Old Reels = Great Reels

Dropshot · 01-28-2009, 01:21 PM

I was in the market for a new reel for my jigging rod and after much research and shopping came up a little discouraged. I was looking for a wide spool, quick and easy bail release and a great price. No such animal...

Then I remembered the old reel of my dad's that I had in the shop. A reel that I can remember him using in the 50's. Getting it out I found it sluggish, dirty, oily and the bail was sticking. I took it to Ole Damons and for $17 they went through it from stem to stern and it works great, exactly what I was looking for. It is smooth and the bail flips closed almost too fast for the naked eye to see, with almost no pressure on the crank. This reel is head and shoulders above anything I have picked up in the stores recently.

So don't forget those old reels you may have sitting around, nor pass up one at a garage sale, especially an Orvis 100.

Anyone else using old reels or tackle? This could be a great cabin fever topic.

dartonvpr · 01-28-2009, 02:11 PM

Still fish with an old Shakespeare 1944 service reel. Has never failed me and can handle anything the Columbia can throw at it.

dlm · 01-28-2009, 07:23 PM

That is neat that you still had your dad's old reel. I'm sure it will bring back some good memories each time you use it.

I have seen several those reels on e-bay so they must still be popular. I wonder what they cost new compared to todays dolars?

Dullhook · 01-29-2009, 07:16 AM

I had a similar experience, Dropshot. Ollie Damon's to the rescue again. Back around 1980 I bought a Zebco Cardinal 4 as a birthday present for my dad. This was one of the old Swedish-made vintages which were of really high quality. It has an extremely smooth graduated rear drag and spools line more evenly than any reel I've ever used. When dad was unable to fish any longer due to advanced age, it sat out in his garage for a few years. One day he called and insisted I take it. He'd really enjoyed that reel and wanted to see it back out catching fish again instead of collecting dust.

The first time using it out on Crane Prairie the spool split in half! It had become brittle from years in the sun plus being stored with the old line still tightly wound on it. After returning home it sat in a drawer unused for a few more years because I was unable to find a replacement. I'd kind of forgotten about it, not remembering its quality and how much fun it was to use. Finally, after asking for some help on the ifish classified ads, someone suggested Ollie Damon's. It turns out that these reels long outlive their spools and there's a company who makes after-market replacements. It's been back in action performing flawlessly ever since. The rear drag has come in handy more than once at Odell jigging for kokes and then finding a big mac on the other end of the line instead!

The old reel is still in just about mint condition, and will be passed down after I'm off strummin' a harp so that it can still be enjoyed.

Willie Ketchum · 01-29-2009, 10:41 AM

I still have the Quick Finessa 110 and 220 I bought as a teen in the 60's. They still fish well.

I spoke to a plunker on the Clack a couple weeks ago, and remarked that he was using a Quick Finessa, and he told me he has 28 of them and never fishes anything else!

My ABU 5001C's from the 70's and 80's are still my everyday working reels too.

moknots · 01-29-2009, 02:00 PM

Sweet Reel Dropshot! I have a Swedish Cardinal 4 like DH, but use mostly modern rods and reels, and a really old boat! But if I had an Orvis 100, looks like I'd be using that!

ok doke · 01-29-2009, 02:49 PM

Bought the Quick for 5 bucks 25 years ago. The Pflueger I bought from Herters in the early 70's. I'm sure that I could fill a couple ten yard dump trucks with the fish these have brought in.

Splash · 01-31-2009, 08:20 AM

While these reels are youngsters compared to those, they're anything but spring chickens. This team of Bantam's is eagerly awaiting fresh spools of mono for the upcoming trout and kokanee seasons.

Aufish101 · 01-31-2009, 11:28 AM

No collection would not be complete without a vintage Mitchell 308.

I save up my coin for months and got this in 1964 at the old GI Surplus when it was by the Hollywood Theater in Salem. It has serverd me well and now it is a back-up reel.

Yes, DH, it's the same one that spent the night on the bottom of Crane Prairie!

Aufish101

Hawk JJ · 01-31-2009, 12:15 PM

I still regularly use my Mitchell 300 i bought in the early 60's. She cleans up real good..........................

.................. ....has a spare spool too.

Dullhook · 01-31-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Yes, DH, it's the same one that spent the night on the bottom of Crane Prairie!

That old reel must have 9 lives! It's helped put many fish in his basket too. If I can respectively hitch-hike on Dropshot's thread, there's a pretty good story behind this.

Taking a long May weekend trip years ago back in the 'heyday' of CP, a few of us met at Quinn River CG for some trout fishing and camping. All of us had small boats and limited camping accommodations, so it was pretty much BYO. We all put our rigs together in a group camp. One day we strung our boats together and were fishing on the edge of the trees outside of the Quinn Channel, casting out towards the main lake. We were catching big cranebows running mostly from 17" to over 20" in size. Those were the days! We were mostly using Powerbait, so it was just a matter of casting out and waiting for a take down. Those big bows were real fighters and would leap, take off and then break off if you weren't careful.

Well, Aufish had cast out and leaned the rod against the side of his boat and the next thing he knew a big rainbow hit and pulled the whole works over the side. Learned from personal experience, I know that there's hardly a more helpless feeling than having something fall into an ice cold lake and watch it slowly sink towards the bottom. That area of lake was maybe 15' deep with a thick carpet of weeds, and even the slightest ripple on the surface made it impossible to see down. Adios...rod, reel, and fish. We searched in vain for a while and then headed back to camp to clean our fish and fix supper.

The next morning we went back out to the same general area to fish (it was hard to pin point exactly where we were

) and found the lake mill-pond smooth and the sun at the perfect angle. If it wasn't just right, the reflection back or any ripple would make it impossible to see below the surface. Gary was cruising around and spotted something tiny, shiny, and just barely visible in the weeds. If I remember right it was one of the chrome guides on his rod. Maybe one chance in a million of ever seeing that rod again. Just as amazing was the fact that he was able to fish it out using another rod hooking it somehow. No rainbow on the other end though

. Fishing CP used to be a top priority back in those days. Nowadays, both of us also enjoy eating quality fish and spend most of our time chasing kokes. It's one of the very few fisheries that has actually gotten better through the years. Can't wait for koke season, good weather, and Cascade camping to start!

cully · 02-01-2009, 07:40 AM

Two years ago my mother in law came over and said she had a couple of fishing items for me that she had boxed up after her dad had passed. She proceeded to hand be an old blue metal tackle box filled with treasures. One of the items she handed me was a mitchell 300 from the 50's. Landed my first bobber/jig fish on it last week. Smooth!

The tackle box was filled with spinners with pearl blades, old spoon cleos, dare devils and two old 3day Montana fishing licenses from 1957.