Looking for info on Shakespeare Wonderspin 1780 and 1785

[Smead]

Congrats!!

They use synchro-drag just like the Abu-Matic spincast reels. After you set you drag using the screw slot on the handle, you can back the handle up to loosen the drag when fighting a fish. Back a little bit and the drag lessens a little bit, to max of 1/4 turn back which is minimal drag. To allow that, the A/R is constant.

Great website on all that is ABU...if you look through the Abu-Matic and ABU pages, they have manuals to show how all that works.

http://www.realsreels.com/reels/halfenc ... fault.html

http://www.realsreels.com/reels/abumatic/

[The Fishing Hobby]

Thanks for the resources. I will go through it once I get it. Isn't perfect cosmetically but looks good in the pictures for a user.

[Smead]

I'm pretty sure I saw the one you bought.

No problem at all for a user...I'll also gladly buy distressed reels to learn how to dis-assemble them and to use for repair parts.

Always nice to have spares and you won't wreck any collector pieces that you may get later when you clean and re-lube them.

[The Fishing Hobby]

I'm not really a collector per say. I use the ones I buy and I prefer older metal body reels. The weight doesn't bother me. If I can't fish with a 10 ounce or so reel then I have other problems to worry about
My kids don't seem to mind a little extra weight either. We will see what they think about the Abu. They love the little Abu Fast Cast I reel. It was mentioned in the links to the 500 series info. They are called the 601 outside of the US. The drag works differently but everything else is similar. Plastic bodied reel but it is a good one.

Although I don't consider myself a collector, my wife says I'm a reel hoarder!

[The Fishing Hobby]

That was the one. $25 BIN + shipping. No sticker on the side and some scuffs on the spool cover. The seller said it works well so we will see.

[Smead]

That looks fine.

It's fairly easy to work on if it needs fixing.

ABU uses similar engineering on this line of reels and it's Abu-Matics...some small amount of parts vary between the two. From tearing apart a bunch, the biggest issue is previous owners taking them apart and leaving out drag parts in the main shaft assembly. Essentially, drag is provided by two drag disks sandwiching the main gear; adjustment tension is provided by a spring with washers associated with that. The synchro-slide piece also might be missing in a problem reel.

[The Fishing Hobby]

I have had the reel for a while now and just got around to looking at it today. The line release wasn't working and it was stiff reeling as I received it. I checked the parts diagram online and all parts were present and a little TLC and it works as good as new now. It is heavy and doesn't balance well on my kids' rods (one uses a 5' UL and the other a 5'6" UL) but it is a nice fit/balance for my 7'6" fiberglass UL rod. Did some yard fishing and it casts beautifully and is actually very smooth reeling. I think I will put it to use and see how I like it. I have read a lot of complaints about the sycro-drag system but in testing it out I must say I really like it. There are times where a quick backreel to lessen the drag tension would be very handy. It might become my everyday user if it does as well in actual use as it seems to while testing it. The build quality is excellent!