Vintage Langley Lakecast Baitcaster

[BrianAllan87]

So late last year I was given a vintage Langley Lakecast Baitcaster and am having a hard time deciding what to do with it. I did spool it with some 10lb mono and gave it a whirl at a local pond but stopped because I just didn’t want to take the chance of ruining it. Still has all original parts, clicker switch still works and all. I hate to see it sit on a shelf but I don’t know if I want to risk breaking if. I just have a dream of landing at least one or two on it. Thoughts? 

[bulldog1935]

Don't take this the wrong way, though it's a trick little reel with a great history, it will always have modest value.  Once they're out of the box with any use evidence, collector value goes out the window. 

(It's a little different for bench-made v. mass-manufactured reels - benchmade reels have a way of holding their original value in today's money, and some even improve.)  

Your reel has changed from its original type I anodize finish.  The Pflueger Cub drag handle, of course, is not original.  

If you open it up, you'll find it to be a very simple mechanism.  You'll be preserving it by keeping the insides clean of old decomposing lube, and adding new lube, if you want to use it, for either fishing or just lawn casting.  

If you enjoy it, by all means, take it fishing.    

 

ps - the Japanese are into Langleys now, and that has a way of temporarily raising their value.  I remember when they were grabbing old Fenglas, Lew's and Phillipson rods, prices went through the roof, but now they're back to reality. I'll also admit, I've done well selling a few antique fly reels across the big pond.  

[BrianAllan87]

58 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Don't take this the wrong way, though it's a trick little reel with a great history, it will always have modest value.  Once they're out of the box with any use evidence, collector value goes out the window. 

(It's a little different for bench-made v. mass-manufactured reels - benchmade reels have a way of holding their original value in today's money, and some even improve.)  

Your reel has changed from its original type I anodize finish.  The Pflueger Cub drag handle, of course, is not original.  

If you open it up, you'll find it to be a very simple mechanism.  You'll be preserving it by keeping the insides clean of old decomposing lube, and adding new lube, if you want to use it, for either fishing or just lawn casting.  

If you enjoy it, by all means, take it fishing.    

 

ps - the Japanese are into Langleys now, and that has a way of temporarily raising their value.  I remember when they were grabbing old Fenglas, Lew's and Phillipson rods, prices went through the roof, but now they're back to reality. I'll also admit, I've done well selling a few antique fly reels across the big pond.  

No wrong way taken! I’m honestly not into it’s value or selling it at all. I am fully aware, as with anything, once it’s out of the box the value drops, that’s just normal depreciation. It more so holds sentimental value because it’s been in sitting in my parents basement for my entire life, but, I just came across it last year and got my hands on it. My main question is do I let it sit pretty on a shelf or give it some TLC and take it out for use. 

Plus, I’m more into keeping it because it’s a cool old reel. I love it. 

[Bankbeater]

How would you feel if it broke?  I have my first spincast reel, and my first spinning reel. Both are in good working condition.  I don't fish with them any longer because I want to keep them good working order.

[WRB]

What model Langley Lure Cast is that?

Tom

[Paul Roberts]

Fish it! No worries at all. It won't break. It's not a toy. They are quality reels. Totally understandable what Bankbeater is saying though. We all have to decide when and what tackle should be retired. Over time, parts may wear out. But these older reels tend to hang together. And there are still parts available, if needed, from the 'keepers of the faith'/old reels fraternity.

 

However, do NOT put mono on it. Some of the older spools -esp Langley's light aluminum spools- could separate from the pressure of stretchy mono. Mono didn't exist when these reels were made.

 

Recommendations are for braided nylon, which has less stretch than monos, and is about the same diameter. Search "Mason Legend braided nylon". It's inexpensive, ~$4 for 50yrds, which is enough. I use some backing to take up space, such as braided nylon or dacron (NOT mono) and fill with 50yrds of Legend. Langley spools are fairly shallow to begin with. Maybe get 50yrds of 20lb for backing and 50yrds of 10 or 12lb for fishing. Lighter lines cast better.

 

Suggestions are to avoid modern PE braids bc they are so thin they are tougher to pick backlashes out. They also have no stretch at all and are so strong they could damage an old aluminum spooled reel. I will be experimenting with these on my old reels and expect I can make them work. These old reels do not have an anti-reverse so there's no reason that that spool will be taking the full pressure of a 30 or 50lb braid. Remains to be seen.

 

You'll want to take the reel apart and clean out all the old lube, which has almost certainly stiffened by now. As bulldog mentioned, these are mechanically simple reels, but made with quality materials. So they are simple to take apart and put back together. I'd suggest taking some photos at certain places so you can refer to them if you forget the proper order parts go. Use Dawn dishwashing soap and a tooth brush, put on some tunes, and have at it. Since these reels do not freespool, having smooth running gears is important. Do NOT overlube. Touch of grease on gear teeth (just enough to make them glisten), light oil on spindles, like the ends of the spool shafts and ends of the levelwind worm gear. Get one cleaned up and you'll be surprised how well it casts.

 

Now, what to expect for fishing. Again, it won't break. Set your tension controls, on either side of the spool shafts by tightening down until there is no side to side spool flop. Then back off a bit on each until you get the slightest 'click' of lateral spool movement. Spin the handle and see how well it spins. Some reels like it a little tighter, some a bit looser. Keep your thumb on the spool at all times during the cast and retrieve. Remember there is no anti-reverse, and no drag to speak of. Now, your reel has a "Cub Handle" -and early drag- that's been added (a Pflueger invention). It works as a drag by tightening the screws on the Cub disc. Once set they can't be adjusted on the fly, so set it light and still rely on your thumb.

 

These reels tend to do best with lure weights of 3/8oz up. 1/2oz is a good starting practice weight. Some of my reels, esp my Langley's, can cast 1/4oz better than most, due to their lightweight spool. But, line diameter matters here. If you want to fish 1/4oz, I'd use 10lb and expect to fish fairly short, ~50ft or so. All my old reels will chuck a 1/2oz weight 100ft without much trouble. That's plenty for a lot of fishing.

 

Definitely do some yard practice so you are familiar with casting and keeping your thumb on the spool both for casting and for hook-setting and fighting fish. Bass aren't major runners so there's no issues of burned thumbs.

 

If there is a down-side to these beautiful old reels for fishing, it's retrieve speed. These reels are slow. They are not going to burn a lipless or spinnerbait. They will work well for jigs, soft plastics, crankbaits, jerks, esp at shorter ranges (owing, again, to retrieve speed).

 

Hope this helps. Once used to handling these old reels I think you'll find they are more capable than you'd think. No, it should not sit on a shelf. Find a technique you like to use it for -it would make a great Senko reel- and put that beautiful old machine back to work!

 

13 hours ago, WRB said:

What model Langley Lure Cast is that?

Tom

Tom, that's a Langley "LakeCast" 350. I don't own one, but I do have a 310 (StreamLite) and 330 (LureCast). I believe all Langley's have the lightweight perforated aluminum spool, making them good and well behaved casters. I remember that you had a 340 (Target) tournament reel. Maybe you can add, correct, or offer a different opinion to mine.

[BrianAllan87]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

What model Langley Lure Cast is that?

Tom

Honestly not 100% sure. 

6 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

Fish it! No worries at all. It won't break. It's not a toy. They are quality reels. However, do NOT put mono on it. Some of the older spools -esp Langley's light aluminum spools- could separate from the pressure of stretchy mono. Mono didn't exist when these reels were made.

 

Recommendations are for braided nylon, which has less stretch than monos, and is about the same diameter. Search "Mason Legend braided nylon". It's inexpensive, ~$4 for 50yrds, which is enough. I use some backing to take up space, such as braided nylon or dacron (NOT mono) and fill with 50yrds of Legend. Langley spools are fairly shallow to begin with. Maybe get 50yrds of 20lb for backing and 50yrds of 10 or 12lb for fishing. Lighter lines cast better.

 

Suggestions are to avoid modern PE braids bc they are so thin they are tougher to pick backlashes out. They also have no stretch at all and are so strong they could damage an old aluminum spooled reel. I will be experimenting with these on my old reels and expect I can make them work. These old reels do not have an anti-reverse so there's no reason that that spool will be taking the full pressure of a 30 or 50lb braid.

 

You'll want to take the reel apart and clean out all the old lube, which has almost certainly stiffened by now. As bulldog mentioned, these are mechanically simple reels, but made with quality materials. So they are simple to take apart and put back together. I'd suggest taking some photos at certain places so you can refer to them if you forget the proper order parts go. Use Dawn dishwashing soap and a tooth brush, put on some tunes, and have at it. Since these reels do not freespool, having smooth running gears is important. Do NOT overlube. Touch of grease on gear teeth (just enough to make them glisten), light oil on spindles, like the ends of the spool shafts and ends of the levelwind worm gear. Get one cleaned up and you'll be surprised how well it casts.

 

Now, what to expect for fishing. Again, it won't break. Set your tension controls, on either side of the spool shafts by tightening down until there is no side to side spool flop. Then back off a bit on each until you get the slightest 'click' of lateral spool movement. Spin the handle and see how well it spins. Some reels like it a little tighter, some a bit looser. Keep your thumb on the spool at all times during the cast and retrieve. Remember there is no anti-reverse, and no drag to speak of. Now, your reel has a "Cub Handle" -and early drag- that's been added (a Pflueger invention). It works as a drag by tightening the screws on the Cub disc. Once set they can't be adjusted on the fly, so set it light and still rely on your thumb.

 

These reels tend to do best with lure weights of 3/8oz up. 1/2oz is a good starting practice weight. Some of my reels, esp my Langley's, can cast 1/4oz better than most, due to their lightweight spool. But, line diameter matters here. If you want to fish 1/4oz, I'd use 10lb and expect to fish fairly short, ~50ft or so. All my old reels will chuck a 1/2oz weight 100ft without much trouble. That's plenty for a lot of fishing.

 

Definitely do some yard practice so you are familiar with casting and keeping your thumb on the spool both for casting and for hook-setting and fighting fish. Bass aren't major runners so there's no issues of burned thumbs.

 

If there is a down-side to these old beautiful reels for fishing, it's retrieve speed. These reels are slow. They are not going to burn a lipless or spinnerbait. They will work well for jigs, soft plastics, crankbaits, jerks, esp at shorter ranges (owing, again, to retrieve speed).

 

Hope this helps. Once used to handling these old reels I think you'll find they are more capable than you'd think. No, it should not sit on a shelf. Find a technique you like to use it for -it would make a great Senko reel- and put that beautiful old machine back to work!

 

Tom, that's a Langley 350. I don't own one, but I do have a 310 and 330. I believe all Langley's have the lightweight perforated aluminum spool, making them good and well behaved casters. I remember that you had a 340 tournament reel. Maybe you can add, correct, or offer a different opinion to mine.

My man! Thank you for your in depth wisdom about this reel. I’m new to serious fishing, but at this point (due to the MANY hours spent fishing this last year due to COVID) pretty well experienced with casting and cleaning/taking care of gear. But for something like this I am clueless. I just want to make sure I am properly taking care of it and will have it for more years to come. Even stuff such as the line I never would have thought about in my wildest dreams. This is why I love the fishing community. Thanks again! 

[BrianAllan87]

8 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

How would you feel if it broke?  I have my first spincast reel, and my first spinning reel. Both are in good working condition.  I don't fish with them any longer because I want to keep them good working order.

I’m confused to the question? I’d obviously not like it to break but I just don’t know enough about it to make sure I’m doing the things to keep it that way. 

[bulldog1935]

I forgot to mention soft braided line - thanks Paul for filling that in. 

Brian, there are other folks who play with these - you might check our Old Stuff thread,

and if you want to find parts and repair guys, as well as collectors and other vintage fishers, look up the ORCA forum.   

 

[Paul Roberts]

10 hours ago, BrianAllan87 said:

Honestly not 100% sure. 

My man! Thank you for your in depth wisdom about this reel. I’m new to serious fishing, but at this point (due to the MANY hours spent fishing this last year due to COVID) pretty well experienced with casting and cleaning/taking care of gear. But for something like this I am clueless. I just want to make sure I am properly taking care of it and will have it for more years to come. Even stuff such as the line I never would have thought about in my wildest dreams. This is why I love the fishing community. Thanks again! 

Yes! And it's no fault of yours. It's not intuitive. I had to learn, years ago, the hard way. I got a job at a tackle shop, and on my first night a guy gave me an old plastic spooled spinning reel to spool up on the power line-winder. I put the spool on the chuck, and started filling that baby with 6lb mono. As I watched, the spool started to wobble, then suddenly popped right into two pieces! I was horrified, and embarrassed. The owner was angry and the shop manager, Pat, stepped in and took care of it, taking no lip from the guy who was actually becoming abusive. Calmly, Pat told me mono must be wound slowly on old plastic, or multi-piece metal, spools. Lesson learned!

 

Monos are tough materials that stretch, a lot. Wind it tight and it'll become crushing. Think about what happens when you wind a rubber band onto your finger. When nylon monos appeared, reel makers started to produce "mono-ready" spools, obviously because of the angry shouts from fishers from all over!

 

Hey, enjoy that reel. No, it won't replace the new stuff. But they were made to fish, by people who knew what they were doing. The fact that it's been in the family is very cool. I have my grandfather's bird-cage fly reel, and I built a rod just for it. It's from the late 1800's and there are a lot more efficient reels out there now. But I love fishing it for brook trout on tiny streams. I can actually feel my grandfather's presence when I look at it, and somehow connect to the stories of his love for trout fishing. He was a railroad engineer in the Adirondack Mountains, and would actually stop the train on a lonesome stretch of track to fish a stream here and there. There's much more to this story, but suffice it to say, it's a surprisingly deep experience to catch brookies on his old reel.

 

Learn to handle your reel and you'll find new appreciation for the new ones, and old ones, alike. The evolution of fishing reels has been a fantastic ride. And it's not over yet.

 

Good luck with it.

[WRB]

If I read the title correctly clearly says LakeCast not LureCast.

I owned several 330 LureCast and learned to cast and bass fish with both Langley 330 LureCast and 340 Target reels.

Zebco bought Langley in the early 60’s and discounted them.

Not familiar with the wider 350 LakeCast model, both 330 and 340 narrower frames and spools, excellent casting reels.

Tom

 

[Paul Roberts]

@WRB The narrow spools tend to hold value even more than the wider spool ones, for their ability to handle lighter lures best I'm guessing is the reason. I like my wider/standard spooled 310 StreamLite very much though, and it casts very well, even with light baits. I have yet to cast with the 330 LureCast I have as I'm waiting on replacement spool cap bearings. Apparently this reel was well loved, and then retired when it "wore out". It's not worn out, it just needs some TLC. And it's getting it.  Lotsa wonderful old reels sitting in attics and basements, forgotten.

 

Love having you chime in bc these reels are actually before my time. You actually used them back when they were the reels of the day. Those were serious fisherman's reels back then, yes?

[WRB]

8 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

@WRB The narrow spools tend to hold value even more than the wider spool ones, for their ability to handle lighter lures best I'm guessing is the reason. I like my wider/standard spooled 310 StreamLite very much though, and it casts very well, even with light baits. I have yet to cast with the 330 LureCast I have as I'm waiting on replacement spool cap bearings. Apparently this reel was well loved, and then retired when it "wore out". It's not worn out, it just needs some TLC. And it's getting it.  Lotsa wonderful old reels sitting in attics and basements, forgotten.

 

Love having you chime in bc these reels are actually before my time. You actually used them back when they were the reels of the day. Those were serious fisherman's reels back then, yes?

PM sent

[bulldog1935]

1 hour ago, Paul Roberts said:

The narrow spools tend to hold value even more than the wider spool ones, for their ability to handle lighter lures best I'm guessing is the reason. ...

You have to fight with collectors over narrow spools.  

They made so few of them.  What makes them desirable to fish, is they hold less line, if they have LW, less mass in that system = less inertia, if NLW, they don't stack line dramatically and correct line lay easier by themselves.  

 

Langleys still have a huge following, I mentioned Japan, and also with cane rod fishers in the US.  

[Bankbeater]

11 hours ago, BrianAllan87 said:

I’m confused to the question? I’d obviously not like it to break but I just don’t know enough about it to make sure I’m doing the things to keep it that way. 

Since I can't get parts any longer I don't use my old reels at all because I don't want something to break on them.  

[Paul Roberts]

Oh... Ron ( @bulldog1935 ) suggested we not use soap, on aluminum reels in particular. (If you did just wash it off thoroughly). He suggests vineger in warm water to cut the grease. It will not corrode aluminum.

[BrianAllan87]

3 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Since I can't get parts any longer I don't use my old reels at all because I don't want something to break on them.  

Ah I see! I think that’s my issue. I mean, it holds some sentimental value as it came down through my family somehow, but honestly I don’t even really know who it belonged to at this point. I just know it’s cool, old and I won’t find replacement parts anywhere. 

[Paul Roberts]

19 minutes ago, BrianAllan87 said:

Ah I see! I think that’s my issue. I mean, it holds some sentimental value as it came down through my family somehow, but honestly I don’t even really know who it belonged to at this point. I just know it’s cool, old and I won’t find replacement parts anywhere. 

There are likely parts available, if you talk to the people at ORCA, the Old Reel Collector's Association. And, there are lots of Lakecasts for sale on Ebay that would serve as parts reels or replacements.