Some "Vintage Reel" Catches

[Paul Roberts]

Thought I’d share a few “vintage reel” catches. I never really thought of my reels as "vintage" though, I guess bc I'm pretty much vintage now too. They are still as apt to be plucked off the rack to fish with as any other. They do their respective jobs well.

[john elder]

[Midway Tommy D]

Nice, Paul! That Cardinal caught my eye immediately.

[Brian F.]

Great catches and beautiful photos, Paul.

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks, all.

Nice, Paul! That Cardinal caught my eye immediately.

Yes, I thought it might. It's still essentially new. I was the reel repair guy at a tackle shop in the 80's. That is, I was the one interested in tearing reels apart to see what was wrong. In the back of the store, in a box on a shelf, was this Zebco Cardinal 4, in pieces, having been robbed of parts once upon a time. Store manager gave it to me (Good man he was, in many ways). I ordered a few parts, and extra spools, and I had a spanking new Cardinal 4. It's been fished since of course. But not a whole lot as I have reels I use more regularly. There's some "street cred"/crud on it, since I pulled it from my "working reel" case to photograph it:


I have a number of 80's spinning reels, that I consider modern reels, but they appear to have a following as I see they are generally holding some value: the ABU Garcia C3 (Japan), Sigma 030 and 035 (spanking new), and Quick 331 and 441. I had a 1202 but sold it a while back, it being such a heavy thing for its spool size. Hated moving it on, but I just never used it. Oh, and Daiwa's BG15, SS1300, SS1600 that are used pretty regularly.

Hey, while I have your attention, would you check the retrieve speed (in ipt) for the Shakespeare 2062 for me? I really like those worm drive reels. Thanks.

[Midway Tommy D]

Hey, while I have your attention, would you check the retrieve speed (in ipt) for the Shakespeare 2062 for me? I really like those worm drive reels. Thanks.

I would but I don't have any line on one. I'm strictly a fulcrum Cardinal user kind of guy , skirted & non-skirted spool ABU, ABU/Zebco, black ABU/Garcia 3, 4 & 6 and American Classic IV.

The 2062 is 3.8:1. That matched my test check. The outer spool flange is 1-15/16" in diameter. So, figuring a correctly filled spool at about 1.75" x 3.1416 = roughly 5.5"+ x 3.8 line guide rotations = 21" + - on a full spool.

Nice to see you like using a high quality spinner!

[Paul Roberts]

Hey, while I have your attention, would you check the retrieve speed (in ipt) for the Shakespeare 2062 for me? I really like those worm drive reels. Thanks.

I would but I don't have any line on one. I'm strictly a fulcrum Cardinal user kind of guy , skirted & non-skirted spool ABU, ABU/Zebco, black ABU/Garcia 3, 4 & 6 and American Classic IV.

The 2062 is 3.8:1. That matched my test check. The outer spool flange is 1-15/16" in diameter. So, figuring a correctly filled spool at about 1.75" x 3.1416 = roughly 5.5"+ x 3.8 line guide rotations = 21" + - on a full spool.

Nice to see you like using a high quality spinner!

After posting, I wondered whether you would have one with line on it. Thanks for the calculation! 21" is what I was guesstimating; Hoping for a bit more.

Yes, I love high quality spinners. I’d say I’ve done more fishing by spinning gear than any other over the years, although fly-fishing probably rivals that. As the fishing bug locked its grip, I worked my way towards ‘collecting’ some better quality reels to fish with.

[Nick in NY]

Hi Paul great photographic eye... your photo with the blue gills fantastic...if wall space only allowed! I'm sorry I'm on the train without my reading glasses... didn't, actually couldn't read your.comments but so this evening. I've about 15-20 new boxed spinning reels but still won't give up on my Diawa Wisker! Tight Lines Nick n NY

[Nick in NY]

Pardon the typos...

[Paul Roberts]

Hi, Nick. Yeah, I'm lost without my reading glasses too. No worry about typo's anyway; I love to write, and edit, so I tend to auto-correct in my head.

And, yeah, I've never been able to think of a good reason to leave my Daiwa SS's behind.