Found an old spinning reel like my father lost to a big fish

[festus]

This old South Bend 730 spinning reel might be an antique, but most likely not a collectable.  My father had one of these in the mid to late 1960s.  He lost it late one evening to a big fish.  He had a 4" to 5" live bluegill for bait bottom fishing in the Clinch River at a company picnic.  One of his co-workers came by, Dad got distracted, and some monster fish drug the reel along with a  five dollar Zebco rod into the water.  I was only about 15 years old and went in after it to no avail. No big loss, I think the reel was less than five bucks off the shelf. I suspect it was a blue or flathead catfish, probably not a largemouth bass.

A couple weeks ago I found this identical reel.  It looks like it's never been used.  It was locked up and a guy at a fishing flea market let me have it for two bucks.

I removed the handle and side plates, monkeyed around with it, don't know what I did but it started working ok except for the anti-reverse.  Looked on a schematic, took it apart and got that lined up correctly (red arrow).  

Doubt if I ever use this reel, but it does hold some sentimental value on account of my dad losing his after he constantly lectured my sisters and I to never leave a rod and reel unattended, lol. The only thing plastic in this reel is the spool and handle knob.

[Bryan Young]

Nice. Even cheap reels used metal back in the day.

[Midway Tommy]

Not an antique yet, it still has 50 + years to go.   The green South Bend (Gladdings) came out in the early 1970s, '71ish if I remember right. I still have got a 725A I bought back then. You can't beat sentimental, especially sittin' on the shelf!  

[festus]

Tommy, thanks for the heads up. My bad, so does a reel have to be 100 yrs old to be considered an antique?  This one doesn't have Gladding stamped on it, l'm fairly sure it's pre-1970.

[Midway Tommy]

Yeah, reels aren't any different than anything else, 100 years old to legitimately be an antique.

Gladding became the parent company of South Bend in 1964 so everything after that is considered Gladding affiliated. Some were labeled with Gladding and some only South Bend. The late '60s reels were a charcoal gray, almost black, color. In about 1970 they transitioned from the charcoal gray to a red, and then into the metallic looking emerald green a little later in the early '70s. South Bend/Gladding had distributors in almost every major US city. They manufactured tremendous quantities of reels, shipped to the distributors, and created large assets on paper but the reels weren't selling. That is why there are so many different models out there with different emblems on the same or similar models. Things appeared good but consumers weren't buying their reels. The distributors' warehouses were basically full and the whole thing came tumbling down in 1980. The company was sold to Maurice Sporting Goods Co of Chicago in 1981.       

[alantani]

still a nice reel!   

[foakes]

When I appraise tackle collections for estates, families, trusts, attorneys, etc. -- 100 years is the mark generally accepted by government agencies such as IRS, and others.  And this is pretty much a hard, fast rule.

Which means, few of our reels are actually antiques -- I do have some -- but even then, no big dollars -- just common stuff.

However, I do have plenty of "vintage" reels.  Vintage is a term we use to describe items pertaining to a particular past era -- typically 30 to 99 years old.

I would be considered vintage -- some others of us on this site may be close to an antique.   

To a purist, 100 years is the mark for an "antique" description.

Best,

Fred

[festus]

Next time l go to an antique shop l'll let them know that half their stock aren't really antiques, lol.  l've seen lots of stuff labeled antiques that are only 30 yrs old.  Saw an old wooden corkscrew that was well worn, looked it up on the net, it was made in the mid 1970s.  Anyway, this vintage South Bend reel is in excellent shape, has a very strong bail spring, the way l remember my dad's.  lt's so loud it would wake everyone in a campground if l stayed up all night fishing.

[Midway Tommy]

Next time l go to an antique shop l'll let them know that half their stock aren't really antiques, lol.  l've seen lots of stuff labeled antiques that are only 30 yrs old.  Saw an old wooden corkscrew that was well worn, looked it up on the net, it was made in the mid 1970s.  Anyway, this vintage South Bend reel is in excellent shape, has a very strong bail spring, the way l remember my dad's.  lt's so loud it would wake everyone in a campground if l stayed up all night fishing.

Many shops now advertise "collectibles" along with "antiques". "Collectibles" is pretty generic. I try to shy away from using vintage unless I can include the circa, let's say "1970 vintage South Bend". I've converted to using collectible for items younger than antique.

I'm not sure where I fall in? I feel antique a good share of the time and I'm not too collectible any more, either.  At least I still know my vintage. 

[happyhooker]

That's a nice looking reel; would it have been made in the USA or...?

[festus]

Made in Japan, happyhooker.  l have one more South Bend reel packed away somewhere, it's a burgundy color, probably nearly 50 years old.  lt's a tad bigger than this one, probably considered light saltwater/heavy saltwater. 

[mo65]

   Hey Chester, I've been looking at getting one of these, mostly for that awesome green metallic paint! Do they have a ball bearing? Or even a bronze bushing? I can't really tell from the schematic. This is one of those reels I saw a lot as a kid.

[Darin Crofton]

I'm not sure where I fall in? I feel antique a good share of the time and I'm not too collectible any more, either.  At least I still know my vintage. 
[/quote]
Ha Ha Ha      . . .

[oldmanjoe]

I'm not sure where I fall in? I feel antique a good share of the time and I'm not too collectible any more, either.  At least I still know my vintage. 

Ha Ha Ha      . . .
[/quote]
         That`s got to be the quote of the month rite there  ..

[festus]

   Hey Chester, I've been looking at getting one of these, mostly for that awesome green metallic paint! Do they have a ball bearing? Or even a bronze bushing? I can't really tell from the schematic. This is one of those reels I saw a lot as a kid.

No bearings or bushings, they're a very simple reel that got the job done cheaply.  I see them often on ebay for cheap, some NIB.  They probably were no more than 6 or 7 bucks when new.