Buy what you want, but don’t needlessly abandon those classic reels
The world goes around because buying and selling keeps the wheels of progress and commerce going.
I have personally done my share of purchasing (and very little selling) fishing and hunting gear. My off-site storage locker is a testament of my ability to sustain my willingness to hoard junk.
In fact, I am one of those characters that uses both old and new fishing reels.
For example: After speaking with a friend about some of the “old stuff” I have in my tackle room, I decided to tear apart two old Mitchell-Garcia spinning reels and get them ready for spring fishing.
One is a 408 high-speed retrieve, ultralight reel — the other is also a Mitchell, only the nomenclature is 304, medium weight.
You may ask why I’ve chosen to go back in time, again.
The answer is simple.
Just because it’s 2013, it doesn’t mean the older models of reels should stay “retired.” If those wonderful relics of the past (I’m one of them) are able to be cranked and smoothly retrieve line, I say use them or lose them.
My father gave me the 408 as a gift, and I subsequently purchased the 304 as a backup reel.
In 1966, I was completely enthralled with ultralight spinning. My outdoor radio show had just started its second year on an Indiana station. I really didn’t have any clue regarding the information I was sharing with listeners.
James Heddon and Sons Fishing Tackle (Dowagiac, Mich.) was my first national sponsor. The company was a giant in the industry, along with competitors like South Bend, Pflueger and Shakespeare.
Plant manager Tryvge Lund was one of the Heddon old-timers who took me under his wing. He made a custom Heddon ultralight spinning rod for me, which I subsequently used on many Indiana streams — as well as side channels of the famous Yellowstone River.
Those reels of yore didn’t have the fancy drag and braking systems of today’s models, but they certainly did their share of helping neophytes like me to land big smallmouth bass from Michigan’s Pigeon River.
One chap who later became one of the guys sharing stream space with me had the Mitchell 308 (the non-high speed version). He, too, reveled in the way the tiny, ultralight reel performed.
During my frequent trips back to Chicago, I would bring the ultralight rod and 408 with me so I could fish with my dad on the Chain.
I used the 304 for bass and walleye on the St. Joe River. It performed like a finely tuned watch, smooth and strong with every fish on the end of the line.
The Garcia Reel Company (Mitchell was part of that) used to pack a small tube of reel oil in almost every box.
The trick to maintaining a reel with a lot of years on it is to keep it clean both during the season and when the reel is put away for the winter.
I have a can of compressed air I use to dislodge dirt particles from reels and geared devices. Once that’s done I add a drop or two of reel oil to the internal moving parts, including the reel handle socket. But do not add a lot of lubricant, because that also attracts dirt and grime.
Earlier in this column I stated that I use some of my older reels because time has never entered into the usage factor. There’s more.
Regular followers have already learned that I am a very sentimental angler.
My roots go back to the time when my late father passed along what he believed were the right tools to me, in the way of fishing knowledge and a little bit of his “sacred tackle.”
Of course there were times during our hundreds of angling outings when he wouldn’t even let me touch his gear.
And yet those memories are eons away.
ŸContact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM and live-streamed at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.