Your very first baitcaster

[BassSteve]

We all have that sentimental feeling about our first reel, even if they were not so great. It's all about the memories with friends and family, and hopefully catching a lot of fish with it ?

What was your very first baitcaster reel, and do you still have it?

 

My first was in 2009, called the quantum escalade lol. I was 17 at the time, cost me 50 or 60 dollars back then. I still have it, kept in a drawer. I know that I will never use it again, but yet I still don't get rid of it. Just one of those things ?

[Choporoz]

 .

[bulldog1935]

Daiwa Millionaire 6H in 1978  It started on a 6' Fenglas Lunkerstik, and later swapped between a 7-1/2' Browning Hi-Power for inshore and surf (my first graphite rod).  

I was making spiral and pendulum casts with weightless rigs a few years later, 

But the surf killed the nickeled-brass worm gear, and Daiwa wouldn't support it with parts in 1984.  

I bought my first Lew's, BB-1NG, and didn't look back.  

 

 

I bought my next Daiwa just this year.  

[jimmyjoe]

    Ambassadeur 5000 ("Big Red"), sometime around 1980. I used Ambassadeur reels until I got arthritis, and if I didn't have arthritis I'd still use them today.

   No pictures. Something like that never crossed my mind.        jj

[Basseditor]

 Ambassadeur 5000 in 1963 when I was 10

[BassSteve]

24 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Daiwa Millionaire 6H in 1978

I was making spiral and pendulum casts with weightless rigs a few years later, 

But the surf killed my worm gear, and Daiwa wouldn't support it with parts in 1984.  

I bought my first Lew's, BB1-NG, and didn't look back.  

 

I bought my next Daiwa just this year.  

Pretty ancient looking compared to today's baitcasters huh, it's amazing how they evolved and how sleek they are now. I'm not trying to make fun, but are the knobs on that thing some kind of rubber? They look like leather lol. 

[GReb]

A Walmart Shakespeare round Ambassador knockoff. It was truly terrible but trained my thumb well. Believe I was 11 years old

[papajoe222]

The first reel I ever bought was a Mitchell 300. The first baitcaster was an Ambassadeur 5000. I don't have either anymore, but that big, round reel changed everything for me.

[cdlittle]

Daiwa Fuego CT in April of 2020...

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The ABU Garcia Torno predecessor to the Revo. 

[bulldog1935]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:40 PM, BassSteve said:

Pretty ancient looking compared to today's baitcasters huh, it's amazing how they evolved and how sleek they are now. I'm not trying to make fun, but are the knobs on that thing some kind of rubber? They look like leather lol. 

In every way the old Millionaire 6H is a clone of an Abu 6500.  

The fun part is the bull reds I caught in the surf with it.  When they take your bait and you set the hook, their reaction sends a shock wave that goes all the way down and back up your spine.  

The ones I didn't catch either spooled me or straightened out 60-lb swivels with the clasp pinched with pliers.  

Surf fishing at night is manly sport. . 

 

You won't get the advantage of a large diameter spool until you cast one.  

They still make great parts for sexing out these old reels.  This spool is 5 mm deep, the same weight as a Daiwa G1 spool, and holds 200 yds braid.  I promise this reel will double the cast distance of any reel you own, especially with 1/4 oz.  

 

you would be amazed how far this Talbot from 1914 will cast.  

Even without free spool, it would out-cast everything until ball-bearing Abu CT (above)

Meek No. 3 and Talbot are what every tournament distance caster used until the advent of Abu CT ball bearing spool - and some continued with the 60-y-o Meek and Talbot.  If you really want to get good with your new baitcaster, learn to use one of these.  

 

this diminutive prewar Shakespeare freespool is the original BFS reel, and will fish 1/8 oz

[Happybeerbuzz]

H2O Mettle.  I still have it on a loaner rod.  

[FishTank]

The first baitcaster I ever tried was an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur from the early 80's.  The first one I ever bought was a BPS Rick Clunn.  I really disliked it but you have to start somewhere. 

[Darth-Baiter]

d**n. Mines not that old. I think it was called a Daiwa Magforce.  Sound about right?  Epic backlash first cast.  My bass back then was white bass.  And my lure of choice was the sassy shad.  I got pretty good at it. 

[MyKeyBe]

1 hour ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

The ABU Garcia Torno predecessor to the Revo. 

Me too. 3004 hs. Still have it and still use it every now and then.

[GreenPig]

A low profile Abu 31 years ago that I literally wore out. I cast it so much the pin running through the thumb bar snapped and I replaced it with a nail.

[walleyecrazy]

My first was a Quantum energy something or other in the early 90's. No matter what I did I could not get that thing dialed in, and had nothing but problems with it. It was actually so bad that it kept me from buying another baitcaster for quite a while. 

[Catt]

Don't remember the exact model, either Penn 109 or 9M. Bass fished an entire year with it until I got a Abu Garcia  Ambassador 5000. 

[Captain Phil]

My first casting reel was a Pflueger Akron.  I learned to fish from a friend of my father's from church.  He used a Pflueger Supreme.  His was one of the first casting reels to have a free spool feature, which meant the handles did not turn on the cast.  This was a huge innovation back then.  A Pflueger Supreme like his cost $20 in the late fifties.  No one had one except the best fishermen.  I don't remember what I paid for my Akron, but it wasn't near that amount.

 

 

 

 

 

When the Ambassador 5500C came out, it changed everything.  Those early 5500s were head and shoulders above all the rest.  Other than the weight, it's still a great reel today.  The newer ones are terrible compared to the originals.

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

7 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

The first reel I ever bought was a Mitchell 300. The first baitcaster was an Ambassadeur 5000. I don't have either anymore, but that big, round reel changed everything for me.

Same here except Dad bought the 300 as I was only 6, and the Ambassadeur was a 5001C purchased in my 20s.  No computer.  Knew no one that used a baitcast reel.  Didn't know the first thing about setting it up so it didn't get used after going out a couple times with it.  I still have it...and amazingly...it casts just fine now. 

 

The first baitcast reel that I actually learned to cast was a TD Fuego.  Still have and use it along with 2 more of them.

[Kyle S]

It was a part of a combo rod my girlfriend bought for me 7 years ago. 

7' mh fast Bill dance casting rod, with a Quantum 6:4:1 casting reel.

caught loads of fish on that set up, including my PB of 7lbs.

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Don't remember the exact model, either Penn 109 or 9M. Bass fished an entire year with it until I got a Abu Garcia  Ambassador 5000. 

Mine was similar to Catts. A red, ABU 5000, which was a hand me down from my brother.

[MN Fisher]

Very first was a cheapie combo purchased from the back of a comic book in the mid 60s - you can see me carrying it and the included tackle-box with some lures in this pic.

Replaced that reel with a Mitchell 320 spinner the next year - and was spinning only until the early 80s when I got my first 'decent' BC. An Abu-Garcia Ambassadeur 500r combo on an Ambassadeur rod

[kayaking_kev]

Abu Garcia Black Max in 2018. I still have it, but thumb button broke off and it looks like it's been hit with a hammer a few hundred times, but it still works.

[galyonj]

I don't even remember the model number, but it was a bottom-tier Shimano combo with a 6'6" pistol-grip rod. Wanna say I bought it in 1997 or so.