What was your first real fishing reel ?

[Garyshome]

It's not real but Zebco 33. Doesn't work real well off of the rear of my new boat!

[Uncle Grinch]

Always had various hand me down reels from my dad, uncle and grand-dad, until I sold enough Grit newspapers and garden & flower seeds to get the money for this new on the market Pflueger Akron free spool casting reel. Even with the free spool , I managed to create many birdsnests with my braided line.... but I was one proud kid!

[Bad Water Bill]

We pulled into port somewhere in the med in 1958 and someone was selling the new Mitchell 300.

I bought one for me and one for dad.

Many fish have regretted that purchase.

I have no idea of the biggest it hooked onto.

Fishing off a pier at Gitmo one night it felt like I hooked into a run away train and SNAP.

Later I found out there was a 350# grouper that used the pier for shade.

Now I take them to the Kankakee river for their exercise every year.

[ACrowe25]

Z 33 also

[TCLouis]

Like everyone in the 50-60s it was a Zebco 33 (used at that, I was the 4th user).
Still have it and an old green Johnson that appeared to set sideways to the pole.

Somewhere I have a Pfleuger from the generation before . . . DANG where is that all steel casting rod I was so proud of in those days.

Went to true spinning rods and mounted the 33, turned the rod upside down control the line with index finger and push the button with the off hand AND crank backwards . . . YEP, worked fine.

I was in tall cotton when I got that Garcia 300 and then upgraded to Garcia 408. Still have them also.

Now it is Diawa and Shimano and 7 foot ultra light rod.

[Bad Water Bill]

That all steel casting rod probably started out as an antenna for a U S Army tank from what I heard many years ago.

Mine HAS a pistol grip handle.

[JSH]

Still have my first one someplace it is a zebco but there are no numbers left on it. Black plastic with white crank handles. First new one I ever bought is a zebco 33, 1974.
Jeff

[shooter2]

Shakespeare Wonder Reel. I still have it in a display case of old reels.

[Minerat]

A Mitchell 300 in 1963. Still have it and use it though it is getting a little persnickety. Just bought my grandson his first rod a reel. Yup a new Mitchell 300 with a medium Bass pro shops rod. Hope it lasts him as long as mine has.

>&%$#@ Backlash= professional over run (in mixed company)

[Kent Fowler]

1953 Shakespeare Ocean Pacific reel then a few years later, a Zebco 33

[Beagle333]

Johnson 710 for light stuff, Daiwa Millionaire for the catfish. Still got both of em.

Oddly, of the bajillion rods and reels I have owned (and still do).. I have never had a Zebco 33.

[Geobru]

I had a Bronson closed faced reel for several years that was a hand me down. My first reel that I bought was a Mitchel 300 in about 1964. I still have it somewhere, but I burned up the drag after catching 30 or 40 steelhead with it.

[Groovy]

Zebco 202 circa 1976.

[Silfield]

Mitchell 300 here as well. Brought it in 1982 and still use it today for anything from tiddler-bashing to pike fishing. Must try and find some new spools for it as I had about 6 of them chewed up by mice in my shed

[reddnekked]

Zebco, 1956 vintage. Dad bought us a pair, I still have one.

[TCLouis]

Like many my age it was a Zebco 33. One of the originals.
Over time I learned to use it on a spinning rod mounted upside down and cranked backward.

Followed by the Mitchell 300 and then 408.

After the 408 it has been UL ever since.

Still have an old green Johnson too.

Wish I still had my solid steel casting rod.

[brody]

A Mitchell 309 back in the late 50's. It was a miniature 300 for lefties. Probably the best reel I ever had. I caught everything from trout in the Eastern Sierra to bonita in Los Angeles harbor to a 28# nothern pike in South Dakota. We grew up together and it never failed me once.

[oldsagerat]

Looked at a Mitchel 300 but bought a Dam Quick for $19. This was about 1962. Still works fine and has not
required any maintenance. Still have the kit of spare parts that came with it. Used it in salt and fresh from
the West coast to Guam, the Phillipines, Japan, and Hawaii. I am amazed by what you can now buy for
your $19. There are some fine spinning reels out there.

[GhostHawk]

I learned how to fish on grampa's mitchell 300, he had a pair he brought back from Germany. He also had a pair of 9' fly rods with automatic reel's. Man those things were killer on big bluegills!

First reel of my own was a zebco 202 given as a gift but it was not long after that I bought my first open face spinning reel. Shakespear combo set that gave good service for years.

[C. Latch]

My first was a Daiwa spincasting reel, I think it was a Goldcast.

Later on came the Zebco 33, Zebco 20/20? Pro Staff (something like that) and a Mitchell 300.

When I was 18-19 I got serious about fishing and bought an Abu 5000, then another, then a 5600, then a small pile of other Abu and other nicer casting reels.

I still have most of them. Some have disappeared over time. I haven't been fishing in a year and a half, best I remember.