I'm a brand new ORCA member, so hello to everyone! I got hooked on old reels last year when I bought an old boat and needed some trolling rods for rockfish. There's a guy who's always selling stuff in his yard and early last fall he had two Penn Senator rods with old Penn 309s on them, plus a Daiwa graphite rod with a matching Sealine. He sold me all three sets for $60. I completely disassembled the reels and guides, cleaned them all up, and they work perfectly. Recently I picked up a Pflueger Templar 1420 1/2 from the same seller, on a nice old rod I'm trying to determine the manufacturer of it (if you happen to know).
But to finally get to my question...it is smart to save the old line from a vintage reel in terms of its collector value? Does it matter to anyone? Or should I just throw it away. For example, here is a Pflueger 1419 3/4 I picked up on eBay that still has the line on it, that I have yet to restore. Save it? Toss it? Thank you in advance for your knowledge.
Welcome! As to the old line-The reel looks like it needs restoration. Any verdigris showing means there is likely same on spool beneath the line. If the line is quality (linen e.g.) and looks worthy of the effort, remove it and after reel restoration perhaps re-install. Some reels really do look neat with old line. But they are almost certainly not fishable if you have that in mind. The ORCA publication on reel restoration, repair is a great source book available fro the ORCA store. Cheers!
I personally would not save any old cotton or linen line that was on a corroded reel. It is likely to have salt and other chemicals which could corrode the spool of any restored reel you put it on. There is lots of unused line available that is suitable for display of a reel if you choose to go that route. Most collectors/collections show the reels without line.
I do understand there are exceptions. In my tournament reel collection, I often leave the line if it is not damaged and I am confident it has no underlying corrosion. But I am also rarely certain of that.
I am not saying to throw away all old line, I have some accumulations of it that I may find a use for. But I haven't yet run out of new line.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
The only exception I would note to saving old line would be if the line were a usable silk fly line (even if it needed refinishing). These can be worth more than the reel itself.
kevinhaney1 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:00 pm
The only exception I would note to saving old line would be if the line were a usable silk fly line (even if it needed refinishing). These can be worth more than the reel itself.
I agree with Kevin, only silk may be worth saving. Everything else goes into the fire pit at my place.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels!(Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)
Thank you all! And I will definitely look up the ORCA book on reel restoration. I'm sure there is good knowledge there.
Regarding the line; I wasn't asking with the intent of re-using it, and would certainly remove it to clean up the reel. More of in the sense of whether or not I should save it, and perhaps soak it in fresh water to get out all the salt, and then save it for the future. Collectibles are unique and just didn't know if having original old line with the reel was somehow desirable or not. It sounds like not...
Welcome!
I keep braids and steel. Mono goes away. I'll use braided line to tie on Christmas gifts, support rose bushes or other climbers. Steel can be used to hang pictures or secure a lure to a display or hang parts for painting or drying. I guess it could be terminal tackle in a pinch although I've never tried that. I suppose you could neutralize salts in some solution and let it dry if you want to re-spool braid. My wife layered different colors of braid in a jar and squirted foo foo juice in it. Personally, I'd rather smell bay mud than cinnamon chocolate lavender whatever.
kevinhaney1 wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:00 pm
The only exception I would note to saving old line would be if the line were a usable silk fly line (even if it needed refinishing). These can be worth more than the reel itself.
I agree with Kevin, only silk may be worth saving. Everything else goes into the fire pit at my place.
I also agree with kevin, Tom and Steve about keeping silk… but i also have three large boxes full of perfectly good plastic and synthetic fly lines that my hoarder gene won’t let me toss out!
ORCA member since 1999 Honorary Life Member
Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
I'm with Bill and Mark. I take it off asap and throw it away. When I first started collecting many years ago, I saved some because I thought I might re-spool it . But after a few years of old line getting in my way, I realized I was never going to re-spool a reel and threw it away. Never saved again. I've had very few exceptions, and all that I remember were perhaps 2 or 3 tournament reels which were spooled with such precision that I thought, "wow, how did they do that".
I too save the good, clean synthetic fly lines and silk fly lines if they are in good shape. The used plastic fly lines don't have much resale value, but I seldom need to buy a new, expensive line or I give them to friends. You can weight the first 30' of the plastic line on an accurate gram scale and tell what weight it is and whether it is a WF or DT line. I'm not so sure how to identify the line weight of the silk fly lines although I try to measure the line tapers with a micrometer and compare them visually to a few new old stock lines I have. I identified a good Wulff TT4/5 plastic fly line by comparing it with a new old stock line in the box I happened to have. If you're lucky the reel will be marked with a line weight sticker (sometimes hidden on the back of the spool) although it is still a good idea to check it on your scale.
Sometimes a saltwater reel has been spooled but the line appears to have not been used. I sometimes save an old linen or dacron line by wrapping it around a leftover piece of tubing or a notched 6" X 3" piece of cardboard and include it with a saltwater reel that I am selling. Important to remove it so you can check the arbor for corrosion.
I guess it's a personal choice.
I try to save everything, but that's just me Now I certainly don't mean Mono.
I have a 1937 Penn Senator 12/0, which showed little to no use and was filled with Cuttyhunk linen line, of which I would say was original. I removed the line and found a small amount of corrosion only on the reel seat directly under the line.
I admit it was filled with challenges, but I thoroughly washed the linen line, dried it and put it back on the reel, as it was when I received it and more than likely how it was back in around 1937... I felt I kinda had too.
The handle was swapped out, as they did, for a later probably 39 torpedo handle which would have been far better to use. But as mentioned, with regard to it's use, inside when I cracked it open, still had the assemblers name written in pencil on the brass gears... It probably sat in the rod holder as a back up reel by the looks.
As mentioned, a personal choice in regard to saving any line, I think my efforts were worth it...
I agree, blacklab. There is a certain obligation to items we acquire. While washing linen may be tedious, it isn't like digging a ditch. I'll bet your 12/0 was much more satisfying once the line was restored to the reel. I wouldn't hesitate to do what you did in that situation. It would be a necessary step no different than after a day of use.
Should have remembered the bit about washing the line to remove salt. I still like seeing a few of the few reels remaining in my collection with original linen or even cotton line and mounted on a rod of similar vintage. After all, they are worth little, money wise, but are a treasure being reminiscent of days on a river with some unknown but not really forgotten angler many years ago. Bare reels on a shelf seem to leave out a chapter in their story. As a friend of mine once said: “They don’t make nostalgia like the use to.”
It’s hard to argue with any of the opinions expressed above.
As a collector of silk fly line and vintage casting thread spools, I can say that line collectors want the silk to be attached to a maker or retailer card or wound a wooden spool with unpunched paper labels for it to have any real dollar value. But….as an antique tackle pack rat for going on 4 decades, I save a lot of reel parts and lines etc just because it feels like the right thing to do.
All,
You are expressing why we do what we do. I hope all new members wander through this thread and can relate to to what it means. And.. it all started with what to do with old fishing line. Amazing.
Great thread! My interests in old fishing gear has increased since retiring and poking around much more then I used to when working. It’s ALL interesting to me and I follow where my purchases lead me. I consider myself more of an accumulator then a collector.
I’ve recently come across a few old reels with line that is new to me, I usually remove old mono and pitch it. From a few searches and posts I’ve come to the conclusion that this line might be silk. Monetary value is irrelevant, I’ll most likely just coil it up and put it away. It would be nice to tag it so that when my heirs find it they might have a clue.
One old reel is from the late 1880’s, I know it’s not likely but that could be some very old line!
Welcome to ORCA! I do actually save vintage line if, as noted, it's not been in saltwater and hasn't rotted. If I don't put them on the reel again, I'll wrap them on cardboard because ... well, I can't bring myself to toss them. That's just me.
Not good. I came across this on one of my fly reels. Stuck together, brittle. I fretted over it for a few minutes and made the decision to free the reel of it. Had to use a mild solvent to get the goo off the spool and once done, the reel felt much better.
