Hi guys,
What conventional/baitcasting/spincasting options are out there for ultra light fishing? Something that can use 2-6lb. test mono for trout and panfish.
I'm open to push-button, round, oval, levelwind, conventional, etc. Just curious what older (vintage) options are out there that might be fun to fish. Basically anything that mounts on top of the rod and is light weight and can use light line.
I'm specifically looking for older reels that have good quality, long lasting parts like we enjoy in our larger Penn's, etc.
(I realize that there is a new fad in ultra light fishing that uses ultra light, lowpro, baitcasting reels that are very modern and expensive. That's NOT what I'm looking for.)
I ask partly because I'm looking for one and partly to spark conversation and learn more from ya'll ;D
Thanks in advance!
zup chad, I asked a question about something similar and this was the recomedations from Steve
Quote from: oc1 on April 13, 2020, 07:50:51 PM
Quote from: steelfish on April 13, 2020, 07:27:37 PM
missing a good baitcasting reel for light lures
Alex, if you want to go the vintage route consider a Shakespeare Tournament Freespool 1740 or Langley Target 740. The earliest 1740's are almost a hundred years old now. The 740's are about sixty. They will cast a light lure every bit as well, or better, than a brand new modern reel, they're lighter than a modern reel and require less maintenance than a modern reel when used in salt water.
-steve
it came from this thread
Couple of thoughts on the oft pooh-poohed spincast reel, in response to your question.
The Daiwa Silvercast reels, and in this case, the 206 RL, are considered decent older spincasters. Originally made in Japan (have Seiko name on), and later made in Korea. I think the Japan ones may be a little better. Metal body & bell, and can crank from either side (convertible). Decent drag. The "06" in the 206 reflects the typical line weight for the reel, in this case, 6 lb. test. Get one of the older ones, not the new ones.
If you want something US made, give a thought to the old Johnson Century 100 (100A or 100B). Another one with metal body and bell. Strong metal gearing and decent drags, although the drag setting is a little finicky. Also convertible with L or R hand retrieve. Beautiful green color.
Frank
For some reason I got into Heddon spincast a little. Most were pretty junky but the 185 is a decently put together little reel. I think I put a 4/0 size carbontex washer in it. Haven't really fished it but it cranks nice and the drag is buttery. I even built a rod for it, haha. I need to fish more.
Some of the Diawa ones look nice. Almost dove into that hole too but I was distracted but some other shiny object.
Here's the 4 heddons I have. The 185 is nice with some good features, the rest are pretty much junk
Daiwa minicast. i have one maybe forty years old and still kicking, and you can get them in a nice little travel kit with four piece rod.
Quote from: Swami805 on June 09, 2020, 11:37:40 PM
Here's the 4 heddons I have. The 185 is nice with some good features, the rest are pretty much junk
Speaking of Heddon spincast reels:
There was at least one made that had a worm drive gear system. Yeah, in a spincast reel. I forget the model number, but could run it down if someone else doesn't recall it.
There were also some Heddon 'Scandia" reels--made in Sweden. Might be decent, if you can find one, but I have no 1st hand experience.
Frank
This is great guys, keep 'em coming!
I like the look of the Heddons!
A spincast with worm drive!?
If anyone has one of those, please let me know!
also...dunno numbers but mebbe a small Abumatic.
Quote from: Swami805 on June 09, 2020, 11:37:40 PM
Here's the 4 heddons I have. The 185 is nice with some good features, the rest are pretty much junk
Thanks for the heads up Sheridan!
PS- When are you going to pick up your double-drag Newell gears?
Today I hope!! Been putting in a kitchen in our rental, wife's keeping me on my toes
Parts are not easy to find, they are no longer made and if you can find them used they are not cheep but I use Shimano Calcutta 51's for kokanee and can cast 1/4 ounce ok, 1/2 ounce real well. I also use them for steelhead so they re a tough little reel.
Hi Chad,
An old Zebco 33 is hard to beat for light duty work. The older ones have a bait clicker which is most handy for light catfish/carping. It will cast fine with a variety of lines from 6lb. to 17lb. Did you ever find a good ultralight spinning reel? I still have that South Bend Classic 930...open to trade offers...still looking for a decent 112H.
Quote from: Swami805 on June 10, 2020, 11:39:16 AM
Today I hope!! Been putting in a kitchen in our rental, wife's keeping me on my toes
Haha, well she is your number one customer!
Look forward to seeing you soon Sheridan!
Quote from: Keta on June 10, 2020, 01:24:27 PM
Parts are not easy to find, they are no longer made and if you can find them used they are not cheep but I use Shimano Calcutta 51's for kokanee and can cast 1/4 ounce ok, 1/2 ounce real well. I also use them for steelhead so they re a tough little reel.
Thanks Lee, those do look like sweet little reels, I'll keep my eyes open!
Quote from: mo65 on June 10, 2020, 01:58:49 PM
Hi Chad,
An old Zebco 33 is hard to beat for light duty work. The older ones have a bait clicker which is most handy for light catfish/carping. It will cast fine with a variety of lines from 6lb. to 17lb. Did you ever find a good ultralight spinning reel? I still have that South Bend Classic 930...open to trade offers...still looking for a decent 112H.
Mo,
I'll check out the 33's, thanks! A bait clicker would be awesome!
I dug up a Strength Spin Mitey that I had in a bin. It's disassembled and soaking in degreaser now. I have it at work for a lunch break project.
Is that a 930 or 925 that you have?
I would like one since I love my 935, but I don't have any 112H's available for trade. I'll let you know if I come across one though!
Thanks guys, I love all these suggestions!!
Quote from: xjchad on June 10, 2020, 02:59:48 PM
Mo,
I'll check out the 33's, thanks! A bait clicker would be awesome!
Is that a 930 or 925 that you have?
They made a zillion models of 33 Chad, some have the clicker and some don't. Just shop around. That SB Classic is a 930...that I bought advertised as a 925...and it's badged 935! Sounds like the story from a used car dealer! It's very close in size to the 925.
Quote from: xjchad on June 10, 2020, 01:24:38 AM
This is great guys, keep 'em coming!
I like the look of the Heddons!
A spincast with worm drive!?
If anyone has one of those, please let me know!
I believe the reel involved is a Spin Pal 100.
Frank
Another neat old spincaster is the Eagle Claw EC-88B. Has convertible R/L retrieve, metal body and gears, and a band-type drag (reminds me of the bands on old car automatic transmissions). Ball bearings on the main gear. Unfortunately, the bell is plastic, but it has a metal push button (not seen too often on spincasters).
Frank
Frank,
Thanks! I just found the info on the Heddon 100. It looks very interesting!!
That Eagle Claw is neat too!
As spincasters go, the old Garcia Spincast 170 is a good one and they still make them. I have a bass fishing buddy from FL who has a small stash of old ones . He's used them for many decades and refuses to change. I did get him to buy a new Penn 430SS way back when, but he won't give up on his Garcia 170.
Frank is right on about the Daiwa 206 rl.I have one on a SB microlite rod that is just right for those small brushy trout streams where you don't have a lot of room and there are still a lot of them to be found. I still will carry along a Johnson spincast on the boat if I know I could be dealing with a windy day and don't want to deal with backlashes when tossing senkos or lighter baits.Even after Johnson went to the graphite body the USA models had steel gears but even those models were not as compact as the Daiwa,if you've got bigger hands it's not an issue.
Quote from: wfjord on June 10, 2020, 09:52:19 PM
As spincasters go, the old Garcia Spincast 170 is a good one and they still make them.
Those suckers get 25 IPT. Not bad for a spincast.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on June 11, 2020, 06:43:16 AM
Quote from: wfjord on June 10, 2020, 09:52:19 PM
As spincasters go, the old Garcia Spincast 170 is a good one and they still make them.
Those suckers get 25 IPT. Not bad for a spincast.
-steve
I've used those 170s for years...great reels. 8)
Quote from: mo65 on June 11, 2020, 01:51:43 PM
Quote from: oc1 on June 11, 2020, 06:43:16 AM
Quote from: wfjord on June 10, 2020, 09:52:19 PM
As spincasters go, the old Garcia Spincast 170 is a good one and they still make them.
Those suckers get 25 IPT. Not bad for a spincast.
-steve
I've used those 170s for years...great reels. 8)
The old ones had the gold Abumatic 170 emblem on top of the gear housing. Most all of the used ones I've seen had the boat rash to the right of the thumb release. I snatched the photo below off ebay
(https://alantani.com/gallery/32/17264_11_06_20_10_59_49_329061082.jpeg)
Thanks Woody, those do look nice.
Is that picture from the future!?!?
The Zebco 33's started gettin all plastic-ey awhile back, I'd stay away from non-vintage ones. Always thought the Abumatic 120, with that unique drag system, was a well made spincaster. I've a Diawa Goldcast that's pretty nice, bout 9 yrs. old, it's gotta an ossilation system for the spool(good line lay=good cast-ability).
One bad thing about spincasters is lack of spool-line volume. And, it could just be me, but relative to spinners, spincasters seem to twist the line more. I have a micro-size Shimano Chronarch baitcaster that does great with 1/8-3/8 oz. lures, but it was pretty expensive and comes with all the cast control goodies. I'd consider Oc1-Steve's baitcaster suggestions. The fun part would be tweaking one of those to max out the cast-ability.
When you settle on a reel, Chad --
Let me know before you go out and buy anything -- I have probably multiple hundreds of these old spin-casters -- and could just send you one at N/C..
Best,
Fred
Quote from: foakes on June 11, 2020, 08:47:05 PM
When you settle on a reel, Chad --
Let me know before you go out and buy anything -- I have probably multiple hundreds of these old spin-casters -- and could just send you one at N/C..
Best,
Fred
Thank you Fred, you're always so generous!
I'll let you know :)
Ryobi V-mag I. Tiny casting reel with v-spool. Should cast 6 lb nicely. I can easily hide it in my hand.
Quote from: thorhammer on June 16, 2020, 04:58:45 PM
Ryobi V-mag I. Tiny casting reel with v-spool. Should cast 6 lb nicely. I can easily hide it in my hand.
Thanks John! I've looked for one of those for awhile with no luck. Hiding one in your hand is not saying much for you LOL, you could probably palm a 4/0 ;D
John, you are the one who turned me on to the V-Mag 3. It is one of my favorite reel now. Is there really a smaller V-Mag 1, or was that a typo?
-steve
Yep, I will post a pic.. i have one needing a drag star.
After posting on here the other day I remembered that I had a Spin Pal 100 I had picked up with a couple other reels awhile back so when I got home tonight I took it apart.It was all metal but the thumb button,made in the USA and it has a worm drive with a brass pinion but then the bad news,probably the most important component,the drive gear is nylon or some kind of plastic pressed on a steel shaft,probably ok for what this reel was intended for but you don't always hook up with what you are fishing for.Still a neat little reel.
Finished taking apart the Spin Pal this morning and after cleaning the parts found that the pinion gear is actually steel and that the plastic drive gear is cracked,another case of a cheap part ruining an otherwise well built reel,was going to try it out on some crappies but it's heading for the shelf.
Quote from: swede 53 on June 17, 2020, 03:37:13 PM
Finished taking apart the Spin Pal this morning and after cleaning the parts found that the pinion gear is actually steel and that the plastic drive gear is cracked,another case of a cheap part ruining an otherwise well built reel,was going to try it out on some crappies but it's heading for the shelf.
Well that's unfortunate!
I wouldn't consider most of those listed as ultra light. IMHO they're light. A lot of people like the Daiwa mini cast, old and new. There's also the Zebco Omega 171 and they now make a Model 33 mini.
Tom is right...these are mostly light class reels. I have a few really sweet Zebco spincasters, the Omega Z03 is small enough to be considered light class, but is constructed entirely of metal and heavier than most large spincasters. The other, a 733 Bill Dance Gold is really light and fast, but big as a bus. I use them for trout and bass fishing...certain situations.
I can't finds pics, but I also use a 600 combo for bluegill, and an 80's era 33 rigged with a tandem dropper for perch/crappie. These combos are all very reliable...as I've never had to work on any of them! 8)
The only combo I ever bought new was an Omega Triggerspin (underhung spincast) on a little 4.5 ft rod. Pretty darn small and was ideal for getting into woodland ponds with a lot of brush and bluegills. Very reliable too until, one day, it got a whiff of saltwater and that's all she wrote.
-steve
Quote from: thorhammer on June 10, 2020, 12:06:15 AM
Daiwa minicast. i have one maybe forty years old and still kicking, and you can get them in a nice little travel kit with four piece rod.
OK, here's something interesting -- dug out my little Olympet 1000:
seems like a hefty, sturdy little bugger of the Minicast ilk -- 5.4 oz. / 98 yds. 4#
mine appears to be the most rudimentary version: A/R always on -- no switch
guessing the Olympic is older, but who knows who copied whom?
doubt the innards are as good as Daiwa, but who knows?
will take a peek inside, soon enough, but don't have Daiwa to compare
photos are same model on eBay; mine's nicer w/ beat-up box; his has drag "wheel-star" flipped
last photo is 1000DX w/ AR switch & "wheel-star" correct side up
Quote from: swede 53 on June 17, 2020, 03:37:13 PM
Finished taking apart the Spin Pal this morning and after cleaning the parts found that the pinion gear is actually steel and that the plastic drive gear is cracked,another case of a cheap part ruining an otherwise well built reel,was going to try it out on some crappies but it's heading for the shelf.
Something like that just leaves you shaking your head at the designer(s).
Frank
They don't come cheap, but the Abu 1500C and 2500C are the original ultralight baitcasters.