Old, Weird, Historical, and Unusual Spinning Reels --

[philaroman]

I have a little old Japan-made Jaguar somewhere (60's?; round, "Crack-like" body; similar simple-wire bail) -- any connection, or did they just nab the name?

[Alto Mare]

Tom, that little reel appears to be in great shape, considering the plastic parts. I'm guessing it wasn't fished much .
Thanks for sharing, good to compare different designs.

Sal

[happyhooker]

Today I think I'll talk about an old company that few people associate with spinning reels, Old Pal. Old Pal started as a minnow bucket division of the Animal Trap Company of America in 1956. By the mid '60s Old Pal became a trade name of Woodstream.

     

Info from a Consumer Guide publication says the "Reel-Lectric" had a list price of $110 in the early 1970's.  The Tomcat went for $3.  There was also a Lynx ($10.95) and a Leopard ($12).  The company also marketed 4 spincasters and various types of rods.

I've got an Old Pal tackle box from that era that has been with me on many a fishing trip.  The latch is plastic and I always figured it would bust some day, but it never has (knock on wood).  Some of the plastic trays are not worm-proof (you bass anglers know what I mean), so I've lined the bottom of a couple with cardboard.

Frank

[Midway Tommy]

Today I think I'll talk about an old company that few people associate with spinning reels, Old Pal. Old Pal started as a minnow bucket division of the Animal Trap Company of America in 1956. By the mid '60s Old Pal became a trade name of Woodstream.

     

Info from a Consumer Guide publication says the "Reel-Lectric" had a list price of $110 in the early 1970's.  The Tomcat went for $3.  There was also a Lynx ($10.95) and a Leopard ($12).  The company also marketed 4 spincasters and various types of rods.

I've got an Old Pal tackle box from that era that has been with me on many a fishing trip.  The latch is plastic and I always figured it would bust some day, but it never has (knock on wood).  Some of the plastic trays are not worm-proof (you bass anglers know what I mean), so I've lined the bottom of a couple with cardboard.

Frank

There was also a Reelcat 30 and a Bobcat 35, both KP Morritts made.

I have a little old Japan-made Jaguar somewhere (60's?; round, "Crack-like" body; similar simple-wire bail) -- any connection, or did they just nab the name?

Phil,
No, there was no connection between your Jaguar and these "Cat" reels by old pal. There was a Jaguar and a Jaguar 25. Both had external bail trips. Both were small. The 25 was considered an UL. They were made in Japan in the late '50s.   

[philaroman]

Phil,
No, there was no connection between your Jaguar and these "Cat" reels by old pal. There was a Jaguar and a Jaguar 25. Both had external bail trips. Both were small. The 25 was considered an UL. They were made in Japan in the late '50s.  

thanks...  without digging it out, pretty sure I have the 25, near-mint(?), OK box -- any value to it, or just a curio?

[Midway Tommy]

Phil,
No, there was no connection between your Jaguar and these "Cat" reels by old pal. There was a Jaguar and a Jaguar 25. Both had external bail trips. Both were small. The 25 was considered an UL. They were made in Japan in the late '50s.  

thanks...  without digging it out, pretty sure I have the 25, near-mint(?), OK box -- any value to it, or just a curio?

$20-25, maybe a little more if you get a couple of guys that collect ULs or old Japanese reels. They aren't rare by any means.

[happyhooker]

There was an ad or article in the March, 1969, issue of Field & Stream trumpeting the "big news from Berkley" about their "Instant Line Change" device.  With an adaptor replacing the normal spool on a spinning reel, you could snap in special small spools of store-bought Trilene line and fish without the normal spool.  The store-bought spool became the new reel spool.  To change line, snap out the Trilene spool of one line size and snap in another in a few seconds.

Apparently, there were a half dozen or so different adaptors that would fit various spinning reels.  The back side of the Trilene spools had three small holes that would snap into the adaptor, the whole deal being held to the oscillation shaft of the reel by a special drag adjusting knob that came with the adaptor.  Not so widely stated was the fact that the adaptor had a drag mechanism built into it; seven disks with multiple Teflon drag disks probably made the drag better than the stock setup on many a reel.

Convenience and better drag or no, the device apparently wasn't a huge success.  By the mid-1970s, the adaptor was given free if you bought two spools of Trilene in the nifty little plastic case that came with it.  Not sure when Berkley stopped selling it.  While it saved you having to spool line and the drag upgrade was nice, the spools of Trilene did not contain nearly the same amount of line as many regular reel spools did and perhaps that was not looked on favorably.  You don't see the adaptor kits for sale on the auction site that shall remain unnamed very often, although I have seen them stuck on the front of various reels for sale where the sellers apparently didn't realize they aren't the original reel spool.

If I think about it long enough, I can probably come up with an answer as to how the adaptor worked on Mitchell 300 reels of that era.  As a few of you will recollect, those 300s spool their line in the opposite direction from most/all other reels, and I doubt Berkley was offering line spools wound in the right direction.  The 300 being one of the top selling reels of that time period, that, too, perhaps helped lead to the demise of this gadget.  If I look at one of the spools closer, it may turn out you can just install the Trilene spool backwards into the adaptor.

Frank

[Midway Tommy]

I vaguely remember seeing those back in the day. Never actually touched on though. I think most serious fishermen saw them as a fad or a gimmick and didn't care for the fact that they had a reduced line capacity, plus a lot of them would buy bulk line to save money. F&S adds in '70 showed a Mitchell with the line change kit displayed below. I don't think they went over very well as they were soon gone from market and you sure don't see many around these days.

[Midway Tommy]

I'm now going to expand a little bit on the quality "Cat Reels" that Old Pal sold. In 1966 Old Pal came out with the Reel-Lectric 1000. It was a large reel that weighed 26.5 oz, mainly as a result of the large body that housed the battery mechanism. They were assembled in the US, although no one knows for sure who manufactured the electronic parts. The reel body was black, the rotor was gray and the spool and drag knob were turquoise. The main shaft, rotor, bail, spool and drag knob are the same as the Dam Quick Finessa 285. In fact, the back of the spool says "Made in West Germany" w/ "285" below it. In '67 they came out with with the Cougar 600. It's a medium size reel. The body and internal parts were made by Zangi in Italy. The body is black but the rotor, shaft, etc., is the same as the Reel-Lectric, all made by Dam Quick. Later models included the Cheetah 500 (light size), Cougar 600 (medium size) and Jaguar 800 (large, salt water size). The later models had an anodized body and blue rotor w/ 3 silver recessed lines and one raised blue line. The main shaft remained the same design throughout all three models. All spools were similar to the original Dam spool but somewhat redesigned, additional drag washer capacity, etc. They no longer had "Made in Germany" molded on them, but instead, "Pat Pend". No one has yet been able to pin down the interesting connection between Old Pal, Zangi and Dam Quick.

Here are some photos and comparisons of the first and later Cougar 600, and also a Jaguar 800. I don't yet have a Cheetah 500 but they are similar only smaller. The earlier gray Cougar 600 is always on the right in the photos.

Here are the parts cleaned and ready to assemble. As you can see, the latter blue version has a few more parts, especially drag parts & washers.



This is a side-by-side rotor comparison. It is obvious, with the round holes & hole filled counter balance, that the gray rotor is the same as a Finessa.



The rotors with the bail assemblies ready to install. The gray assembly has a carbaloy line roller and one heavy bail spring. The later blue versions have a SS line roller w/ a brass bushing and bail springs on both sides, but the springs are lighter gauge wire. The gray bail even has the black plastic Dam bail plug. The roller guide connection has been changed on the later blue rotor.



This is the Jaguar 800 rotor and bail assembly. It, too, has SS line roller, brass bushing and two bail springs. Notice all three have the same bail trip lever design.



The 600 bails installed.



Here's a comparison photo of the 600 spools and drag mechanisms. They clearly upgraded the drag mechanism on the later blue version. It has five washers under the spool compared to one under the earlier Finessa spool and seven in the spool recess compared to two in the Finessa recess. The later washers are also much larger in diameter. There is also an added plastic/teflon bushing on the shafts of the later versions.



This is the 800 spool and drag assembly. The hole in the SS washer fits on a stud so that it remains stationary on the insert. Only the teflon washer slips. Surprisingly, since it's a larger saltwater reel, it has fewer drag washers than the blue 600. 



Here are some close ups of the 600 spools showing the writing on the tops, bottoms and similarities in the drag/release insert.





Notice how the anti-reverse dogs are similar but opposite in configuration on the 600s. The later blue version has a taller rim on the body main gear shaft hole so the bends in the A/R dogs are opposite to be able to contact the ratchet gear.



A/R dogs installed on the 600s and ready for the worm gear pinion, bearing and rotor installations.



The 800 with the A/R dog, worm gear pinion & bearing installed.



The 800 has an interesting bail trip stud. It is built into the plastic housing. It would be my guess that the plastic housing is to help protect the bearing from sand & salt water.



The 800 ready to install the rotor.



Rotors installed on the 600s and ready to install the main gears, main shaft and oscillation arm. Notice the bushing/washerss for the arm to main gear sliding connection. The gray reel has a single brass bushing and the blue version has a two piece nylon bushing.



The 600s ready to install the side plates, handles and spools.



The 800 ready for the side plates, handle and spool. Notice it also has the two piece nylon bushing on the arm to main gear connection.



Here are all three together. Cougar 600s on the ends and the Jaguar 800 in the center.




These are cool high quality reels with an interesting history that may have more questions than answers. They were fairly expensive reels in their day. That's probably the reason why they aren't seen often. 



 

       

[foakes]

Those are pretty cool, Tommy —

There is a lot we do not know about certain reel companies — and DAM is no exception.

Good information.

Thanks!

Best,

Fred

[Alto Mare]

Excellent tutorial with interesting information and great pics. I did notice the shape of the housing resembling Zangi's.
Beautiful work Tom, I hope you do find that little guy, I could feel how bad you're looking for it

Keep up your excellent work .

Sal

[Midway Tommy]

Thanks, Sal & Fred! Yeah, I'm on the lookout for that Cheetah 500. 600s & 800s come up every now & then, there's actually a couple of each listed right now, but I've only ever seen one or two of 500s over the years & I wasn't focused on the Old Pal stuff back then.

Here's a couple of pages from a 1968 Woodstream Catalog that advertises this group of quality "Cat Reels".

[happyhooker]

Those are pretty cool, Tommy —

There is a lot we do not know about certain reel companies — and DAM is no exception.

Good information.

Thanks!

Best,

Fred

Gets my vote too.  Very interesting & lots of good detail. Thanks, Tommy.

Frank

[mo65]

   That's great stuff Tommy. I love when you guys clue me into long forgotten reels. There are so many of these things I see and go "Yeah, I remember that". I should have been more into collecting then, but girls and motorcycles clouded my mind...hee hee...

[Gfish]

Woah, cool! We had onea those Old Pal tackle boxes when I's a kid. Never did hear of anya those Old Pal reels though. Especially cool is that-there, fancy, new-fangled, eeelectronic reel.
That's really goin too far though, with the power stuff. I don't even like power door locks ona car.