Old Reels - Page 2

thatstodd2 · 08-01-2007, 02:37 PM

Two seasons ago, I purchased a Shakespeare Tidewater and Abu 5000 reel from Wally World for around $30 to be used by beginners and kids on my boat for porgies, fluke, small blues etc. Even though I take care and regularly maintain my reels, they are both now in a local dump somewhere after several malfunctions/problems. Both of these reels were made in China as are now almost all sub $80 reels from the other old name companies such as Pflueger, *****ell, South Bend, etc.

I didn’t want to go out and buy some more cheap Chinese POS reels that could fail at any time and will not last more than a couple of seasons, so I decided to go the “old school “ route instead.

Last summer, I bought a lot of four old smaller size Penn’s (2 Beachmaster 155’s, 1 Squidder 140 & 2 Longbeach 60’s) for the whopping price of $12 at a local tag sale.

This spring, I started working on one the 155’s by completely disassembling and degreasing the reel. I purchased a set of Smooth Drags ($3), lubed and reassembled the reel and also added a new style Penn power handle ($8). This was my 1st time completely refurbishing a reel and after a few snafu’s (took an hour to figure out how to reattach the dog/dog spring), I now have a reel that looks and works great, with good drag, power and can even cast quite a distance for $14.

This reel is over 40 years old and I suspect it will last many more. Except for a little bit of chrome coming off the base of the brass spool (that is now covered up by line), the reel looks like it just came out of the box. I loaded it up with 20lb mono and it is now used a regular basis. I plan on redoing the other 3 reels this summer and it will not be buying more Chinese made POS reels any time soon.

I am sure that many people have similar old reels boxed up in their garages and attics that can be brought back to life for a few dollars in drags, parts and 1-2 hours of work.

Todd

A pic of the reel right after I finished rebuilding it:

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74Formula233 · 08-01-2007, 03:17 PM

Those are great old reels! Especially the Squidders

Squidder = early version of the Calcuttas etc that cost you your freakin' right arm

JayR · 08-01-2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gman

I would say Im in the other camp, I like new,

I was down in Venice tuna fishing and we decided to drop for Amberjack, we had been using shimano Tiagra's all day and I was spoiled. Well not for long, he broke out this huge old Penn reel and it was a workout to land the 50# AJ

To each there own, great topic, welcome to the board by the way

Financially, we are worlds apart...

I can't afford to even look at that new stuff.
I have to make due with my eBay hand-me-downs....

Venice..... <roll-eyes>

76SeaCraft18 · 11-19-2007, 05:22 PM

Here's my shark outfit. An 0lllld! pfluger that was my grandfather's. Had to make handle for it . Used resin,cabosil and the bottom of a dixie cup for a mold.

76SeaCraft18 · 11-19-2007, 05:23 PM

Forgot to attach pic

Bryan A. · 11-19-2007, 05:39 PM

Very cool! I love old reels and rods.

Tag sales are a good place to find old stuff. I have a mixture on my boat of old and new. I do like the concept of being able to downsize offshore with the use of braid.

Possum · 11-19-2007, 05:53 PM

That is one OLD reel. What type of sharks do you target with that ol' thang?

76SeaCraft18 · 11-19-2007, 06:43 PM

Nurse,black tip,hammerhead,bulls. 7' bull shark is about the biggest I've caut on that. The real fun is about a 4' black tip in about 1' of water on light tackle. They really put on a show!

76SeaCraft18 · 12-13-2007, 10:06 PM

Picked this up at the flea market today for $5. Its a Pfluegar Summit no. 1993. I googled it and found Its circa 1920-40 and most likely was used on a steel or bamboo rod( high ticket back then). Unfortunatly couldn't find any listed for more than $19

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