Closed Face Spincast Reels - Any Good For Bass Fishing?

[XpressJeff]

Barbie did a fine job for my Granddaughter catching bluegills. 

 

She uses a Shimano Spinning reel now though.

[Lures'n'Liberty]

Just an FYI while the subject is back up and running, for what it's worth there's been a lot of discussion on the zebco bullet. Anyone looking to spend $100 on a quality spincast reel with a fast retrieve ratio should know that the Daiwa SC120 has a higher IPT ratio, an all metal body, and it's half the price.

[Boomstick]

My experience with spin cast reels is that the drag maxes out around somewhere between 1 and 3lbs, but most of my spin cast reels were cheap entry level reels as well. Also, anything you can do on a spin cast reel you can do on a spinning reel and they really aren't that much harder to use.

That said, more spin cast reels are made to be cheap than be quality reels, but people have caught some serious fish on better made models, no doubt.

[Darren.]

Of the closed face, I've always preferred underspin

models as they balance better...to me. Like a spinning

rod with the reel hanging down. That said, I've used

some tiny closed face reels in both top and underspin.

 

Haven't used mine for many years. They caught me 

a lot of bass and panfish. Drag is the week spot, IMO,

agree with @Boomstick on that.

[Ecatman1]

What a great subject to talk about I really like hearing about everyone's point of view since I don't have a lot of fishing buddies..... Well my two cents.... I love spincast  because I'm the guy without the boat who ends up hiking to areas and finding lakes and ponds. I'm often walking through brush and wooded areas to get to the Shoreline and it's very nice to have a closed real that doesn't seem to catch every weed and Twig as I get to the Shoreline also I use a shorter Rod about a five-and-a-half footer so that I can flip it  it mostly because there's trees and brush overhanging I swear by spincast and I have caught 5 + Pounders on Zebco 404 and my Zebco 33. I know there's a lot of fishing snobs that look down on spincast but they suit my style of fishing therefore they are perfect and like a fella said before me the fish don't know what you're using the catch them. My favorite spincast is the  zebco prostaff 20/20 it is amazingly smooth and I can cast that really far and cover lots of water. I find that the secret to getting the most and best use out of a spincast is to use the lightest line you can for the fish you're trying to catch. I use 10 lb line because it offers a nice blend of strength and cast ability. I do have to say most of my spincast reels are vintage ...my hobby is  to collect and refurb them I have a feeling that these are higher quality than the modern ones so maybe I'm having a better experience then someone who's purchasing new ones.

Caught on a Zebco authentic series rod and a 404 reel kind of throw away set up but it' sure works.

[WB4IUY]

Old thread, but here's my 1 cent worth ?  Spincast reels have come a long ways. Been fishing about 50 years. I've been using the Zebco bullets for about 2 years, several times/week. Great retrieve rate (29 ipt), 9 bearings, smooth & stable drag, handles braid, quick change reel, smooth brake, casts like butter, no blowups under the hood. Now have several of them and love'm.

 

Dave

[WB4IUY]

Glad I found this site. A friend told me about it, lots of good info to read, for sure!

 

Dave

[papajoe222]

My wife only uses these reeks, so I bought her the best available, IMO, Pfluger. She has landed numerous 5-5lb bass and cats. She did loose her PB this season, but not because of the reel. 

[Bazoo]

Interesting discussion. I have been tinkering with spincasting reels since I was a kid, mostly Zebco 33s. Since before I learned to use a baitcaster.

 

I have 2 older 33s (I gave one to my boy because the new 202 he was using started giving him issues) and a Zebco Pro Staff 20/20.

 

I just tore the 20/20 down and cleaned and oiled it. Thinking about putting 8lb line on and using it for tight cover bank fishing.

 

Looks like some of the new Zebco models and the Diawa Goldcast are good reels. Be interesting to try some of those.

[bulldog1935]

Honestly, get over 33 and try an Omega Pro (or at least Delta).  

Adding spool oscillation for line lay really improves cast distance.  

 

[Randy Price]

My Dad had GBS (Guillain-Barre Syndrome) and had to re learn how to walk and use his hands.  He loved to fish but had a hard time with a spinning reel.  I bought him a Zebco Omega Pro push button reel and he loved it.  Never had any issues catching fish.

[bulldog1935]

@Randy Price

That's exactly why I bought Omega Pro - at 94, my dad can't cast his baitcasters any more.  

[Randy Price]

12 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

@Randy Price

That's exactly why I bought Omega Pro - at 94, my dad can't cast his baitcasters any more.  

@bulldog1935, enjoy being able to fish with your Dad.  My Dad passed three years ago at 75 to cancer.  Still miss him.

[Old reel]

I remember starting out with cane poles and then Zebcos 60 years ago. Nowadays if you don't have a thousand dollars worth of equipment people say you don't get the real fishing experience! Working on vintage fishing reels and the modern ones it's amazing how we went from reels that would last a last time to reels with nylon gears that take a lifetime to pay for! I just bought a daiwa silvercast 100a for 30 dollars new and put it on 15 dollar 7ft rod off of temu and fished with it all day with no problems. I have more expensive rods and reels but when people dismiss equipment because it's cheap you're really missing the point because I know people that catch a lot of fish on setups that you don't have to sell a kidney for. Don't even get me started on having to have 20 pound braided line to catch a 2 pound fish either! 😎

[Jar11591]

9 hours ago, Old reel said:

Don't even get me started on having to have 20 pound braided line to catch a 2 pound fish either!

The braid ain’t for the fish. The braid is for where they live! 

[Darth-Baiter]

i tried to have a fishing tournemant with my buds using only zebco 33 or 303. 

 

i got unanimous "NOPE!"

[bulldog1935]

When I was searching for spincast to outfit my (94-y-o) dad for Arroyo trip, it was combination of Amazon half-price and this guy's videos that caused me to buy a pair of Omega Pro ZO3 

 

 

 

two things he does, good job of measuring drag power

he also talks about using this reel with braid

[NOC 1]

On 4/12/2013 at 6:18 PM, Lil'skeeter said:

The Zebco 33's were what a lot of bass fishermen used back in the day. I still have a few of the older ones. If you can find the ones with the "screw lock" that allows you to remove the face, those are really good. Great for shooting docks! You really need good line to keep them from not picking the line up. I like Berkley XL, it seems to work the best for me.  Johnson made some good ones too but you have to get the older models as well.

The Zebco 33 and Johnson Century 100 and Sabra were what I used in the 60's. As I remember it they were what pretty much everyone was using. There really weren't the kind of BC reels we have now. You might have a round reel of some sort, there were a lot of Pfluger Summits and etc. around.

 

There wasn't much of a bass thing going on, no tournaments (that I was aware of) no bass boats, no pro-bass associations. Heck, half the time I was arguing with my brother over who got the nice fiberglass rod and who got stuck with the old Tru-Temper steel rod.