Whats Old, is New Again

[steve b]

The first two "good" reels I had as a boy were Heddon's, that pukey green color, that compared to the jewelry-like finishes now, I'd prefer ! One was the first UL reel I'd ever seen, the other a monster of a surf reel. Some of my best early memories are of surf fishing with my Dad at Assateague Island. But anyways..these reels had BIG diameter spools compared to what we have had the last couple decades or so. Enter the age of the "long cast" deep, narrow spools with charts/graphs, and science to back them up. Now we've come full circle I see, again the marketing machine is fired up, telling us the larger diameter spools are superior, etc.. Your thoughts ? Wanna admit to how many "long cast" reels ya got around the house ? LOL ! steve b

[10.5" RES Sharon]

I have trouble with every reel I've ever used. Back spin, tangles, the drags don't work right, none of them are consistant with how far I can cast. Most of the time it plops 10' from me. I have taken very good care of this last reel and it is giving me trouble casting within 2 months. There is only one spincast reel available at the local sports store and it costs $100. All my reels have up to now been cheapies. I would like to know if you get what you pay for, or are they all the same?

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Steve, I still use my 40 year old Heddon spincast reel , and it still is the best spincast reel I have ever owned,it's a Heddon model 180, I guess because it's either left or right hand retrive,I also have a Heddon Model 248 , high speed ball bearing, spinning reel, its a long caster, and bigger than I like but it better than most. I usually use smaller ultra light stuff, and my old ball bearing Shakespear was as good as it came in the day,and will stand up against anything on the market today. Just because it old dosent mean it not as good, some  of the old stuff is still as good as anything out  there. I have been fishing with the same fly rod for 25 years now and would hate to replace it. Good equipment stands the test of time.