Not sure where this belongs, mods, feel free to move it wherever might be better.
I've always been interested in human behavior, and I just read a thread in which it was pointed out that one guy doesn't repair/maintain his reels well, not even a fresh-water rinse after use in salt water. It got me wondering why we are so fastidious about maintaining our equipment and trying to push it to its limits, but others are not. I know for me it is 1)working with my hands, 2) attention to detail and 3) the application of technical knowledge to something I do regularly and thoroughly enjoy. I'm wondering if these characteristics are shared by most members... Have you anything to add? Why is it that we have congregated here instead of taking our reels to a tackle shop for service like (I presume) most people do.
Sid
Good question.
For me it's a combination of things.
One is, I learned a while back that if you want something done right, do it yourself. Very few people are going to care about the condition of your equipment as much as you will. Yes, there are professionals out there that do good work but they are few and far between. Personally, I have yet to find a shop in my area that does legitimate work. Most guys just open the sideplate, slap some grease in there, and call it a day. I started off doing this because I sent a reel in for repair to a local tackle store; the guy basically destroyed my reel. That was my first rebuild. At that point, I vowed to learn how to do all of my own maintenance. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to send something in to get fixed, you wait a month, get a bill, and realize they didn't even fix it.....
Two is cost. If you have a skill set, it's always going to be cheaper to fix something yourself than to have to pay someone else to do it. I try to do my own work on as many things as I can to save money. I spend most of my free time fishing. Learning all of this was a worthwhile investment for me. All of this gear is really expensive, especially brand new Internationals, etc. Buying a reel with trashed bearings and rebuilding it became the only way I could afford this stuff.
Three, I've always enjoyed building things. Ever since I was a kid, I've always been the analytical type. I find it therapeutic and relaxing. I get satisfaction creating something or bringing an old girl back to life.
Four, it's made me better fisherman. Understanding your equipment and how it relates to what you are doing is going to help you land more fish. I love taking things apart to learn how they work. I'll take apart anything, lol.
The Tinkering bit is fun and all...
But the breakthrough for me was fishing a perfectly serviced reel versus one that had been neglected.
At one point in our fishing lives most of us fished that reel with the skipping ar, rough gears, jerky drag or clunky mechanism of some kind not doing its job right...ruins the fun of fishing.
Conversely, a perfectly maintained reel that is smooth as butter in every regard...is it's own reward and makes fishing more fun.
Quote from: FatTuna on January 18, 2016, 09:22:49 PM
Good question.
For me it's a combination of things.
One is, I learned a while back that if you want something done right, do it yourself. Very few people are going to care about the condition of your equipment as much as you will. Yes, there are professionals out there that do good work but they are few and far between. Personally, I have yet to find a shop in my area that does legitimate work. Most guys just open the sideplate, slap some grease in there, and call it a day. I started off doing this because I sent a reel in for repair to a local tackle store; the guy basically destroyed my reel. That was my first rebuild. At that point, I vowed to learn how to do all of my own maintenance. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to send something in to get fixed, you wait a month, get a bill, and realize they didn't even fix it.....
Two is cost. If you have a skill set, it's always going to be cheaper to fix something yourself than to have to pay someone else to do it. I try to do my own work on as many things as I can to save money. I spend most of my free time fishing. Learning all of this was a worthwhile investment for me. All of this gear is really expensive, especially brand new Internationals, etc. Buying a reel with trashed bearings and rebuilding it became the only way I could afford this stuff.
Three, I've always enjoyed building things. Ever since I was a kid, I've always been the analytical type. I find it therapeutic and relaxing. I get satisfaction creating something or bringing an old girl back to life.
Four, it's made me better fisherman. Understanding your equipment and how it relates to what you are doing is going to help you land more fish. I love taking things apart to learn how they work. I'll take apart anything, lol.
couldn't have said it better!
I agree with all that has been said. Here are a couple other reasons I do it. I am competitive. When I do something I want to do it the very best. That means doing it in a way that not only produces a better product but better performance, which leads to better results. In fishing reels, the performance is in the maintenance and upgrades. Lastly, Im attracted to bright shiny things... :o ::)
Quote from: steelhead_killer on January 18, 2016, 11:31:22 PM
Lastly, Im attracted to bright shiny things... :o ::)
We went out to dinner with friends a few nights ago, and when asked which of my reels was her favorite my wife's response was, "The shiny one".
Quote from: sdlehr on January 18, 2016, 11:44:22 PM
Quote from: steelhead_killer on January 18, 2016, 11:31:22 PM
Lastly, Im attracted to bright shiny things... :o ::)
We went out to dinner with friends a few nights ago, and when asked which of my reels was her favorite my wife's response was, "The shiny one".
That sounds like something my wife would say.
I must admit a bit of enjoyment in putting something fantastic together, but in all honesty I am able to fish withh fantastic gear for a fraction of the cost. That is probably why I just do a little bit of rod work, it's hard to save as much money in rods as you can in reels.
Ron
LOL my answer is not going to be as interesting as yours guys
I got attracted to reel repair because there is no one on my town who offer that service, my town is also far from any city that offer fishing reel repairs, send them to USA is kind of expensive for me and sometimes it takes me too long to pick something up on my PO box, so my best option from many years ago was to get my hands dirty and learn how to do it myself.
I've been following the boss since many years ago for that reason, hey compadre how do you repair this thingy? what about this other reel? my reel dont turn, where do I have to look at? etc, etc. and of course he always answered me with his best recommendation that always worked.
currently I know many tricks on different reels that helped me to offer that missing service of reel rapair & service locally ;D, not like a small open to public bussiness but like a side job with friends, friends of my friends and relatives of them.
but of course, since kid I like to get my hands dirty of grease and mud, reels offered me that opportunity and I didnt let it go.
I've always been fascinated by the mechanics of things...I've been like that my all life. Fishing reels, included! We did not invent the reel here, but we've been able to add a few extras to make them work a little better or, at least, think we did!
It's a good feeling when you know that you are fishing a reel that you enhanced in some way. Everyone pretty much knows the basic functionality of a fishing reel, but not many folks take the time to dissect a reel to fully understand what makes it function! I really enjoy working on reels, even when things do not go as planned.
Personally, I find it relaxing and rewarding!
Sal
When I was in grade school, my father and I would go fishing almost every Saturday. When we got home, we'd clean the fish then go the the den where my father would pour a scotch (or three). Then we'd take a part, clean, repair and lube our reels. We did that **every time** we went fishing. Over the years I began servicing my friends' reels, and then when I left academia (23 years is long enough to do anything) I put my Ph.D. to use and opened a reel repair shop. I now make a living servicing reels. SE Alaska may be the only place I can do this. It's great: I get to talk fishing everyday, learn where the fish are biting -- and find myself on the water three or four mornings a week throughout the summer.
My interest is taking things apart and fixing them to make them work better, That said it is true if you want something done right then do it yourself.
Ive been working with guns for 50 years and I have a love for making those things work better, As I got involved in servicing my own reels and realized a whole new world of reel repair and modification or (Hot Rodding) Reels on this site, it made it even more exciting then ever. Especially the people you meet on the Alan Tani site.
Joe
More than any other reason I love the fact I am fishing the same gear that my Grandfathers and my Dad caught many ,many fish on.
Both Grandpas and my Dad were fastidious about their gear and that allows me to have a link to them that I cherish.
Dad bought a Penn 500 that he never got to fish, on the Morro Bay trip I got to catch fish on that reel.
Tearing that reel down and cleaning/servicing post trip linked me right back to both Grandpas and Dad.
Working on Grandpa Gadds 349 red as we speak.
I love the tinkering part...tearing something down, studying the mechanics, then putting it back together....what a way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Then if I get to take it fishing, catch a fish then feed my family a fish dinner, with a reel that I rebuilt..."Great Times", not to mention the satisfaction for doing it myself....it may sound silly but I feel the same way if I can grow a garden and feed my family the harvest...Bill
Just the satisfaction alone of Catching a Giant Fish with a 40 year old reel that I Hot rodded with advice and parts from all my friends here is enough for me. ;)
I have always maintained my own vehicles, do my own home repairs and anything else that needs fixing.
Its just how I do it.
You would be really surprised how many people that don't know how a screwdriver works. :P
Go ahead, spend that $800 dollars on a brake job.
I can do it myself for a Hundred. :-*
$4000 for a ceramic tile upgrade in the Kitchen.
Took the free class at Home Depot. 3 G discount. ;D
It all comes down to determination and your abilities.
Hot Rodding Reels is right up my alley. ;)
Alan made me do it.
I've loved fishing since I was a little kid and here in Hawaii Penn was always known to be super reliable and capable of handling good fish. I've always liked knowing how stuff works but really started taking pride in doing things myself/ understanding investing in tools after working with auto mechanics during college. Just like with car repair, I know exactly what is going into my reels and usually at a much lower cost than having someone else do it. After starting my reel repair/modding education from this site I know I can do as good a job or better on most reels as any shop I'd take it to here, while having piece of mind that things were done right and not having to wait a month or more. I also like having something a little different than what can be bought off the shelf so when I saw what was possible to do to some of my favorite old reels, it was an easy choice to start hot-rodding them!
Well said Yogi. ;)
We have a saying over here Kiwi ingenuity. This was brought about by our isolation from the rest of the world, and our not being able to source parts readily from the local store or even overseas. So we had to make, modify or repair things with what we had. I'm not sure if buying your dream reel or car is as satisfying as repairing or rebuilding a wreck. It requires skill, patience and dedication and hard work. If something's worth doing it's worth doing well.
Regards
Mark
newly acquired Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Always enjoyed working on mechanical things. Anything from building hotrods to reels. I have a soft spot for vintage items. I think its the fact there were build to last and not just look pretty.
For the part of the question as why most fishermen don't maintain their reels---Most fishermen I know do not fish regularly. They buy a new reel and just fish it. If they think it needs maintenance, Penn and other manufacturers include a tube of oil for reel maintenance to squirt into the reels. About 20+ years ago, I needed to tear some reels apart and there was this guy-- who was in some fishing mags talking about doing your own reel repairs and lubrication and using these special lubes--that was not the little manufacturers' tube of oil. I started following him and then heard he was "online" at some of the fishing websites. On some of these sites he had what he called "tutorials" for specific reels--most of them Penn's or Shimano's. He included pictures as he tore the reels apart and as he put them back together. As I had mainly Penn's, this helped me get thru some of my reel maintenance. But then he started talking "crazy". He was saying you should buy a BRAND NEW reel and tear it completely apart, then lube it, and then put it back together again. :-\ ;) My thought was go buy a brand new car and then tear the running gear(including the engine, transmission and rear-end) apart and check them and then re-lube everything "properly". My thought was, Is this guy NUTS"?? If a manufacturer can't build and lube a product properly, people will just quit buying them. Who would think of buying a new 3/4 ton diesel truck and tearing it all apart before you even drove it??!!
After a few years of doing his type of maintenance on some of my older Penn reels, I bought a brand new Penn 114h and decided to "maintain" before I used it like this crazy guy said. I went to my fishing websites and could not find his pictorial tutorials. But somewhere in my electronic stuff I had an old email address, so I wrote to him to ask for advice on where to find his tutorials and he referred me to his own site. I was a "Lurker" for many years and then decided to join. I remember when most of you very talented posters were just here asking questions. We now have many, many members who are very, very talented. Alan Tani has gone from this "crazy guy" to being one of the most well known names in reel repairs--over 2,000,000 hits in one month--WOW!! There are literally too many of you members that are way above "super talented" to mention. I feel honored to be allowed to be here to absorb all of your knowledge. Unfortunately, I have some age issues that keep me from doing a lot of maintenance, but I have rebuilt over 100 reels, mainly for myself, family, friends and a few Mexican pescaderos. And I never do this maintenance without referring to the tutorials on this site. Of course, I have purchased a few reels on this site and on e-bay just because I "needed" to. For some of you guys, it is an addiction, but I NEED to buy some new reels once in awhile--I am Not Addicted. I have even made a "tank" or two. And I always refer to your tutorials to help me get my brand new reel back together. Thanks to all of you but expecially to Alan.
TomT
Also Tom were keeping the art and fraternity of reel maintenance,reel building and modification alive threw every person that participates on this site as well as keeping the older reels ALIVE!!
Joe
I grew up fishing, beginning with a cane pole in a stroller, then with three cane poles laid out in front at once (when that picture of age four surfaced, I was quick to inform my family that this reel thing was their fault...I was imprinted early). My father reloaded his own, did some smithing, and made ka-nifes, so I was in the shop popping primers and knew the correct ICBS dies at age five. Flash forward, lack of funds got me being creative in rod repair and soon after reels 25 years ago. Then I got the bug of finding a $5 yardsale diamond in the rough and started building Penns out of boxes of parts. I had no schematics or internet obviously, just reverse engineering and tinkering. I still have
8 of my first reels as a kid in the 70's: a Johnson Sabre, Daiwa 210, Daiwa Minicast, Shimano Bantam 100, Zebco 6040, Abu 1000, Abu 5500C,Olympic 1500. Whats missing are a Sabre (stolen), Daiwa 212, the regrettable Zebco 404, 202's and 33's, and my first Penn, a 60 LB on a St Croix tobacca stick I bought new at Rose's Dept Store after reading Zane Gray's "Shark" in 1976. So I had 15-20 reels before puberty lol...Mainly I like tinkering to keep the old quality stuff alive for another day; all the better if I make something out of nothing or it turns out to be a really nice hard to find piece.
All good answers, and I'm learning something about myself as I look through the answers of others.... which is why I asked the question.... keep 'em coming!
Sid
Quote from: TomT on January 20, 2016, 07:25:07 AM
For the part of the question as why most fishermen don't maintain their reels---Most fishermen I know do not fish regularly. They buy a new reel and just fish it. If they think it needs maintenance, Penn and other manufacturers include a tube of oil for reel maintenance to squirt into the reels. About 20+ years ago, I needed to tear some reels apart and there was this guy-- who was in some fishing mags talking about doing your own reel repairs and lubrication and using these special lubes--that was not the little manufacturers' tube of oil. I started following him and then heard he was "online" at some of the fishing websites. On some of these sites he had what he called "tutorials" for specific reels--most of them Penn's or Shimano's. He included pictures as he tore the reels apart and as he put them back together. As I had mainly Penn's, this helped me get thru some of my reel maintenance. But then he started talking "crazy". He was saying you should buy a BRAND NEW reel and tear it completely apart, then lube it, and then put it back together again. :-\ ;) My thought was go buy a brand new car and then tear the running gear(including the engine, transmission and rear-end) apart and check them and then re-lube everything "properly". My thought was, Is this guy NUTS"?? If a manufacturer can't build and lube a product properly, people will just quit buying them. Who would think of buying a new 3/4 ton diesel truck and tearing it all apart before you even drove it??!!
After a few years of doing his type of maintenance on some of my older Penn reels, I bought a brand new Penn 114h and decided to "maintain" before I used it like this crazy guy said. I went to my fishing websites and could not find his pictorial tutorials. But somewhere in my electronic stuff I had an old email address, so I wrote to him to ask for advice on where to find his tutorials and he referred me to his own site. I was a "Lurker" for many years and then decided to join. I remember when most of you very talented posters were just here asking questions. We now have many, many members who are very, very talented. Alan Tani has gone from this "crazy guy" to being one of the most well known names in reel repairs--over 2,000,000 hits in one month--WOW!! There are literally too many of you members that are way above "super talented" to mention. I feel honored to be allowed to be here to absorb all of your knowledge. Unfortunately, I have some age issues that keep me from doing a lot of maintenance, but I have rebuilt over 100 reels, mainly for myself, family, friends and a few Mexican pescaderos. And I never do this maintenance without referring to the tutorials on this site. Of course, I have purchased a few reels on this site and on e-bay just because I "needed" to. For some of you guys, it is an addiction, but I NEED to buy some new reels once in awhile--I am Not Addicted. I have even made a "tank" or two. And I always refer to your tutorials to help me get my brand new reel back together. Thanks to all of you but expecially to Alan.
TomT
nice, this story sound pretty familiar, a lot similar on how I've been following the Boss, and specially the part of reel for myself, family, friends and Mexican pescadores .. ;D
I still have hard time convincing friends to let me tear down their brand new shiny reels to grease it properly, as soon as they say "I dont think its necesary", I tell them, ok, you lost your opportunity, when you come back telling me the reel feels funny and making noises you will pay the cold Tecates and a large tube of yamaha grease.
The mechanics definitely. I can't tell you how many times I got in trouble for taking things apart when I was kid. Sometimes I even got it back together!
I gotta know how it works!
How can I make it better?
How can I tailor a reel to my specific needs instead of the marketing needs for the masses?
How can I use today's technology to enhance a 100 year old design and out fish some dude with more money than sense?
How can I help you get that old wall hanger back in the game?
In today's disposable market, I take pride in breathing life back into quality American goods. As an American machinist I have to. That's my job going over seas. I won't help the hang man build the noose.
Tom
Reel repairing and hot-rodding are two of my favorite spectator sports. I gave up on participating when I was in elementary school, after the third for fourth time that I took a reel apart and then had to take the parts in a shoe box to one of my more mechanically inclined friends to put it back together, but I still love to be in the room where repairing and hot-rodding are under way. The sights, the sounds and the smells...The thrill of watching someone else try to find those little Penn dog springs when they fly into the high pile carpet...listening to the blue-streak of obscenities as they unsuccessfully try time after time to rotate the bridge without letting any of the little bits move...the smell of the flop sweat when those new trick gears bind and they can't figure out why or how to fix it.
There's no other spectator sport that I know of where you get to be so up close to the action, and it's usually free. What could be better?
I like the materials that reels are made of. Brass, stainless steel, aluminium, "plastics".
When I was younger I had an interest in vintage motorcycles and even though they were not the fastest, as long as they were running as good as they could, I was happy.
I also had an interest in firearms and used to reload for about 5 calibres , but if any of my rifles were not sighted in, I could not sleep.
I suppose my reels are the same. Got to be running as good as possible.
Basto
Quote from: Cortez_Conversions on January 21, 2016, 01:40:11 AM
The mechanics definitely. I can't tell you how many times I got in trouble for taking things apart when I was kid. Sometimes I even got it back together!
I gotta know how it works!
How can I make it better?
How can I tailor a reel to my specific needs instead of the marketing needs for the masses?
How can I use today's technology to enhance a 100 year old design and out fish some dude with more money than sense?
How can I help you get that old wall hanger back in the game?
In today's disposable market, I take pride in breathing life back into quality American goods. As an American machinist I have to. That's my job going over seas. I won't help the hang man build the noose.
Tom
Tom; Of all the answers I read, that touched home for me as well. Pride in American!! Some how we have lost that leadership and it feels good to find it hear.
Joe
All of the above mentioned..for sure. The act of beating a decent fish on a reel you modified/rebuilt...PRICELESS.
Bob
I got into reel repair and modding because I was not happy with my Arges 3 spinner's pinion gear and at that time good quality spinners were rare as hen's teeth. From the very beginning of my fishing career I was fascinated by multipliers and I didn't realize back then that I would be owning and modding several of them. Alan's forum served me very well in understanding the mechanics of different types of multipliers. The mods that I do on my reels are done to increase their durability.
Then is the satisfaction of doing it yourself and setting up your reel the way you want. My Fathom 25LW hasn't seen line yet and already has the security spring installed and a full metal levelwind guide taken from a busted out cheap generic multiplier.
I am new to this but got interested because I hate to let someone else do something I could do. I was raised on the farm and I was in HS before I knew it was possible to hire someone to come to your house and fix something. If it broke you fixed it. This was for everything from a car to a relationship. You didn't throw anything away because materials and money were scarce.
I fished with my grandfather, crappie on NM lakes. I don't remember him ever buying a new rod or reel. He didn't have expensive stuff but it was what he could afford and he took care of it. My grandmother would sew rod sacks out of old sheets or blankets that would protect each rod and reel. We cleaned them after each trip. They always seemed to work.
I have done a lot of things, built and remodeled houses. I do it all myself and don't remember the last time I hired someone to fix something. I think the most challenging and rewarding was building my own boat. It just stands to reason that I would want to have the pride of being able to say, Yea, I picked this up from a garage sale and rebuilt it so it works like new. I just like to do it myself. Now the problem I is have 3 projects in the works. Trying to build a set of Penn Senators. I have a 112H, 113H, and 114H with new frames and some stuff. I am likely to have more money invested in them than I should, but it beats hanging out at the bars, unless I am telling fish stories at the bar then that is OK. Ken
Agree with lots of the sentiments here.
For me it's a meditation.
Focus on what I'm doing with my hands and the noise between my ears goes away.
Thirty years as a carpenter it was hard to work until I put the bags on.
Have been giving away my hot rod reels to fishing buddies on our trips and that's a bonus.
Of course they buy me breakfast!
Getting ready to build rods.
steve
Well it started out as somewhat of a necessity for me. The large reel manufactures were not offering the type of reels or reels with the features I was looking for at the time. Mainly I was looking for smaller reels that offer the stopping and cranking power to handle bigger fish. Furthermore being in southern California and seeing that we have a huge live bait fishery reels with better freespool tend to keep a bait fresher longer and offer a better chance to get picked up by a fish. So we started piecing reels together, and when say we I mean people looking for something better than out of the box that what the top manufactures were offering at the time. We also did drag upgrades including drag plates, frames, cleaning spool bearings and such.
What really got me hooked (pun intended) was when I was on a trip I charter mastered and this was around the mid 1990's. We were in a great BFT bite. The fish were mainly the 65-75 lb grade fish with some larger models mixed in. The largest on this trip went 107 lbs. Anyway, I have just landed my third fish for the morning and go to get a cold drink and rest a bit. After that I go to get my rod and reel and I don't see it. I think to myself maybe I racked my rod on the wrong side of the boat? So I walk around the boat looking for my setup and I can't find it. WTF? So I think what the heck is going on when I see the captain at the stern fishing my setup. I'm not mad and after he lands a fish I ask how he likes my gear? He then says to me "oh do you want to fish it? I just wanted to catch a couple of fish." I say no go for it and he tells me he just wants one more fish and he will put it back. After he catches another fish he says "thanks Mark I put your rod back". Later I ask him again what he thought of the setup and he told me he could of chosen any of the boats rods or fished with any of the 100 or so setups others brought but he thought that was the right gear for the fish we were catching and he liked it a lot.
Was he just blowing smoke or was he trying to make a young man feel good? I don't know. In any case this was the first reel I did major mods to and if it was good enough for a man who makes his living fishing maybe it should be something I keep doing.
Just cause i,m different. ??? Ha ha! no kiddin! :'(
Quote from: gstours on January 23, 2016, 03:54:25 AM
Just cause i,m different. ??? Ha ha! no kiddin! :'(
And I like what you do Gary, as in being different that is. Big fan of your work here, how you are resourceful, and tweak things to get what you want, Respect.
Pretty much all been said by others with the "want it done properly, learn to do it yourself" angle. It ticks me off constantly seeing so called "serviced" reels come across my desk, that people have paid to have done previously.
The other stuff I do? It's a good time waster.
Oh yea, I almost forgot to tell the truth. ??? My wife says I just like to F---k with Stuff. I have to agree cause she,s usually right. >:(
Quote from: gstours on January 25, 2016, 01:53:57 AM
Oh yea, I almost forgot to tell the truth. ??? My wife says I just like to F---k with Stuff. I have to agree cause she,s usually right. >:(
This. The nearest shop I trust to work on reels is a two hour drive, or a ten dollar flat rate box each way. I figure that with the cost of postage, parts and labor. I can buy the parts, spend an hour, and come out considerably ahead, this is figuring in upgrading bearings and drag washers. My work schedule is such that I can fish pretty much whenever I want, if a reel goes TU during the course of a day, I can have it back on the water the next, besides I just like to F---k with Stuff