Anyone else use vintage reels?

[bulldog1935]

1 hour ago, QED said:

No doubt a great reel and I'm glad to see that you continue to put it to good use.  But with the Daiwa Steez Air and various Shimano Alderbaran BFS reels all under 5 oz, you've got to admit that modern materials and workmanship (at the high end) aren't too shabby

Most places you want to fish this reel, the newer reels aren't needed. 

There's a joy factor casting a micro-plug or finesse spoon on a raced-out mini Ambassadeur. 

How's this for covering the bases?  A Pedernales headwaters bike-fish. 

You're not allowed to park on county roads here, but the flood plain gravel sendero is state. 

it's certainly not going to wear you out lifting it. 

[Mobasser]

The oldest reel I still fish is an ABU 4600c, which is about 22 yrs old. It's been a good reel. I also have Mitchell 308 and 300 made in France. They were great in they're day, but feel like a coffee grinder compared to modern Shimano or Diawa. For many years I used an ABU Cardinal 4, the green color one. Another great older reel. I like using my newer reels mainly because they weigh so much less. But, the old reels will still catch fish too.

[_JJM]

12 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

This guy is better than both my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT.  The braking system is as simple as it gets, and it's also zero fuss.  Zero spool tension and ultralight brake blocks, it casts from 2g to 7g+, with very little thumb I might add.  I don't need to make any adjustments when changing lure weights or techniques, it does whatever I ask of it every time.  With my Conquest and Millionaire, I'm often making brake adjustments in those regards or else I risk fluffing the spool a little.  I was out yesterday fishing the Detroit River for perch, even got a few smallies in the mix.  Such a great reel well deserved of the hype around it.

 

Love the work bench as well as the reel

[redmeansdistortion]

9 hours ago, Mobasser said:

For many years I used an ABU Cardinal 4, the green color one. Another great older reel.

I still use a Cardinal 3, another fantastic reel.  It weighs 7oz, while not light by today's standards, it does balance well with more rods than other spinners I own of a similar size.  For me, balance is better than lightness.  It's also very smooth even though it comes from a time when rotors weren't computer balanced.  This one has an Avail CD0490R spool, IOS Factory bail springs, carbon drag, and IOS Factory SiC line roller.  It isn't often I use it as I use baitcasting gear the vast majority of the time, but it's my favorite spinning reel.  The fulcrum drag is one of the best ever made in my opinion.  It doesn't have a tendency to fade like reels that incorporate the spool into the drag stack.

 

[_JJM]

7 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

I still use a Cardinal 3, another fantastic reel.  It weighs 7oz, while not light by today's standards, it does balance well with more rods than other spinners I own of a similar size.  For me, balance is better than lightness.  It's also very smooth even though it comes from a time when rotors weren't computer balanced.  This one has an Avail CD0490R spool, IOS Factory bail springs, carbon drag, and IOS Factory SiC line roller.  It isn't often I use it as I use baitcasting gear the vast majority of the time, but it's my favorite spinning reel.  The fulcrum drag is one of the best ever made in my opinion.  It doesn't have a tendency to fade like reels that incorporate the spool into the drag stack.

 

I think people forget how important balance is to the overall feel of a spinning rod and reel. Bait casters don't care, for them it's all about total weight because a majority of the mass is in front of their hand.. My old reels with the right rod is almost perfectly balanced in the middle of my hand while holding the rod. Overall weight isn't as important

[bulldog1935]

There's a thread going on FFR where people are bemoaning what happens to their tackle collections when they suddenly pass, and the nightmare of their tackle displayed at Salvation Army Store. 

I like the cliche, "it won't matter 100 years from now"

 

The story of how the rod was acquired only matters to the guy using it. 

Maybe the rod gets its own stories

FE Thomas Special, 1918 date stamp

[redmeansdistortion]

3 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

There's a thread going on FFR where people are bemoaning what happens to their tackle collections when they suddenly pass, and the nightmare of their tackle displayed at Salvation Army Store. 

They needn't worry.  I got into the higher end stuff when my uncle passed away 20 years ago.  He had a lot of nice gear and my cousin wanted none of it.  The reels were all very well used, but I figured I'd at least try to take them apart and get them working correctly before anything else.  It was then I taught myself reel service.  The knowledge I acquired back then was worth far more than the gear itself.

[WRB]

I saved my 2nd casting reel Langley 330 Lure Cast learned to bass fish with in 1955. Sold my 1st reel Langley 340 Target to a BR member a few years back when selling nearly all my tackle including antique and vintage.

After my son passed away don’t have anyone to inherit my tackle.

Nearly every year since 1965 my friend Ron and I fished with original Langley reels and tubular glass 5 1/2’ rods using lures of the 50’s and 60’s era, good tradition now in the past.

It’s not about new vs old it’s about nostalgia and memories.

Tom

 

[_JJM]

10 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

There's a thread going on FFR where people are bemoaning what happens to their tackle collections when they suddenly pass, and the nightmare of their tackle displayed at Salvation Army Store. 

I like the cliche, "it won't matter 100 years from now"

 

The story of how the rod was acquired only matters to the guy using it. 

Maybe the rod gets its own stories

FE Thomas Special, 1918 date stamp

I get folks collecting, but for me the joy is in using it.

[bulldog1935]

@JJM where I got there began at jaded from harassing fish on overqualified graphite fly rods and disc drag reels.  Many people get here, clip the hooks from their flies, and count coup. 

Discovered you could try cane and click pawl reels, sell for what you paid (or Good Profit if you shopped well) and move on - everything eventually worth more than you paid. 

First 20" rainbow in fast water on cane and click pawl - oh crap, what am I going to do now - Hey, this is why we do this in the first place. 

You could get the good vintage tackle for less than the cost of the new boring, fish it for 4 or 5 years, and sell for a profit - often doubling what you paid.  

I also made a niche repairing OP's valuable antique fly reels, and connected with the people who would do the same with me on vintage cane. 

 

Careful with the You're a Collector, But I'm a Fisherman delusion - it's always much less than true, shows up on Every forum, and Everyone who says it becomes a Rabid Collector 

[TOXIC]

Vintage or antique?  I have my share of metal rods and antique reels with cloth line but I just gave my daughter a rod and reel that I got for her in 2007.  It’s a Browning rod and Citka reel also made by Browning.  This was before BPS bought Browning if I remember correctly.  Although a bit heavy, I put new line on the reel and she’s already catching with the combo.  Added bonus? It was adorned with some artwork by my friend Bill McElroy who is known for his fishing artwork and the Scales and Tales cartoon strip that appeared in a lot of fishing publications.  I kinda wanted her to preserve it but I see Mac every year and I have a lot of his artwork.  So, yes she is fishing with her vintage gear.??

[_JJM]

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

@JJM where I got there began at jaded from harassing fish on overqualified graphite fly rods and disc drag reels.  Many people get here, clip the hooks from their flies, and count coup. 

Discovered you could try cane and click pawl reels, sell for what you paid (or Good Profit if you shopped well) and move on - everything eventually worth more than you paid. 

First 20" rainbow in fast water on cane and click pawl - oh crap, what am I going to do now - Hey, this is why we do this in the first place. 

You could get the good vintage tackle for less than the cost of the new boring, fish it for 4 or 5 years, and sell for a profit - often doubling what you paid.  

I also made a niche repairing OP's valuable antique fly reels, and connected with the people who would do the same with me on vintage cane. 

 

Careful with the You're a Collector, But I'm a Fisherman delusion - it's always much less than true, shows up on Every forum, and Everyone who says it becomes a Rabid Collector 

I want to use them. I have no desire to just display them

[bulldog1935]

this reply could be a tome - Vince Cummings Water Witch and c. 1930 Medalist reporting some stealthy sight fishing.

1918 Thomas again

used my cane rods twice on tv - my prewar Heddon wind rod

first in coldwater, second in warm

even handed my 100-y-o Thomas to the cameraman and let him catch a trout when we were done filming TU On the Rise

here's my friend's daughter with a redfish on my Conolon glass and green Penn 716

[WRB]

Don’t want to hijack this thread.

I have my Fenwick FF7-04 pack fly rod in excellent condition, original aluminum pack tube with Pfueger 1774 reels, Scientific anglers FT5 line (2 ea) I like new.

If interested PM, will make worth you effort.

Tom 

[_JJM]

13 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

this reply could be a tome - Vince Cummings Water Witch and c. 1930 Medalist reporting some stealthy sight fishing.

1918 Thomas again

used my cane rods twice on tv - my prewar Heddon wind rod

first in coldwater, second in warm

even handed my 100-y-o Thomas to the cameraman and let him catch a trout when we were done filming TU On the Rise

here's my friend's daughter with a redfish on my Conolon glass and green Penn 716

I have never fly fished but that bass must have been an amazing fight.

[bulldog1935]

@JJM I had to turn him before a stand of watercress at the end of the pool and his backing run. 

I had the reel jammed into my belly for 1xR drag on the handle knob, and pinched the line between my fingers.  It was epic. 

it gets worse

[Mobasser]

I think the older reels are cool from a historical view. Last year I restored a French made Mithcell 308. I got some good tips here on removing old grease and cleaning. It's a smooth little reel now.                                             I'm not a reel tech at all, but I had no trouble taking this reel apart and servicing it. It could easily be fished again. What some of the older reels may lack in smoothness and other things, they make up for in durability. My 308 is fifty years old.

[MN Fisher]

21 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I think the older reels are cool from a historical view. Last year I restored a French made Mithcell 308. I got some good tips here on removing old grease and cleaning. It's a smooth little reel now.                                             I'm not a reel tech at all, but I had no trouble taking this reel apart and servicing it. It could easily be fished again. What some of the older reels may lack in smoothness and other things, they make up for in durability. My 308 is fifty years old.

One of these days I may put either my Pflueger 640 or my Cardinal 562 on my Daiwa 1312 - everything is early/mid 70s vintage. The rod is still in great condition and both reels have been serviced and bench-test just fine.

[ska4fun]

Cacutta 51B, 51XT, 51 shallow special and 51 Custom AMO/Momo Studio. All of them way studier and reliable than the newer Conquest BFS.

[_JJM]

4 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

@JJM I had to turn him before a stand of watercress at the end of the pool and his backing run. 

I had the reel jammed into my belly for 1xR drag on the handle knob, and pinched the line between my fingers.  It was epic. 

it gets worse

That's worse... I would hate to see better

3 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I think the older reels are cool from a historical view. Last year I restored a French made Mithcell 308. I got some good tips here on removing old grease and cleaning. It's a smooth little reel now.                                             I'm not a reel tech at all, but I had no trouble taking this reel apart and servicing it. It could easily be fished again. What some of the older reels may lack in smoothness and other things, they make up for in durability. My 308 is fifty years old.

I know my reels are amazing with modern braid