500/501 jigmaster

[fifis101]

I got this Jigmaster given to me by my father years ago. I have never used it because I am a lever drag guy and never been interested in using the "old piece of history". The other day I found it in the shed a thought maybe I should give the old girl a go. Give her a good once over and see how she performs. So I get one here and do a search and sure enough there's a great tutorial. I open mine up and it is really was pristine in side. I was expecting it to look something like the one in the tutorial as the seemed to be a fair bit of uneven resistance when I turn the handle. After a bit of inspection I think the spool is just rubbing on the housing. It's not a constant rub but on and off as the spool turns. Not completely sure why but could it be bent shaft? I can fiddle around with it and I can get it to almost go away but I assume it'll come back when drag is applied.

[Marcq]

I think it could be a twisted frame or a bent spool shaft, how does the reel foot looks ?

Marc..

[fifis101]

Using a pic from the tutorial I have indicated the edge of the spool that is rubbing on frame. Could I just skim a small amount off the corner of spool to stop it from rubbing? This will be easy to do and I can't see it causing any issues.

[Alto Mare]

Sanding the spool is not the correct way of fixing the issue, you would actually ruin it. Check and see if the right side bushing is tight all the way, if it is, you would need a new one, 5 dollars is a small price to pay. Some like to place shimming material in them, as a piece of copper or stainless steel, I usually just buy a new one or try another from  different reel.
Sal.

[otghoyt]

It's easy for folks to get in a hurry and tighten screws tight the first time they put a screwdriver to a screw.  Sometimes just loosening all the side plate to post/frame screws and taking them back up in an alternating tightening sequence.  Where you take them all up snug but no 2 screws right next each other.  Try to use a crossing pattern.  Then a little tighter and a final round with all screws as equally tight as you can determine.  That way the frame has equal pressures from all sides and hopefully straightening it out.

Good luck...they are fun reels.

[otghoyt]

Aaaand I thought about the obscure, olds cool, ya never can tell, answer.  The old glued together Newell spools were known to crush as the mono dried out and shrunk.  I heard about it but never saw it.  I always used Dacron backing plus mono.  Now-a-dayz it's called braid and a topshot.  Yada, yada........

[theswimmer]

How much should I spend on a 500 in decent shape?
What is the advantages of the old verses new?
For example what would the reel in Alan's tutorial sell for?

[coastal_dan]

Price wise you could get one for $5-$20 at a local flea market, Craigslist is usually around $20-35, Ebay varies greatly from $5 up to $350 (Accurate Magnum).  It all depends on what condition you are looking for and if it is modded or not.  I would say a USA Jigmaster in very nice and fishable condition that looks very clean with small to no corrosion should be $35-$50.  I like to go on ebay and look at SOLD items to see what prices should be.  Some hate Ebay, I personally love it (my wife for example hates it  ).  The time of year can change the pricing as well; I've found that in winter people want to sell things because they are sitting around not fishing or vacationing, Summer is when there is less for sale and prices seem higher (these are just what I've found in my searching, others may have a different approach/theory).  Good luck.

[theswimmer]

Thanks Dan.
That's about what I thought.
I just got one from Flea bay, unfished, USA , no box for $35.00 .
Decent deal for a reel I have wanted for a while.
I know I will use it as I do a lot of fishing off the coast of Northern California.

[coastal_dan]

Nice score!

[theswimmer]

plus free shipping🚣

[akadashoe]

Something I learned years ago from a deckhand on the Polaris Deluxe:
In a pinch, if you lose your dog spring, use the spring out of a BIC lighter, just cut it to about 3/16".
Works like a dream.

[coastal_dan]

I spent a few hours last night disassembling and reassembling two different Jigmasters (500 and 501) and checking drag numbers.  I have Brian's Kit in stock steel gears with PC DD'd bridge kit.  I found that no matter what order I was reading from OTHER peoples tests I couldn't get the same.  Sal and others have done a marvelous job showing us the best ways, but there are times that depending on the reel the stack may be too tall or too short even using the custom spacers.  So, rolled the sleeves up and got to work, haha.

Here is what I found to work for ME...please note that parts vary...reels vary...preferences vary...I think this is going to work for me, but I like the idea of constantly changing it.

First - my style of fishing for this 501 - Deep dropping for sea bass, tile fish, cod and other bottom feeders.  It'll be loaded up with 450 yds of 50 lb depth counter PP.

My drag order that I ended my night with....

1)Brians smaller CF washer under the main gear
2)steel main
3)Brians Kit in his specified ordeer
4)Stock keyed washer from the reel
5)Delrin washer from Sal
6)Stock tension spring
7)PC 10.5mm spacer
8)Tension spring from other the other jigmasters drag stack
9)Star
10)Handle

I used a Delrin washer under the main but I was getting a slight grinding when reeling...It may have just needed to be cleaned up, but it seemed to be rubbing on the Double Dogs.  Maybe a shim under the sleeve would cure this.

I added the stock keyed washer, Delrin washer, and tension spring in place of the belleville because I was only getting about 12 lbs of drag with the belleville.  I believe Keta pointed this out at some point as a fix...could be mistaken.

I ended the night with 274 ounces in the bucket (just over 17 lbs) and I started to worry about the rod which was doubled over .  I believe you could get about 20 lbs with this order, but I need a bigger rod to test my theory, haha.

Things to note, I was getting a little 'grabbing' when flipping the eccentric lever so I flipped the SS yoke over and ended up switching out the pinion with a unit that had beveled edges from an older Jigmaster.  'Grabbing' went away.

Up next for the reel is just an Accuframe and maybe fooling with different handle configurations.  I had a ton of fun and learned a bit too!  If something sounds wrong please point it out!  I'll hopefully be testing this a few times over the summer.

A few pictures from the evening...







Hope this helps someone else out there. 

Tight lines!

[foakes]

Great comments, Dan --

You have graduated!

Best,

Fred

[bestout]

Cheetos for days