A Tough Little Zebco

[Mobasser]

My grandson has a friend who goes fishing with him. Between school, and part time jobs, they fish as much as they can, hitting a 5 acre farm pond close to home.             Aiden has a casting outfit, and a spinning rod. Both are decent quality. His friend fishes with an older Zebco Omega Underspin which I think was made in the mid 1980s. He uses a  med/light spinning rod from Academy, and spools with 6lb Trilene XL.                                  He brought his outfit over yesterday to show me, and see if I could clean and lube the small reel for him.            We cleaned and lubed it, and spooled fresh 6 lb. mono. Test casting in the yard, the small reel is smooth, easy to operate, and has a smooth drag. What surprised me was the photos he showed me of fish he's caught with this outfit.                    Numerous bass up to 4 pounds, large crappie, and bluegill, and a 12 pound catfish. He's using 4" Senko, Zoom grubs, Beetlespins, Kellys worms, and 4" curly tail worms, rigged with a split shot.                                                  The reel was a hand me down, given to him from his grandfather. These older USA made Zebcos are tough, durable reels. I've heard good and bad things about the newer ones, and most bass anglers look down on them.         I wouldn't hesitate to use this one myself. I still have my Zebco 33 which I received as a Christmas gift in 1966.It still works, even though I haven't used it in many years. Does anyone have any experience with the Zebco Omega models? 

[Catt]

20 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Does anyone have any experience with the Zebco Omega models? 

 

Yeah I do 😉

 

I used them for perch fishing, Bream, Google-eyes, & Crappie.

[JediAmoeba]

I used to use Zebcos all the time as a kid at my grandfathers farm pond. He had a big barrel of old rods that he found on the side of the road, bought at yard sales or at the racetracks. A lot of them were missing guides but I didn't care - I always used whatever line was on them and caught tons of fish. Pretty sure I tied overhand knots up until I learned a clinch knot around 12 years old. Those zebcos never really failed me and caught countless fish. 

[greentrout]

52 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

  Does anyone have any experience with the Zebco Omega models? 

Yep, 

Own two Omega Pros Z03 with one spooled with 10lb. test and the other 12lb test. Both smooth as can be. Cast very well and very, very little if any tangled line when casting because of oscillating spool. Con: slow IPT 19.  Recently, bought a Zebco 33 Platinum from Amazon for 22 dollars because the box reel was in was damaged. IPT 26. Not as smooth as the Omega Pro but smooth and is approved by Zebco for 30lb. braid.

 

Good Fishing

[Gera]

2 minutes ago, greentrout said:

Yep, 

Own two Omega Pros Z03 with one spooled with 10lb. test and the other 12lb test. Both smooth as can be. Cast very well and very, very little if any tangled line when casting because of oscillating spool. Con: slow IPT 19.  Recently, bought a Zebco 33 Platinum from Amazon for 22 dollars because the box reel was in was damaged. IPT 26. Not as smooth as the Omega Pro but smooth and is approved by Zebco for 30lb. braid.

 

Good Fishing

 

I bought the platinum a few years back when I was teaching my daughter how to fish. I thought that the all metal construction would give a better experience than the plastic ones.  But it was so heavy for her that she never used it. I gave her a 1000 size spinning reel and all problems solved. 

That Zebco its now a cool paperweight.

[greentrout]

Just now, Gera said:

 

I bought the platinum a few years back when I was teaching my daughter how to fish. I thought that the all metal construction would give a better experience than the plastic ones.  But it was so heavy for her that she never used it. I gave her a 1000 size spinning reel and all problems solved. 

That Zebco its now a cool paperweight.

Sorry it didn't work out for you. 

[bulldog1935]

My buddy Lou has the Bullet, which weighs a pound - he catches redfish, and here, a 24" speckled trout on it.  

 

Another buddy started his girls on the micro trigger-spins, and they fished them well. 

[Tennessee Boy]

In the old days saying something was heavy duty was a compliment.  Today the fishing industry has convinced us that heavy is a bad word so we will buy fragile equipment in an effort to save 2 grams of weight.  This fragile equipment last a fraction of the time the old heavy duty stuff would so we have to replace it with more fragile stuff.  The industry learned about 30 years ago that selling great reels that can be passed down for generations is a bad business plan.  The old Zebco reels were well made and just worked.  I sold mine many years ago.  Someone is probably still catching fish with them.

[WRB]

3 hours ago, Mobasser said:

My grandson has a friend who goes fishing with him. Between school, and part time jobs, they fish as much as they can, hitting a 5 acre farm pond close to home.             Aiden has a casting outfit, and a spinning rod. Both are decent quality. His friend fishes with an older Zebco Omega Underspin which I think was made in the mid 1980s. He uses a  med/light spinning rod from Academy, and spools with 6lb Trilene XL.                                  He brought his outfit over yesterday to show me, and see if I could clean and lube the small reel for him.            We cleaned and lubed it, and spooled fresh 6 lb. mono. Test casting in the yard, the small reel is smooth, easy to operate, and has a smooth drag. What surprised me was the photos he showed me of fish he's caught with this outfit.                    Numerous bass up to 4 pounds, large crappie, and bluegill, and a 12 pound catfish. He's using 4" Senko, Zoom grubs, Beetlespins, Kellys worms, and 4" curly tail worms, rigged with a split shot.                                                  The reel was a hand me down, given to him from his grandfather. These older USA made Zebcos are tough, durable reels. I've heard good and bad things about the newer ones, and most bass anglers look down on them.         I wouldn't hesitate to use this one myself. I still have my Zebco 33 which I received as a Christmas gift in 1966.It still works, even though I haven't used it in many years. Does anyone have any experience with the Zebco Omega models? 

It’s  Zebco  Omega 144 mini or 154 standard size Trigger Spin used on a spinning rod. 
My son used this combo from 5 years old to 9 when he went to a standard spinning combo. 
Tom

[Mobasser]

7 minutes ago, WRB said:

It’s  Zebco  Omega 144 mini or 154 standard six Trigger Spin used on a spinning rod. 
My son used this combo from 5 years old to 9 when he went to a standard spinning combo. 
Tom

Tom the kid is using the Zebco Omega 144. The smaller triggerspin model. It's a good little reel.

[WRB]

Excellent reel with good drag. My son caught a lot bass on his outfit because he could 2 hand cast with the balanced combo. He somehow managed to land a 26 lb channel cat with his light combo using a split shot rigged reaper!

Tom

 

[JediAmoeba]

36 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

In the old days saying something was heavy duty was a compliment.  Today the fishing industry has convinced us that heavy is a bad word so we will buy fragile equipment in an effort to save 2 grams of weight.  This fragile equipment last a fraction of the time the old heavy duty stuff would so we have to replace it with more fragile stuff.  The industry learned about 30 years ago that selling great reels that can be passed down for generations is a bad business plan.  The old Zebco reels were well made and just worked.  I sold mine many years ago.  Someone is probably still catching fish with them.

And it's a shame because the average weekend warrior that isn't going to be making thousands of casts per outing doesn't really benefit from those weight savings. I used to throw all day for Muskie in the late 90's with outfits that weigh 5 times what they do now without issue. 

[Bazoo]

I still use a Zebco 33 occasionally. I did last year some and caught several bass on it. I have 2 reels, both older ones from the 80s.

[A-Jay]

I haven't bought a Zebco in a while.

But I did catch one . . .

A-Jay

[Mobasser]

9 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I haven't bought a Zebco in a while.

But I did catch one . . .

A-Jay

Cool!

[MAN]

I got 1 year out of our Omega.  It crapped out this weekend while White Bass fishing.  But thats longer than we get out of the 202's and 404's. I have a Bullet I'm about to crack open...hoping to get more than a year outta this one. 

[OmegaDPW]

The Zebco 808 with the heavy rod is my only catfishing gear. I bought it just for that and never felt the need to upgrade- it does exactly what I want a catfish rod to do. 👍

[FrnkNsteen]

4 minutes ago, OmegaDPW said:

The Zebco 808 with the heavy rod is my only catfishing gear. I bought it just for that and never felt the need to upgrade- it does exactly what I want a catfish rod to do. 👍

I always thought I was a big man when I got a chance to fish with my Dad's 808!! 😊😊

[OmegaDPW]

5 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

I always thought I was a big man when I got a chance to fish with my Dad's 808!! 😊😊

It's a freaking beast. I always had dreams of using it to catch those 40lb cats but it hasn't happened yet. 

 

 I'll be ready for it one day, though. 😄

[Bankc]

It's funny.  So I too have a lot of fond memories of those old Zebcos and marvel at how durable they were.  And I too complain that the new ones just aren't made to last and everything is a throwaway these days.  BUT....

 

A brand new Zebco 33 today costs about $25.  A brand new Zebco 33 in the year 1955 listed for about $19.50, or $224.41 in today's dollars.  Which means it's about the equivalent of a modern day Shimano Curado MGL, Daiwa Tatula SV, or Abu Garcia Revo5.  

 

Which means, yeah, it was a higher quality reel back in the day.  But you paid for that quality!  Would you buy a modern day Zebco 33 that was built as good as the old ones for $225?  I don't know that I would.  

[greentrout]

The little Johnson Century reel was also very popular. I got one of those, too.

 

Good Fishing

[thinkingredneck]

My Grandfather was so excited when he bought a Johnson Century reel. I bought oneca few year's  back.  Those Zebcos are beasts too.

[volzfan59]

Not an Omega, but my wife uses a 33 on a 7' medium Ugly Stik and a 33 u/l underspin on an old Carbonlite 6' u/l rod. Both perform flawlessly.

 

Back in the early 80's, I back my loaded race car trailer over my buddies son's 202, cheapest Zebco out there. Bent the handle, that's it. Straightened the handle, reel worked fine.

Edited February 21, 2024 by volzfan59
Forgot to mention underspin

[greentrout]

9 hours ago, thinkingredneck said:

My Grandfather was so excited when he bought a Johnson Century reel. I bought oneca few year's  back.  Those Zebcos are beasts too.

 

[Randy Price]

I think most of us caught a ton of fish on a Zebco.  I remember in Jr. High I started mowing lawns for $$ and one of the first things I bought was a Daiwa GC80 spincast reel and a Eagle Claw fiberglass rod.  I thought I had a Shimano Stella and Loomis NRX+ at the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think I caught more panfish on that GC80 and my Zebco that all my nicer reels and rods today!