What Happends to Old Fishing Equipment

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

I was cleaning out a cabinet in the garage and ran across an old box which was the graveyard of some old fishing reels that were in need of repair or were broken beyond repair, me being the pack rat that I am,would throw old reels in the box just in case I ever needed  a spare part, these reels will probally nevers never see the water again. The wife says " You have got to throw some of that junk away" and she is probally right but the pack rat in me snuck it back  into the cabinet, so what do you do with your old fishing equipment?    LOFR

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I'd separate it into to two groups:

The stuff that is repairable

The stuff that is not

The useful stuff I'd put on ebay in like lots. Start em at $.99 and roll the dice.

The crap that is just crap I'd give one shot on ebay, or donate to the Goodwill. Some kid might have fun with it.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

PS I'd give you  a few bucks for those Zebco 11's

[jose "nacho" mejia]

id be more than willing to take one or two spin cast reels and a small spinning reel from you that i could use ;). iv been in need of some reels.

(p.s. how about that bait caster two ;) )

[jose "nacho" mejia]

just kiding about the bait caster tho but a nice spincast reel would be nice

[JBplusThuy]

Wow, that's a lot of reels, LOFR!  I don't have as much gear as you, esp. old gear, but I still have a one-piece 5' Nightcrawler Secrets rod that I've owned since middle school, and the Shakespeare reel I bought to go with it. I've had them for over 35 years and expect to pass them down to my kids someday :-)

I also have a few lures that belonged to my grandfather whom I never knew. I don't fish with those. Nothing I could catch with them would make them worth the risk of losing one. They have little or no monetary value, but the emotional value to me is great.

Jonathan

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

By the way, for MYSELF, I pack rat.
I do filter enough to keep only the working stuff. If it needs repair, I make a best effort
to fix it. If I cannot fix it, or it is not worth fixing... then I follow the steps outlined in the first post.

I'd still like to have a go at those Zebco micros down in front. LOL

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Yall are going to make me go to the cabinet and look at those again, like I said these are the broken ones,  but I'll check and see if any cpr needs to be done and if  I can revive any , then  I'll  see if we can have some fun with them , contest prizes, or make sure they get into the right hands and have another life on the water.    LOFR

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

... unless a reel had been in the water for a long time, or run over by a truck,
I find resurrection a pretty straightforward process.
USUALLY, just small things cause problems like springs, pivots, pins or screws, bushings, etc.
For most brand make reels in the last 2-3 years, parts can be found.
In other cases, you have to make a part, or adapt another one to the task.

I've revived a lot of them. You can do it!

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 David, I was so amazed one time, I took some old reels for my Dad into the customer service dept of Zebco Co. in Tulsa , Oklahoma and to my surprise a lady behind the counter rebuilt the reels in front of me and it didn't take her longer than 2 minutes on any reel, they were like new when she was done with them, and what was better , there was no charge for her service, thats Customer Service!    LOFR

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Swell, L. It might take a little more out of you to do the same, but its proof of what I say.
There's a big difference between owning working gear, and hoarding junk.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HOLY MOLELY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S LOTS OF REELS !!!!!!!!!!!

[Ray Ditzenberger]

Lost crank handles are a big reason that reels need repaired. Other external parts that don't require tools to remove are also major problems. The old Johnson Century reels had a easily broken thumb release button. .....I have an ole Zebco Omega under the rod reel that has the rear cover missing that I would like to replace. The internals are very dirty but all is well except for the little plastic cover on the rear gear case. Bail springs for the old Mitchell 308/408 also needed replaced quite often.