What is the oldest reel you Use? 2024
largemouth01 reply :
Just looking through my reels and began thinking of the two lews reels i just purchased for the holidays, Just curious what is the oldest reel you use day in and day out?
my oldest are a few Round Garcias from my dad but the oldest i use every weekend is the previous generation tournament pro. Merry Christmas!
gulfcaptain reply :
I still use my Newell 200's, 300's, and 400's (saltwater)I bought in 1994-1997 and have a few that are older then those that had the aluminum frames and spools before going to all graphite. Newere wasn't always better in those reels. As far as freshwater stuff.....oldest reel I still use is probably less then 4 years old. Have 2 of the older silver Quantum Accurists I still use on occasion and 4 of the older Carbonlites from a few years ago.
FloridaFishinFool reply :
Shimano Bantam Black Magnum BKM-201FS from 1987 that I use on a 7'6" flippin' stick.
These old reels are built like a tank! Can't break them- unlike a lot of reels made today- even some of the more expensive reels.
And I still use a Shimano Bantam Curado CU-201B38, an early 1990's model with a 3.8:1 retrieve.
I use these side by side with brand 2015 models... if it works, why change it?
Big C reply :
I learned how to use a bait caster with an ancient Abu Garcia, it was a black low-profile reel so it was probably 80's or 90's. I actually put it on a spinning rod my brother snagged out of the Apalachicola Bay. But, the salt water locked it up. I wish I still had it, if I did I would use it...on a proper rod though. 
stkbassn reply :
Scorpion 1000 4x4...awesome reel.
badhatharry reply :
I have a couple of Zebco Cardinal 4's from late 70's I use every time I'm out.
new2BC4bass reply :
I don't use any reel day in and day out. Don't get out that often. I try to switch gear so that all see some use although I do have a few favorites that see more use than others. Many of my reels were purchased used so the only way I'd know their possible age would be to research the years they were made. My oldest reels that I purchased new, and still use on occasion, are a 40-45 year old 5001C Ambassadeur and a Penn 430SS spinning reel from approximately the same era.
WRB reply :
On a regular basis...early 90's vintage bait casting reels; Calcutta 200, Lews RB3, Daiwa HTSA103 and Shimano Stratic spinning reels. On occasion, about 1 time a year, a friend and I get together and fish with our 50 vintage Langley lure cast bait casting reels, use vintage rods and wooden plugs.
Tom
Jrob78 reply :
I have a couple of Curado 100 B's that I still use on occasion.
OroBass reply :
I have a 1972 abu 4600c that has been heavily upgraded with 8 bearings, carbontex drag and supertuning. I use it every once in a while.
k3bass reply :
I have quite a few daiwa tournament ss 1300s ranging in age. But one of them I bought in the late 80's and have beat the crap out of it ever since and it's still going strong. All I've ever had to replace were a few bail springs. It's been mounted on a 7' m avid for years and I use it for wading a river close to home for smallmouth. It gets used at least 100 days a year.
Maxximus Redneckus reply :
Not latetly. But i have quite a few abus over 60 yrs old .all work perfect i think i have more from the 60s then anything all work perfect .they look like they made it through the civil war .lol
iabass8 reply :
Daiwa TDZ Type R+. Discontinued 2005. I look for those before anything new that's out there now.
tander reply :
Don't know how old it they are but I got two older Lew's BB1's. Still use them for crankbaits Think I bought them in the 80's.
fisherrw reply :
Shimano citica 201 bantum
Catt reply :
Reels I use day in & day out?
Calcutta CT100A 30 plus yrs
Calcutta CT100A 25-30 yrs
Calcutta CT50A 20-25 yrs
Cardiff CDF100D 20 yrs
Cardiff CDF100D 15 yrs
All have original parts except the 50 it has a new paw!
fishballer06 reply :
I have a few bantam Curado's that still get use. I've also got one of the early Sahara's too that gets used in the spring for crappie and perch.
Mike L reply :
My oldest is a gold Chronarch 100 SF (Love this thing, it may be a little bulkier than anything I have but with 20ld braid and paired with a Loomis MBR 843C GLX, it will cast a mile and won't backlash unless I really mess it up)
Mike
Bankbeater reply :
I have an Abu Garcia 5500 that is probably 20 years old. I have it on a H 6'6" rod, and I use it for fishing t-rigs in heavy cover.
Ohio Archer reply :
Multiple Shimano Bantams from the early-mid '80s. All LH retrieve. 21's, 101's and 251's. Ran them hard in LA and south FL (until Andrew came thru). Got them back out in 2007 for a couple of years and I'm using them again today. Some are over 30 years old. The two newest I purchased off of Ebay...a 101 and a 251. Also have a couple of Diawas from the same time period. They still work as well as they did when I bought them so why pay the money they are asking for reels today?
Bluebasser86 reply :
I have a few 200B and a 200BSF that are in my regular rotation.
tholmes reply :
I have a 1972 Abu 5000C that still sees regular use. It's had the left sideplate replaced with one from a 6000C so it has a bait clicker. It's on an old Berkeley Roughneck rod and gets used mostly for flathead fishing.
Tom
greywalls reply :
I grew up on Daiwa SP1000 baitcasters (circa 80s), and I still exclusively use the same two baitcasters now as I did as a teen, believe it or not -- they're not at all sexy, but they flat out work and have never required even an ounce of maintenance other than seasonal oiling.
BaitMonkey1984 reply :
The oldest reel I use is next years model. That is the curse of being the bait money.
Great avatar- just watched The Outlaw Josey Wales last night.
shaggydog reply :
abu garcia eon. love that reel.
cddan reply :
On 12/25/2015 at 2:48 AM, shaggydog said:abu garcia eon. love that reel.
Wow an eon. I bought one in 2000 could never dial it in but I've learned to cast baitcasters better now. I've since lost the reel to a move. I was curious why you like it? It was innovative at the time but made of alot of plastic. The level wind fully disengaged and it seemed would be a great idea. The concept of the reel was very interesting but never caught on. It was made too cheaply imo but its design I thought would have taken root in modern baitcasters but never did. Does it work well for you and why do you still use it. Im just curious because I never really got a chance to use it much but was fascinated by its design.
Maxximus Redneckus reply :
On 12/25/2015 at 4:49 AM, cddan said:Wow an eon. I bought one in 2000 could never dial it in but I've learned to cast baitcasters better now. I've since lost the reel to a move. I was curious why you like it? It was innovative at the time but made of alot of plastic. The level wind fully disengaged and it seemed would be a great idea. The concept of the reel was very interesting but never caught on. It was made too cheaply imo but its design I thought would have taken root in modern baitcasters but never did. Does it work well for you and why do you still use it. Im just curious because I never really got a chance to use it much but was fascinated by its design.
I have one also. No probs with mine ive heard of them imploding during a cast .they have a lot of drag surface and very very smooth,im surprised abu hasnt done this with the planetary gear system on metal reels .im thinking that the poly 9 they used would flex causing the problems ,come on abu bring them back
cddan reply :
Bring back or make new like them!
cddan reply :
With metal of course
the reel ess reply :
When I started the 2015 season I had a 1983 Daiwa Procaster PMF1000 MagForce I was still using. It was my go-to cranking reel. It had a push-button spool release, no thumb bar. It was a Christmas gift when I was 13 and retailed for about $70 then. It lasted 32 years. Daiwa sent me parts fro free a couple times to work on it. Finally, the gears got so bad they wouldn't stay meshed. I know that kind of quality is ridiculous nowadays and I should probably go with another Daiwa for my next reel.
soflabasser reply :
Oldest reels I use are my +30 year old Penn Senators I use for big game fishing .Those reels are some of the most reliable reels ever made.For bass fishing I have a Shimano Spinning reel that is over 20 years old and that has caught me several double digit bass,along with large saltwater fish.
woody osborne reply :
On 12/21/2015 at 4:58 AM, badhatharry said:I have a couple of Zebco Cardinal 4's from late 70's I use every time I'm out.
i have around 2 dozen zebco cardinal 3, 4, and 6 and garcia cardinal c3's,c4's i use constantly, dependably trouble free. have used them since the 70's. in about 40 years i had ONE screw coming loose, ONE winding cup replaced due to appearance, one spool cracked and replaced due to spooling machine tension.
pretty much covers the need for spinning reels for me though i do have a couple of stradics i think i'll use for ned rig fishing, maybe. edit to add this: with the dual bail spring setup i have never ever had to change bail springs. NEVER
wnspain reply :
I use both of my Shimano Bantam 10x pretty regular, have never failed me in 35+ yrs
patred reply :
I have several Mitchell 300s and a couple 308s, all made in France prior to 1970. I picked up a 1955 reel and a 1959 a few weeks ago and used them to catch four walleye on the Potomac River on Christmas Eve. 
The Mitchell Reel Museum is a great source for Mitchell info and has a good forum, too, for history, servicing and identification.
Pat
Mumbly reply :
I still use a few older reels from time to time.
Shimano Bantam Black Magnum BKM-200FS 1988-ish
Shimano BeastMaster 2-speed (currently has an issue and no parts are available) 1988-ish
Quantum Tour Edition US300 (mostly a crankbait reel)
Shimano Magnumlite GTX spinning reels (still use for trout fishing) 1988-ish
Florida Cracker2 reply :
I have an Orvis 50A spinning reel on an old matching brown rod that I like to use from time to time. Sounds like a coffee grinder, but fish seem to like the vibration because I often catch them with it when my smooth reels don't. (just a silly theory)
I also use a Zebco Cardinal 3 and a 4 regularly. Both on vintage graphite rods. Very good reels.
I had to retire my 2 430ss penns because I cannot find any dragknobs for them.
I also use a penn 704 greenie for catfish off the dock.
I have a Diawa 7000C on a stiff rod for saltwater grouper fishing.
I have a DAM 550 I haven't put on a rod yet. Still in it's original box.
A couple Shakespeare sigmas, a 2300-40 and a 2500-50. Those are some smooth, tough reels.
Oh, and last but not least, a 5000c (3screw) on a uglystik. I use it quite often for trolling.
scaleface reply :
My catfish and Carp reels are Quantum 1310MG's made in the 80's .
0119 reply :
I'm not sure if my reels are old or not. They are custom made from new old stock from the 70's. So yeah I guess they are old just not put together and jazzed up until recently.
Goose52 reply :
On 2/10/2016 at 9:24 PM, Florida Cracker2 said:I have an Orvis 50A spinning reel on an old matching brown rod that I like to use from time to time. Sounds like a coffee grinder, but fish seem to like the vibration because I often catch them with it when my smooth reels don't. (just a silly theory)
I also use a Zebco Cardinal 3 and a 4 regularly. Both on vintage graphite rods. Very good reels.
I had to retire my 2 430ss penns because I cannot find any dragknobs for them.
I also use a penn 704 greenie for catfish off the dock.
I have a Diawa 7000C on a stiff rod for saltwater grouper fishing.
I have a DAM 550 I haven't put on a rod yet. Still in it's original box.
A couple Shakespeare sigmas, a 2300-40 and a 2500-50. Those are some smooth, tough reels.
Oh, and last but not least, a 5000c (3screw) on a uglystik. I use it quite often for trolling.
Yeah - the Sigmas can still work, catch fish. I retired my last one a couple years ago but I keep thinking I'm going to put the "025" size (photo - bottom row, right) back in service one of these days.
Florida Cracker2 reply :
That's a beautiful collection!
WIGuide reply :
My oldest would be my Shimano Bantam Coriolis. It was the first baitcaster I ever purchased back in either 4th or 5th grade. That would put it at 18 years old. Mine doesn't look quite as good as the picture, has a little more boat rash, but not bad for a reel that old. I attribute the fact that it has mostly bushings as to why it's still working. It will however be retired to the back up shelf for this year.
aquaholik reply :
On 12/21/2015 at 4:56 AM, stkbassn said:Scorpion 1000 4x4...awesome reel.
Yep, still use this after the carbontex drag upgrade. Still and awesome caster.
I might bring this back to circulation. Still the combo that caught the most fish and my first baitcast combo. Still works just fine with 8lb mono and 1/4 oz jig. It's 29 years old.
0119 reply :
On 2/11/2016 at 12:09 AM, Goose52 said:Yeah - the Sigmas can still work, catch fish. I retired my last one a couple years ago but I keep thinking I'm going to put the "025" size (photo - bottom row, right) back in service one of these days.
Excellent reel! Many a snook and bass fell to me with a Sigma in my hands. Before that I used D.A.M. The Sigma's felt like feathers after the D.A.M.'s.
HookdUP reply :
My oldest fresh water reel is a shimano stradic old school with the wood handle I've had since 99. My oldest saltwater real are probably my saltigas ... Which I can't believe are ten years old now
papajoe222 reply :
I retired my Daiwa Procaster PMF1000 a couple of seasons ago, it was my first low profile baitcaster. However, I still use my procaster PMA10 which has the thumb bar. I can't remember how old it is.
Paul Roberts reply :
Zebco Card 4 (the green-n-white), Quick 440N, and others... But the oldest (by a lot) is: My grandfather's Pflueger Progress brass birdcage fly reel that dates to late 1800's to early 1900's. I use it for small stream brookies at least once a season.
On 2/11/2016 at 12:09 AM, Goose52 said:Yeah - the Sigmas can still work, catch fish. I retired my last one a couple years ago but I keep thinking I'm going to put the "025" size (photo - bottom row, right) back in service one of these days.
I have two of these Sigma's: an 030 and 035. I bought the 035 for my Dad back in the 1980's. He scarcely used it and just recently he shipped it to me. It's essentially spanking new. Yeah, there are much nicer reels out there now, and even taken down and lubed properly they are a little "raspy". But I'm happy to have them. Yours look to be in fine shape too.
Goose52 reply :
On 2/12/2016 at 6:00 AM, Paul Roberts said:I have two of these Sigma's: an 030 and 035. I bought the 035 for my Dad back in the 1980's. He scarcely used it and just recently he shipped it to me. It's essentially spanking new. Yeah, there are much nicer reels out there now, and even taken down and lubed properly they are a little "raspy". But I'm happy to have them. Yours look to be in fine shape too.
The 030 was my favorite size for light freshwater...
The younger folks on the board may not be aware that these Shakespeare Sigmas were considered to be a first-class spinning reel in the '80s !
edfitzvb reply :
Hard to give this one an accurate answer... Until I started clearing things out I used on a fairly regular basis
1) SEVERAL Garcia Mitchell 300
2.) A Garcia Mitchell 308
3.) A DAM Quick Microlite
4.) Shakespeare Maroon 2052 and 2062 reel
5.) Lew's Speed Spool that would have to be over 25 years old
6.) Abu Garcia 5500C
All were used on a regular basis. I recently retired the Lew's and the two Shakespeare to places of honor. The rest have been sold or are in line for sale. Still, I have over 20 newer reels in addition. I don't even want t TALK about lures, tackle, line, etc. Hmmmmm
Puggz reply :
I have a vintage Daiwa Whisker SS 1300 (made in japan) that I bought new in late '80s. It has an amazing drag but I wish it had infinite anti reverse. I also have a circa 1990 Shimano Aero Beastmaster spinning that I still use as well. Great for Pike 
oldschoolbasser reply :
On 12/21/2015 at 7:07 AM, OroBass said:I have a 1972 abu 4600c that has been heavily upgraded with 8 bearings, carbontex drag and supertuning. I use it every once in a while.
4600C's didn't come out until 1976,but its still s great reel.
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