Rods, Reels, and Tackle Boxes of Choice

[foakes]

As I am going down through a couple of storage containers of tackle —- decided to pull out a few of my favorites.

Rods are my favorites in glass — Fenwicks, Wright McGill Eagle Claws, Garcia Conolons, some customs, Shakes Wonderods, an old Berkley Cherrywood, South Bend, etc.

Put them in cloth socks —- inside of protective tubes.

Here are a few of the reels that will match up well with these —- D.A.M Quick, Cardinals, Penns, Daiwas, Mitchells, and a couple of excellent old Centaures.

My favorite tackle boxes are UMCO's.  The big one was given to me last year by Ted.

Lots of good stuff to get rid of —- and yet will still have plenty of good tackle to fish with.

Interesting thing —-

Found a couple of old Wright McGill Trailmaster 4-6 pice rods with issues.

Called Eagle Claw in Denver this morning.

They just said to send in the rods —- and $20 for return shipping —- and they would send me new rods.

This, after 50 years!  No questions asked. No receipt.

That is top quality customer service.

Then, needed some pack rod cloth bags.  Got hold of BigT's Fly Shop in Clarksville, Georgia.  Ordered 16, talked directly to BigT.  Free shipping, $6 something each, top quality, arrived in 3 days.

Can't stand to have quality rods not secure, protected, labeled, and readily available.

This also shows that you don't need to invest a fortune to get a much higher quality combination that is 40-50 years old — and for sure two or three times the quality — at about half the price of the graphite rods and plastic Tupperware reels coming out of Asia today.

Plus, when you understand the value, the quality materials and engineering, and the enjoyment of fishing with gear from the Golden Age of Spinners — you will never go back.  And this type of gear will last a lifetime.

Best, Fred

[thorhammer]

Good looking stuff, Fred! I have a box of the black Card's I need to get into needing bailsprings and such. Sent all the green Card stuff I had to Harry a ways back. Have some of the red ones too, but they don't seem to stack up to former two so they are dock queens.

[Midway Tommy]

I've got a big ol' brown UMCO Possum Belly. If you fill one of those you can barely pick it up! 

I switched over to all one piece 97% & + graphite spinning rods back in '84 and never looked back. I do still have an original two piece graphite Lightning Rod I kept, only because they're so rare. The only fiberglass rods I still use are a half dozen various Conolon & Heddon brown fly rods, but then I don't fly fish very often. 

[Dominick]

Wow!  Another look at the Oakes Museum. Dominick

[Paul Roberts]

Certainly is important to have ones tackle properly cared for, organized and ready to roll.

Like Tommy, I too have an UMCO Possum Belly that I can barely lift! I took the majority of jig heads and weights out to lighten the load. Still in careful I don't snap the handle off.

I prefer graphite rods but I recently bought some new high tech glass blanks to build rods for some of my old reels. They are as light as graphite with pretty good damping ability. Remains to be seen what roles they will play in my arsenal.

[Sonnett]

All Packed up and ready to go! 

[foakes]

Hard to do any better than the gear you love, Bill!

Beautiful baits and classic gear!

That is what it is all about.

Making new memories with well prepped and well organized vintage gear.

That last pic could be framed —- hope it is!

Best, Fred

[Sonnett]

Might as well include my boat too 

[Midway Tommy]

The funny thing is the average lifespan of a lot of freshwater fish is around 5 years or so. So, vintage lures are new to the majority of the fish in any given lake.       

[Reeltyme]

That photo of you and your boat,,,just has peace and quiet written all over it,,,,, perfect!

[happyhooker]

Hard to pick out favorites.  I do like my glass rods, particularly the 1st one I ever made back in the late '70s - early '80s from a blank and hardware I got from Netcraft in Ohio (now Jann's).  Maroon blank with white & blue wraps and old-style Aetna "Foulproof" guides. A med-light 7-footer.  Lots of reels to go with it, but I favor my Mitchell 400, as the dark blue color of it goes great with the rod.  2nd place is my first serious reel, a Mitchell 320.  Too many tackle boxes; got a large black Old Pal for longer trips and a small butterscotch-colored Fenwick for day trips.

Frank

[dlrider]

Interesting thing —-

Found a couple of old Wright McGill Trailmaster 4-6 pice rods with issues.

Called Eagle Claw in Denver this morning.

They just said to send in the rods —- and $20 for return shipping —- and they would send me new rods.

This, after 50 years!  No questions asked. No receipt.

That is top quality customer service.

I feel good buying several (more than a few) new EC rods in the past several years, in a small way helping to keep EC around.      Seriously good rods that won't break the college fund.  I've seen decades old models that are holding up very well today.

[Shark Hunter]

Your Organizing is Amazing Fred!

[Cuttyhunker]

That 3 HP outboard probably remembers Kennedy in the White House from the days of 24 to 1 premix. Dad had a 1947 2 1/2
with a low speed needle adjustment on the carb to get down to a super slow putt putt putt where, when chugging head on into not much wind, it could actually push the boat backwards