Spincast Reels

[Charles B.]

Here's the thing: I see alot of people dissing spincast reels for bass fishing. What do you think Bill Dance and Virgil Ward used all those years of early tournaments to win with? I've been using all three type reels for years. I still use all three. And I've fished some tournaments in N.C. as well, so I'm at least a little educated on the sport. While I agree that in tournament fishing spincast reels today are probably not a good choice, recreationally speaking, I still think they are lots of fun to use. And, I still catch anywhere from 2-5 lb fish with them. Now, if you're on a body of water that you know holds giant bass....8lbs and up, again, probably not the best choice. The Upper Verde River here in Az where I fish, is a shallow, narrow river, with biggies, smallies, rainbow, bluegills and cats. The smallies get no more than about 2lbs. So you see, this all needs to be clarified somewhat per the body of water, and type of fishing done. Actually, there are some pro-quality spincasters on the market now. about $75.00 and up, that are really pretty good reels. But I still catch bass all the time on my Zebco Merc 3 Quicksilver Longcast. This one is older, and comparable to an old 33. To reiterate, if you're fishing on a serious tournament lake or river, Lake Fork, Lanier, Kentucky Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Erie, etc, you'll need your baitcasters and spinners. But despite what the elitists say, the "bass snobs" LOL, you can still catch many good size bass on spincasters. I do it regularly. Good fishing people!!!~

[Bluebasser86]

Here's the thing: I see alot of people dissing spincast reels for bass fishing. What do you think Bill Dance and Virgil Ward used all those years of early tournaments to win with? I've been using all three type reels for years. I still use all three. And I've fished some tournaments in N.C. as well, so I'm at least a little educated on the sport. While I agree that in tournament fishing spincast reels today are probably not a good choice, recreationally speaking, I still think they are lots of fun to use. And, I still catch anywhere from 2-5 lb fish with them. Now, if you're on a body of water that you know holds giant bass....8lbs and up, again, probably not the best choice. The Upper Verde River here in Az where I fish, is a shallow, narrow river, with biggies, smallies, rainbow, bluegills and cats. The smallies get no more than about 2lbs. So you see, this all needs to be clarified somewhat per the body of water, and type of fishing done. Actually, there are some pro-quality spincasters on the market now. about $75.00 and up, that are really pretty good reels. But I still catch bass all the time on my Zebco Merc 3 Quicksilver Longcast. This one is older, and comparable to an old 33. To reiterate, if you're fishing on a serious tournament lake or river, Lake Fork, Lanier, Kentucky Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Erie, etc, you'll need your baitcasters and spinners. But despite what the elitists say, the "bass snobs" LOL, you can still catch many good size bass on spincasters. I do it regularly. Good fishing people!!!~

I agree that they can be used to catch bass, and if you enjoy fishing with them more power to you, I'm not in that category though. I'm far from a "bass snob" but even after playing with some of the higher end ones like the Zebco Omega and Daiwa Goldcast, the lack of casting accuracy and painfully slow retrieve speeds were not something I could deal with. I enjoy fishing with my baitcasters and spinning reels more and that's the name of the game if you're fun fishing right? I do own a Daiwa Goldcast that I loan out to beginners and kids when they fish with me though and it performs very well for them and has handled some pretty nice bass and catfish.

[Sam]

Charles, if they work for you by all means continue fishing them.

 

Post some pics of what you catch, too.

[rockchalk06]

Just because you can catch a fish on a cane pole and string, doesn't mean its the best tool or the most convent tool to do so.

 

Fishing is a hobby for me. Nothing more. I've never fished a Tournament and I don't know if I ever will. Firearms used to be my main hobby. I attempted to turn it into a career and it completely ruined it for me. That said, better equipment, nicer equipment make the experience better. If a guy talks crap on your gear when fishing, he's a POS in my opinion.

[RAMBLER]

Use what you want.  You don't have to justify yourself to the world. 

There was an old guy, back home (Wis), that used nothing but the cheapest Zebco plastic reel he could buy.  I think it was a 202, but maybe a 404.  He caught muskies on them.  When he hooked a big one and it pulled the drag fast and long enough it melted the reel and he bought another one.  He caught enough fish on those reels so that he never went hungry.

[bigbill]

I grew up using a zebco 202 and would wear out one reel per year fishing for panfish. I still use the zebco spin cast reels today. Even on my motorcycle I carried a telescopic rod with a zebco 33 reel on it. I'd stop and fish any body of water I could find. I purchased two ultra-lite zebco spin cast reels too. We still take time out for worm fishing for pan fish. We even have a family tornie for pan fishing too. The bottomline is the zebco spin cast reels will always be part of my fishing equipment. The better quality zebco reels have bearings now. Have you looked at the zebco spinning rods and casting rods lately? I just purchased a few.

I have even fished with a beer can with line wrapped around it. You swing the line/bobber/bait in a circle then let it go. You hold the can like the spool on a spinning reel as the line flows from it. It's a cheap way to fish. Nothing wrong with it, it works. I fished with the bamboo rods too. I'm 63yo and I can fish with anything made from nothing if I had too. Trust me using zebco reels as a kid we were hot stuff in those days in the neighborhood.

I think a lot of us grew up using zebco reels but won't admit it. It's like the baddest harley rider admitting his first bike was the Honda he learned on. Zebco spin cast reels rock.

Good fishing to you Charlie post some pics of your catches. Keep us posted on how and where your fishing too. We can all learn from each other. Bigbill

Btw, My grandsons first reel will be a zebco just like it was my first reel and 50 years later I'm still using them. That's longevity.

[Wayne P.]

I agree that they can be used to catch bass, and if you enjoy fishing with them more power to you, I'm not in that category though. I'm far from a "bass snob" but even after playing with some of the higher end ones like the Zebco Omega and Daiwa Goldcast, the lack of casting accuracy and painfully slow retrieve speeds were not something I could deal with. I enjoy fishing with my baitcasters and spinning reels more and that's the name of the game if you're fun fishing right? I do own a Daiwa Goldcast that I loan out to beginners and kids when they fish with me though and it performs very well for them and has handled some pretty nice bass and catfish.

I have several Daiwa Goldcast models for inexperienced anglers that may fish with me.

 

One pro bass angler won a Bassmaster tournament using them. Woo Daves

Do a web search for "Woo Daves spincasting"

[roadwarrior]

 But despite what the elitists say, the "bass snobs" LOL, you can still catch many good size bass on spincasters.

 

 

Well, that's true and you can catch fish on a sturdy stick using kite string and an old hook you find on

the ground. However, I think most guys would agree that better gear makes the "fishing" more fun!

Spincast reels are for kids, pan fish and people that don't fish regularly. The fishermen that are trying

to advance their game are generally fishing baitcasters and/or spinning tackle.

 

 

[bigbill]

My very first bass was caught on a 5' stout little saltwater rod with a zebco 202 spincast reel using a yellow fish shaped plastic lure with the lightening bolt on the side of it. I got it on the back page of a comic book offer for 50 lures for just $4.95. It was springtime near the Easter holiday. Funny I didn't catch on to bass fishing back then. It was the first lure I ever used.

I never judge a fisherman by the tackle he or she uses. That new state record bass could strike there hook as well as mine. I would love to see a youngster with a zebco outfit break the state record.

[John G]

I haven't fished with a spincast reel in years but I do have a few. I remember not that long ago I mounted a Zebco 33 on one of my 5' 6" rods and I tied on a weighted popping cork and I stepped out onto my driveway and I launched that cork well into my neighbors yard across the street with ease. I was really surprised at the ease that I achieved that distance. I know from reading this forum, there are a lot of guys that are not getting that kind of distance with their sharp looking and expensive baitcasters.

[bigbill]

John your right my zebco 202 on the short saltwater rod using a 1oz. Sinker I could cast the zebco reel down to the knot on the spool. The line would stop in mid air and dropwhen it hit the knot. We were fishing at the surf in saltwater. We did land a large 6' saltwater eel with my zebco setup too. What a fight and test for a 202 zebco reel.

We were proud of our zebco reels then and still like using them now.

Other fisherman do look down on us spin cast fisherman and that's ok. They also look down on my 1200cc Suzuki Japanese motorcycle from the rear view too. I'm used to it.

Don't let it get you down Charlie I'm with ya son.

[dave]

I always check out spincast reels to see if they may be cool to have for the inexperienced.  Too slow.  I am though going to go out on a limb and say that the early tournament fishermen were not using spincast reels for tournaments.  I do remember Woo Daves winning on one. (I went out and bought a Zebco 888 because of it,  even though I believe he was using the Zebco 808)  It was a very specific technique for which it was perfectly suited.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I've used them before, but I've never really understood the whole idea of them being easier for inexperienced anglers. My father taught me on a spinning reel and I don't think it gets much easier than that. All of my experiences with spincasters have left me completely frustrated. Even when I was 4 years old I would grab the spinning reel because I could cast further, and the retrieve felt more solid to me.

 

To each their own though. I don't get it, but then again there's lots of things that I don't understand. I've never looked down on spincasters; just one of those things that I've never understood. If they work for you then you should keep using them. I've tried them enough to the point where my mind is made up.

[Bluebasser86]

I have several Daiwa Goldcast models for inexperienced anglers that may fish with me.

 

One pro bass angler won a Bassmaster tournament using them. Woo Daves

Do a web search for "Woo Daves spincasting"

I believe it was his first classic that he won with it actually. He chose a spincast reel because of something to do with the way it made his weightless plastic fall next to cover. 

[Ratherbfishing]

I recently acquired a spincast reel out of some misguided sense of nostalgia.  It is, perhaps, not the very best reel on the market but certainly one of the higher end ones.  In any event, you can put a bow and lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig.  It did not take me long to remember why I moved away from them when I could afford to do so.  Sure, they will function as a reel.  They will take in line (slowly), they will cast really far and they do have drags, but in most respects they do the job only about half as well as any spinning or baitcasting reel.  I've never seen myself as a snob but I do get snooty when my equipment isn't up to the task.

[dave]

I believe it was his first classic that he won with it actually. He chose a spincast reel because of something to do with the way it made his weightless plastic fall next to cover. 

1991 Illinois Bassmaster Invitational I believe.

[bigbill]

Think about some little kid with a zebco outfit using a bobber with a night crawler could catch a new world record LMB. Then watch the sales of the spin cast equipment soar.

I never had one problem with a spin cast reel other than wearing them out from freshwater and saltwater use.

[donewiththis]

 But despite what the elitists say, the "bass snobs" LOL, you can still catch many good size bass on spincasters.

 

 

Well, that's true and you can catch fish on a sturdy stick using kite string and an old hook you find on

the ground. However, I think most guys would agree that better gear makes the "fishing" more fun!

Spincast reels are for kids, pan fish and people that don't fish regularly. The fishermen that are trying

to advance their game are generally fishing baitcasters and/or spinning tackle.

 

 

Interesting... I didn't know being a condescending snob was a requirement to be mod...

[FishTank]

I have had several spincast reels over the years and have caught a lot of bass with them but I have never had so much fun and caught so many fish until I switched to a baitcaster. 

[aavery2]

I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like without the Zebco 202 and 33.

[plumworm]

Woo Daves won the 2000 Classic in Chicago. It was his only Classic win. He won it using zoom tubes along the harbor breakwalls.

[new2BC4bass]

My daughter's boyfriend and his father fish nothing but spincast reels.  They grew up using them, don't fish much, and refuse to try any other type of reel.  At least the boyfriend won't because I have offered him on more than one occasion the chance to try any of mine.  I got him a new rod and a Zebco Omega Z03Pro for Christmas.  It wasn't until I started checking out spincast reels that I learned how slow of a retrieve they have.  Way too slow for me except for deep diving crankbaits...which I never use in my area.

 

Call me a snob if you want....thanks but no thanks.  They aren't a reel I am interested in using.

 

However, I couldn't care less what you want to fish with.  Nor would I ever give you a hard time about what you use except when trying to give you a hard time.  But that wouldn't be limited to spincast reels.  

[roadwarrior]

Interesting... I didn't know being a condescending snob was a requirement to be mod...

 

It's not required, but it is an option.

 

I remember when the Zebco 33 was king and I had a transistor radio, too.

Technology has changed a little over the past 50 years.

 

 

[bigbill]

For any beginner or some who wants an affordable setup the spin cast is tough to beat as long as your out there fishing that's all that matters.

I was a kid saving my money up to purchase a new zebco reel. We were poor but we had a roof over our head and we had food. The only fun me and my brothers had was fishing. Those memories with the zebco reels I will never forget with my brothers.

[Bass2124]

I was a die hard fly fisherman for years until I got hooked on bass fishing and wanted to try more modern day equipment and bought a BPS PQ and a couple of President spinning reels.  I bought 2 zebco omegas as well for my kids (I paid $150 for them) because I "thought" they would be easier to learn on. After a few outings the omegas didn't go on the fishing trips and the kids were using the presidents and eventually the PQ.  The kids loved the smoothness and the fun of of the spinning and baitcasting reels so much that I now have 2 virtually brand new Zebco Omegas collecting dust!