Fishing an ancient Hendryx

[JasonGotaProblem]

I've been off work a few days with that one virus we don't talk about anymore.

Well my brain went some pretty weird places. On one of those head-trips I got the wild hare idea to load up my old Hendryx pillar-style reel, that i believe is circa 1890-1910 production.

No anti-reverse, no drag, no freespool, just a spool, a set of rudimentary gears, and a (ivory) handle.

I put down some 100# dacron backing because that's what i had on hand, and probably 100' of 10# braid.

I tied on a 10# mono leader, put on a half oz weight knocker rig style and a small hook with a piece of bread to limit the target size. I wanna catch a fish on this reel. I have no desire to torture test this reel.

Well with a half oz I could cast roughly 50' upwind. Hardly a BFS ready setup. And I couldn't keep the bread on the hook more than a few seconds in the current. I later remembered thats why we used bagels as a kid. It stayed on the hook.

Gonna hopefully try again today on my way home, with denser bread.

[Midway Tommy]

Don't bruise your knuckles! 

[Bill B]

That reel looks familiar, is it one that I sent a couple year ago?  Either way good to see the old stuff getting a workout.  Bill

[JasonGotaProblem]

That reel looks familiar, is it one that I sent a couple year ago?  Either way good to see the old stuff getting a workout.  Bill

Yes sir it is! Thanks again!
I was still pretty terrible with a non-fixed-spool reel when I got it. So it sat on the shelf for a while. I figure now I am skilled enough to actually use it, even if not yet skilled enough to use it well.

[Paul Roberts]

Fun. (We used Wonderbread. Stuff is almost like glue when crushed.)

[oldmanjoe]

    Good old earth worms or Pillsbury crescent or biscuit dough stays on the hook...