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

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Ok, just looked at those reels again, they are Zebco, Shakespears , Daiwa's, and one Mitchell, and one Johnson. After closer inspection one of the Zebco ,UL3 FeatherTouch is Brand new and still has the line tag on it from the factory. I guess  I needed to pay closer attention sorting out some of the stuff I got from my Dad , Uncles and some old widows  tackleboxes over the last few years . There are some that probally need to be parted out to who needs them.  LOFR

[jose "nacho" mejia]

PLEASE O PLEASE SEND ME ONE .... ANY ONE ....im in deep need of another spincast reel! 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

In still interested in the Zebco micros if you wanna part with em.
The Daiwa reels are good, I've got a few of those. And the Johnson I spied right off.
Me, I need more medium spincast reels like I need a sharp stick in my eye... but Ive always wanted to have a go at those little Zebco minis. It is I've type I've never messed with.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Repaired? What is wrong with it?
Do you know its intended purpose?

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

You lucky dog, just throw in a motor with a deal !, If you can only use non-ethnol gas in that motor and I would make shure it had some Sea-Foam in it also with the right oil mixture. Also I would put some new spark plugs in it , Nippon-Denso, they run best in small engines. LOFR

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Stone , I have a 1961 Evenrude 5.5 Fisherman that stills runs like new, The main things you need to know is keep 90 weight lube in your lower unit,make sure the impeller or waterpump is peeing a good stream out the back to keep your engine cool and not overheat, always clean fresh gas  ,the right oil mixture, and a little SeaFoam for cleaning the carborator from the inside and if you are going to store the motor for a while try to run all the gas out of it. They may a device that looks like earmuffs that fit on a garden hose so you can run your motor out of water, and finally if it's going to be stored for a while try to cover the head with plastic bag  or dropcloth, this is to keep dirt dobbers from building nest under the cowling, the little buggers like to fill up all the little holes with mud, do all this and you will be fine and you will get years of use out of that old engine.   LOFR

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Oh yea, One more thing, when it comes to maintiance on an outboard motor the manufactures  did one thing to make it simpler , if you see a screw that takes a flathead screwdriver  that means that it can be removed for servicing like the lower unit access holes but if it has a phillips head ,that mean leave it alone dont touch it , and finally dont torq you screws too tight, it can split the alumium housing.  LOFR

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I figured it was something like a mixture adjust, Stony.
I know a little about outboards... enough to be dangerous! I don't have too much experience with really old ones though. As long as compression and timing are good, electrics are the next biggest problem causer in terms of actual running. Also watch that impeller - on an old outboard, they will fail unannounced. Have a spare.
Lloyd has given good advice on all counts; you'd be wise to take it. Non ethanol gas may be hard to find, but will be worth it to seek it out.
PS DON'T put white gas in your outboard!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

I REALLY THINK THAT MOST OF THE OLD FISHING EQUIPMENT IS STILL OUT THERE !!!!!!!!! I really believe that llllllllllllots of it , RODS AND REELS, are sitting in old boxes or tackle boxes , and rods are in corners of garages or up in basement rafters!!!! Seems to be an endless supply of old rods and tackle on Ebay these days and for the last ten years I"ve been on ebay. 

  Once in a while something brand new like the BACK COUNTRY SPECIAL from Shakespeare comes along and it's a bidding war to be sure. Lots of things to look for on these old rods as to what's wrong with em. When someone takes good pics the flaws are readily shown up . I see lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllots of rods that say new and when ya ask the fellas if the sections are approx. the same length they 50% of the time say no the top section is 4-6" shorter . THAT MEANS ITS' BEEN BROKEN AND REPAIRED !!!!!!! YA GOTTA WATCH FOR THIS STUFF as a novice collector or you'll be stuck with alot of odds and ends before ya know it . Ya have to do research or you are gonna get burned ........ Should have started collecting back in the 60's but who knew then that Fiberglass would be replaced by Graphite ! 
    Luckily for me and other collectors there is the Internet now for fact searching and buying !!!!!!!!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Great service advice, LOFR.
I LOVE THE DIRT DOBBER BUSINESS!

[Leo Nguyen]

If I have such wonderful collection, it's either ended up on the floor somewhere in the garage after played by my kids, and got ran over by the wife. Aside from that, they're somewhere at the bottom of the lakes and aqueducts.

[Mark]

normally by the time im done with them they are trash. but if its a reel that matches another i have i will keep it for parts just in case.rods i iwll use till they go to pieces or snap off the tip. ive seen some folks selling old fishing gear as decorations. some collectors will pay good money for early tackle and old rods.  some folks trash some nice fishing stuff. i got a nice penn reel and a penn long beach surf rod out of the trash. they were dirty and faded. i took them home cleaned them up took the reel apart - had a heart attack lots of precise parts inside- cleaned it lubed it put on new line and it spins smooth as glass. i use it for catfish when im fishing in tight spots. the red on the rods a bit brown but i didnt pay hundreds of dollars for the set up.