
    Zebco 33 and a Mitchell 300. Wow was that a long time ago.
    same here still have the 33 the coffee grinder is long gone i still use the 33 for river
    fishing takes me back in time i can still fish were me and my dad fished when i was
    a kid
    kids that hunt and fish dont mug old ladies

  20. #40
    Boolit Master WallyM3's Avatar
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    A J. W. Young Beaudex fly reel was truly the first reel that was actually mine. It was given to me by my manager at Fin & Feather Lodge, East Greenwich, RI. I was his only employee at the time. He was, at least, one of the best all 'round sports I've known. Really very good at a lot of modes of catching and shooting things. He was, for a time later, representing Browning in the Eastern US.

    Pete died too young several years ago, and I can't find that reel to save my life. But the memory is indelible.

    Since then, I've owned well over $100k worth of reels. But that one I'll always remember.

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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