Greetings from the "Southernmost City" !!

[captbruce]

Hello, FRRbAT !!
I Just registered and decided the introduce myself.
I'm Capt. Bruce Cronin from the Charterboat 'New Horizons' in Fabulous Key West, Florida. I've been a Key West "Guide" for over 35 years.

I first saw your site last Summer when I decided the Service my reels, myself.
I needed to refer to the tutorials quite often especially with the Avet's.
I brought 40+ reels to my Summer home in Sebastian.
I set-up a working area and proceeded to take apart mostly Shimano Trinidads 30 and 20's; Torium 16 and 20's; and my old "stand-by" Bantam Mag 50.

I also have an Avet LX 6/3 and after I cleaned it and when I cranked the handle on the side of my table and "chopped" it out of gear it spun for 2 min. 20 secs.... I was astounded !! The best my Trinidads would do was about 30 secs.

The whole ordeal took 30 days to complete the last reel. mostly due to 3 back-orders of parts ordered directly from Shimano. (I've been a "VIP" Guide with Shimano for almost 35 years)

Anyway I was proud of how the reels stood-up this season.
I had one Trinidad 30 that I just used for Sharks and at the end of the season I could see the handle creeping back. When I finally took it apart the cause was over-greasing the reel, lube had slung around and over-lubed the roller clutch A/R bearing under the handle. I simply cleaned it up and reassembled with a drop of oil and all is well, with that TN30.

Anyway, Best to all.
Keep up the good work and Catch 'em Up !!
captbruce

[wallacewt]

yours is a good story capt;
thousands of visitors to this site have the same experience.
maybe not so large a scale but never the less just as satisfying.
goodonya mate,cheers

[Norcal Pescador]

Welcome from Northern California, Captain Bruce! You certainly dived into the repair gig big time. Makes sense to do your own reels saving yourself a bunch of bucks and making them better at the same time.
Rob

[Roger]

Capt., welcome aboard from South Louisiana. Ya'll sure have some fine fishing down there. Been to Key West a few times back in my wilder days but never had a chance to fish out of there, I have had the opportunity to fish out of Islamorada several times and really enjoyed it.

[Alto Mare]

Welcome Captain! Get yourself a couple of Penn's, this way you can take your time working on those reels . Nice to have you with us! Sal

[Nessie Hunter]

Welcome Capt Bruce......   

Satisfying to do your own, helps when you have an issue also. 
You can almost FEEL whats wrong..  You become ONE with the reel...

[alantani]

welcome!!!!!!   

[broadway]

I like that... jumpin' in head first is the only way to go  
Welcome aboard, Capt!
Dom

[captbruce]

Thanks, guys...
I just got back to my Summer Home in Sebastian, Fl. and started stripping line and making sure everything is OK. I will re-spool them in Dec. just before I go back to KW.
I took a "Group Photo" of just the conventional reels.


There is a couple Daiwa BG 20's in the mix (I have MANY more). Behind me are boxes (and boxes) of spare reels accumulated over the years.

The three "Billy Pate" fly Reels (lower right) are almost 40 yrs. Old !! They go back to the Mfg. (Juraisck Tool & Die) every two years for total service (no charge). Ted Juraisck has been a close friend for a many yrs.

Anyway, I found 5 reels that need minor fixes, mostly the Shimano Bantam Mag 50's drag. You can't get any parts for them anymore so I use spare reels that I scour the web for.

It's a labor of Love.

Thanks for the kind words.
Best to ALL !!
captbruce

[redsetta]

That's some line-up!
Welcome aboard Capt.
All the best, Justin

[alantani]

congratulations, captain!  you are this months winner with that photo.  if i can you to send me your address via pm, i'd like to mail something out to you.  thanks!  alan

[captbruce]

Thanks, Alan.

PM sent.

I took the pix in .RAW format and changed it to 'Jpeg.
I Cropped and compressed the pix ALOT, to reduce the size of the file.
If you would like me to make it less grainy just let me know.

Keep up the good work !!
captbruce