Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Spin cast reels

Who " made". The best spin cast reels I need to set up fishing rods and reels for my grandkids and can't make myself buy china crap so which of the old ones were the best?

Zebco��.Model 33

202s and 404s are just junk.

Grandson just striped the gears on my old 33....
Any one remember the 600? It was black aluminum . I had one when I was a kid and they were pretty tough.

ABU-Garcia - The thing that you have to do with spin-cast reels is to ALWAYS keep tension on the line as it enters the reel. If you don't, it gets behind the spool and wraps around the axle.

Johnson made some pretty good ones, like the Sabre and the 710 (I think that's what it was called). I still have a Sabre that I haven't used since I was a kid.

Zebco 33 used to be the best. Haven't bought a new one in a lot of years now.

I've got probably 50 different types of reels, my wife will only use a 33 or Zebco 1. Works for her..

What was a zebco 1 I don't remember those?

Look on ebay and find you an old Johnson Century. You can thank e after you use it. powdr

A little larger, heavier line and star drag. Just got back from catfishing and she wore them out..

Wasn't the Zebco 1 a bigger defier version of the 33 basically?




And A Cupie doll goes to whoever can tell me what Zebco is short for.

Zero Hour Bomb Company.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!!

Even I knew that one....

I kinda remember those Johnson reels . Ill keep my eye open for them..

I hope you are not claiming to be as smart as I am..............You don't want to be known as a dumbazz, do ya'?....

Too late.


Ive had that moniker so long I thought it was coined for me.

Mine is spelled with a small "d"....just sayin'...

ouch�..

You have seniority on me, but I'ma ketchin' up fast as I can!!

My son can relate the story from his young days when I calmly took his rod and reel from him in the boat, removed the Johnson reel from the rod, threw it as high as I could into the air, and we quietly watched it arc over and splash into the lake. We then went to shore, headed in to Fuller's, and got the ABU-Garcia.

Edit - I have been advised by the son in question that my mind suffers from old-person's lapse and the good reel is a Diawa rather than an ABU. This correction should be taken into account when reading my previous endorsement as well. In my defense, the rod is an ABU-Garcia.

So the old Johnson reels are junk? Never had a bad Abu in bait caster.

Allow me to make the same suggestion I do for all "kid's first rod and reel" questions. Get them an under-spin / levercast reel and put it on a five-foot spinning rod. Here's one:

LINK

Dat�is a good idea!

I had a Zebco 44 under-spin I liked pretty well until an 8lb catfish tore it up. Looked just like that Diawa if memory serves.

Got several 33's and the odd Rhino, love 'em for small to mid-size fish.

I've got one of those underhand Zebcos somewhere that I'd forgotten about. Neat ole reel..

I like that . Looks to be easy to learn to cast. . The kids are 4 and 5 years old..

The Zebco 33 triggerspin is my wife's favorite. Great reel.

Buy the most expensive spincast pfluger makes. Way better than the zebcos and better than the new diawas too. The old diawas and johnson reels worked best but all the new stuff is crap. Just bought a diawa under spin and its a piece-O-$hit.

A underspin on a flyrod is a panfish catching machine. Awesome for flippin slip bobber rigs in heavy cover for crappie. Try it.

I agree with the old Johnson Century or model 80, or the Abu Garcia 170s or 120s.

Johnson 110A, plus a Johnson 80.


110A


80

I recently noticed a vintage Abu Garcia 505 under-rod spincast reel on ebay, and won it.

Amazing reel. No lever, no bail; just touch the ring in the center of the reel face with your forefinger and the spool releases. The line falls right on your finger, ready for casting.

Then I discovered another innovation. It has a "smart" drag. If you need to lessen the drag - say for a sudden run of a large fish - you just back the cranking handle backwards a bit and the drag reduces itself to a minimum. Start reeling again and the drag reverts to whatever setting you have applied. Genius!

That is slick! I'm not a huge spincast fan but they have their place and I definitely have a spot for a reel like that one. Its crazy cool.

Laugh'n,,, your addicted aren't you, you and rockey both. I have a 1600 and 3600 ambassaduer problem. Hi, my name is Troy and I'm a reelaholic. Problem is I'm even more of a rodaholic!

Not really addicted. But I do tend to use the best tool for the job at hand. I have casting outfits, spinning outfits, spin-cast outfits, fly casting outfits, ice fishing outfits... Several of each, in fact.

I explain to my wife that it's a lot like golf; each situation calls for a different club - or rod.

That's exactly what I tell my wife about rod-n-reels & shotguns! Same analogy to the tee!

Coool old reels. Keep the pics coming!

I would 2nd the original Johnson century and the larger citations. They were pretty nice reels and had smooth gearing. I did buy one of the later ones and they just couldn't match the older ones. The zebco 33 was a good reel in its day and the Abu magics from Garcia were pretty nice reels.

My wife just asked me yesterday why I needed 70 rods and reels. I didn't have a good answer so i just kept quiet so as not to start an argument. Then she says, "you're ignoring me aren't you?"

Heddon Mk III






Diawa Millionaire 5H






Johnson 110B





Action Rod Hastings, MI




Horrocks Ibbotson Mod. 1901





Heddon Pal P-41





Heddon Pal

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDgwWDY0MA==/z/wmwAAOSwd4tUHvjn/$_12.JPG[/img]


Penn 930

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/8KcAAOSwd4tT6SgA/$_12.JPG[/img]



Jim Heddon's Favorite - bamboo

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/gcYAAOSwGvhT5usn/$_57.JPG[/img]



Heddon's # 15 - Premier bamboo

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Njc5WDE2MDA=/z/dT0AAOSw7NNT6oA0/$_57.JPG[/img]

Thanks for all the replies
Update.....just went to cabelas and sent them some ready made junk....for now they have been casting in the back yard and trying to hit the kiddy pool and are having a blast.. I will be on the hunt for some old quality reels from garage sales and pawn shops. When they get older ill get them a quality usa made rod...

I have a few Pfleuger Cetina reels and they are pretty solid. These are about the only spincast reels I have really cared for. I haven't tried the nicer Zebcos but I think they would give them a run for the money. They are built pretty solid and cast better than any spin cast reel I have tried. When I have them to people the first response is that they are heavier than they thought they would be. But the weight is quality and not just fluff. The spools are stupid easy to replace and the they are fairly smooth for a spin cast reel. Right now they are discontinued and can be found for a discounted price. I have 2 of the smallest reels which are perfect for bream and crappie on a light rod. I also have one of the smaller underspin reels I plan to use for small spinners and jigs. I also just found the mid sized reel at gander mountain and I will set that one up for fishing guests for catfish and bass. I got 2 from bass pro for $20, on of pfluegers website for $25 and the midsize for $25 from gander mountain. I plan to buy anymore of these that I see. They are mostly for people who might go fishing with me to use but I honestly would be comfortable leaving my favorite reels at home and just fishing with these. I'll probably upgrade to a good florocarbon line on them just because I think they could handle a little more than most similar reels. I want to eek the most out of them when I use them.