The AM Forum

Knowing that many here are into old stuff (and some into fishing), I thought I'd share some recent acquisitions. My wife got me a beautiful Abu Ambassadeur 5000 reel for my birthday. It was made in January of 1973. Still works perfectly. Made in Sweden. The Abu company has a history in fishing dating to at least the 1940s and these 5000 reels were first made starting in the early 50s.

I had to find a proper vintage rod for the Abu and was lucky to find an old Browning Silaflex. Silaflex (a California company) was an early leader in hollow fiberglass rods in the early 50s. Browning bought them in 1963. So the rod is no older than that and probably not newer than mid-70s, when graphite rods began to become more common.

Anyway, a lot of fun fishing with this thing. I even have some vintage lures. It gives me the same sort of pleasure as using the old radio gear. And since there is no one else at the fishing hole, I'm practicing proper social distancing (really physical distancing but that's another story).

Now, all you need is the old Heathkit Fishfinder..
I bought two of them at a swap meet and they actually work!! they are good for depth finders also.
Mostly a very fun collecting item, but they do work.
Its a fun unit to study, like sonar with Radio-waves, an oscillator,etc.
Mine were in good condition, and I did'nt have to pay much for them,
AG5UM

Never knew Heathkit made fish finders! I will have to check that out.

Spinning neon bulbs?

Very cool on the old reels and rods, Steve.

I've been a fishing fool ever since living by the CT River in the 60's. I would use a net and bread crumbs to catch  shinner bait.  Then one fishing pole had a bloody shiner sitting on the bottom, looking for giant catfish and els.  The other pole had a live shinner swimming around (with no sinker) waiting for bass, strippers or pike. There was always some action, sometimes two at a time. We used to eat everything we caught back then.

BTW, if you are using treble hooks for your lures, I've found less damage is done when catch and releasing by filing off the barbs on the treble hooks. Once in a while you will lose one, but a pair of needle nose pliers instantly frees a hooked fish.   Another alternative is to replace the trebles with single hooks with no barbs. Very sporting. Just need to keep tension on the line at all times.

T

Looking at my Heathkits they are model # M1-29,and M1-2900, the m1-2900 has cool fish picture on the dial,
They look cool, I think the design-circuits,etc. are interesting.
They are fun.
AG5UM
(forgot to mention ,Its called "Heathkit Fish Spotter")

FB on the fishing there OM Tom. Lots of fun and relaxing too. I don't use the crank baits that often. Many of the places I fish have too many possible snags. Nothing like losing a $10 lure on the first cast. More often I'm using a Texas rigged worm or lizard, a Ned rig, or a standard jig head with a soft plastic imitation minnow (these are good for bass and crappie). These are all single hook setups.

When I do use the crank baits, I'm fishing specifically for bass. Those big hooks don't do much damage to them. They come out pretty easily. Sometimes the fish shake them out and get away. You have to remember that these boys eat bluegills and you know that bluegills have a large spiny, sharp dorsal fin. These hooks are nothing in comparison to that. Trout and some of the river fish are a different story. Much smaller mouths and much more sensitive.

Man, you must have a subscription to Whirl-wide Disco Duck Fishing magazine!    ;D

My father is from Arkansas and grew up fishing down there. After living in CT for 30 years he went back down to visit. He discovered they were using these weird colored rubber worms and froggie things for panfish and crappie, etc.  He brought a big bag of them back to CT. For months he was just killing it. He was out-fishing his buddies 4:1 until they demanded some from him. Funny how the fish get used to certain baits and lures and avoid them - and then we introduce something new and whamo!

Same for the "trot-lines" in Arkansas. My grandfather had a restaurant down there with the main dish being breaded catfish. He put this stinky meatball stuff on the hooks that stretched across the Green Lakes. Each day he emptied the lines full of cats. I took some cat-bait home for CT River use and found a big edge over shiner bait.

T
  

I have a Wright&McGill fly rod that was my Dad's going back to late 50's early 60's.  It has some small history to it.  He and his buddies made a few fishing trips to Hudson Bay in Canada. It's almost new like.  When I and my siblings came along fishing was a thing of the past for him.  Rod is practically new.  Got the original instruction set, case and cloth sleeve.  No reel though.  Never knew what happened to the reel.  Also have some vintage fresh water wooden lures that were his.  

JJ,  I do the same with treble hooks when out in the sound. Plugs, swimmers and poppers have filed off barbs and I usually remove the front treble hook too.  Makes for easier lure removal much and lessens injury to the fish, even for pigeon fish like bluefish.

FYI, bluefish are on the restricted list in CT this year for the first time in my lifetime which I find hard to believe considering abundant bait fish they thrive on.  Something weird going on in LI Sound.

spinning neon bulb on a wheel! That is the good old kind! Spurred my interest in radar.

- sync'd for reflection depth. sometimes you'd get two alternating flashes, one hopefully a big fish, the other the bottom.  Sometimes both would flash at once, one weaker than the other, or alternately.   My biggest disappointment was finding how shallow the lake was that I thought was
bottomless.  Less than 30'; after I'd told people it must be 100. 

 I built that finder for a friend on company time, right on my desk and everyone thought it was a for corrosion control or some electrical thingy.  "Ricky must be working on something important."  Nothing like bosses at the gas company.   One time I told one I needed a requisition for 6 ft. of 4 1/2" brass tubing. "What for?"...  "Well, you know, it's for encasing a cathodic protection anode with logarithmic spacing."  "Oh, ok... well tell me when you guys install it, so I can watch."  - There went the classic telescope tube design for an objective lens I had.  The tube came in with a shipping dent and ruined the whole idea anyway.
It's probably still sitting in the warehouse.   Err, Sorry, but that's chain of though reasoning escaping an older brain.  ;)

I was looking at some Wright & McGill rods to match up with my Abu. Some of those old rods are like works of art. Much prettier than most of the newer stuff.

Those flasher units are quite interesting. Now days the fish finders are full up side-imaging sonar. You can actually see the fish, different sizes, depths, even near brush piles.

Steve,
This particular Wright/McGill is a glass rod.  All cork handle.  Unlike modern day fly rods that have the weight number on them, I don't know what weight it is.  There's nothing indicating it's weight/size.  I'm guessing based on some of my more modern fly rods, that this is in the 2 or 3 weight category. It's a little longer than 6ft.  Built beautifully. It's light and balances nicely with one of my Orvis reels.  I haven't used it so have no idea what it's action is like. Don't know if it's hand built but my guess it probably was. As you said, it's a work of art and nicely done.  Got to find a vintage reel to go with it.

I've been enjoying reading this over the last few days.  After retiring back in August, I took up surfcasting again, something I did quite a bit of with my wife Diane's dad years ago, but have not really had the time for as a working guy in a long time.  We have some of his big old custom made Lamiglas sticks.  They were made at Murat's Tackle Shop in North Smithfield, RI most likely in the early 1960s.  Murat's was a nexus for many southern New England surf fishermen in the 50s through at least the late 80s, it's been been closed for many years now.  Charlie Murat, the owner was a big promoter of surfcasting in the postwar years, and the shop, even in the winter off-season, was a popular hang-out for surf fisherman, the air thick with cigar smoke and fish stories especially on Saturday mornings.  The rods were made by Charlie and in later years, by Charlie's son-in-law, Dave Hammock.  Most of those i have seen have dark amber yellow glass, and line guides secured with red thread windings.  The long butt end handles are wrapped with spiral wound sheet cork, and sport a rubber bumper on the bottom that are the same as those used on walking canes and crutches.  The handles do not have any reel seats, back in the day, you picked the spot that suited you best on the handle, and secured the reel there with black fabric adhesive tape.  When putting a couple of the big old Murats back in commission last summer, I followed that tradition, securing the Penn 704 "Greenie" spinning reels using carefully applied wraps of Gorilla tape.  Loaded with the latest ultra fine thread-like low stretch braided line, they cast old school Gibbs wooden Pencil Poppers, Bottle Poppers, and Danny swimmer plugs like a dream.  The Gibbs plugs are still being made, in Cumberland, RI, but have gotten quite pricey.  I'm looking forward to getting back on the beaches and breachways soon, when the stripers will be following the shad and herring up into the rivers and salt ponds on their spring spawning runs.  

Fishing and ham radio have a lot in common.   Both involve pursuit of often elusive rewards, involving acquired skills, persistence, and acquiring and maintaining specialized equipment. Getting up at o'dark thirty to catch the start of the tide drop, or the gray line to Australia on 40, having a big linesider slam your plug, or having a rare DX station come back to your CQ, being in the midst of wheeling and screaming gulls and schoolies chasing baitfish during a blitz, or nailing that rare one in a big pileup on your first call, its all about the thrill of the chase. And if you have a mobile rig in your fishing vehicle, you can often play at both hobbies on the same trip.  Many of the local fishing hotspots, such as Watch Hill Point, RI are also excellent locations to work DX from when the fishing is slow.

While reading up on the Murat rods and shop last summer, I came across an article about how Charlie Murat left this world doing what he loved, with a fish on the line, after just bringing in two other big ones out at Wellfleet on Cape Cod, it's a good read:

https://finandflame.com/charles-murat-mureel-lure/

Be sure to click on the Striper Surf article link embedded at the end of the above article.  

Tight Lines!

Bob,

Most of the fiberglass rods are pretty soft and bend easily. I'm seeing lots of nice Mitchell 308s (and other 300s) on eBay. One of those might mate up nicely with your rod.

Orvis? You got some high-end stuff there!

Chris,

Nice observations on fishing and amateur radio.

Tom,

There are tons of different ways to rig plastics lures - Texas, Carolina, Whacky, Shakey Head, drop shot, Ned rig, Niko rig, Tokyo rig... Then there are all the swimbait variations. The fishing lure/equipment industry is massive. Most of the lures are designed to catch fishermen more than fish!

Steve,
Thanks for the tip on the Mitchell's.  I'll have to shop Ebay some.

No, nothing fancy here.  Don't let the Orvis fool you.  The Orvis was a deal I couldn't pass up at the time. It's one of their low-end reels and it came with some spare spools which is what made it an attractive buy. Otherwise, it's average run of the mill stuff here from local shops or Dick's, etc. 

Steve, and all,
You guys mentioned shad and strippers,etc....
When I was a kid, my  grandfather used to take me out on the big rivers in California,
to teach me how to "power-net" for shad, which was used for bait for strippers coming up the
river from the ocean.
He smoked the fish in an old icebox.
Do you remember Power-netting?
He also went out in a 14 ft. alumn. boat for ling cod, fun days...
I also like fly fishing gear, especially the the old handmade stuff, beautiful,
sounds like you appreciate the classic stuff also, nice gear.
Donnie/ AG5UM

   As a kid back in the 70's, growing up on a lake and being passionate about fishing, I would pore over my well worn Garcia Mitchel catalog, fantasizing about rods and reels I couldn't afford on my paper-route budget.  A few years later, getting out of basic training with some decent cash in my wallet for the first time in my young life, the very first thing I went out and bought was a Mitchel 408 ultralight reel and matching Garcia "Conlon" ultralight rod.  They are still to this day among my most prized possessions. 
   Many years later, in the late 80's, I picked up another Mitchel 408, but this one wasn't made in France like the old classics, but in Taiwan.  It was such a piece of junk - the bail had an annoying habit of snapping shut in the middle of a cast and breaking the line - that I literally removed it from the rod one day while out fishing in my little lake, and tossed it over the side of the boat.

Never used a net other to land a hooked fish at the shore or boat.

Been looking at some Conolon casting rods to match with my Abu 5000.

You can find some pre-Garcia Mitchells, if you really want to go old school.

I have my first fresh water rod which is a Garcia B-601-D my father gave me as a kid back in 68 or 69.  Reel is a South Bend 725.  Still have it and use it from time to time.  Pretty basic as reels go but it still works good. Caught many a bass and pickerel on it.

Sweet reel there Bob. So great to see those Made in America rigs.

Caught my first fish on the vintage set up today.

  Oh, that beautiful red anodized finish on those early Ambassadeurs!  There were a few other models in anodized green, orange, and gold, too.  The modern baitcasting reels are all sculpted in black plastic and look more like some sort of Star Trek phaser weapons than fishing reels.  Maybe you can set them to just "stun" a fish?
   I don't know all the history, but I think the Ambassadeurs were some of the first casting reels to include centrifugal brakes to manage the dreaded backlash.
   Putting this in a more radio oriented vein, the use of baitcasting reels, and fly fishing, too, can be roughly equated to AM or maybe CW operation, in the sense that both require a bit more technical and operational skill, whereas using a spinning reel is more akin to being a sideband appliance operator.

Excellent, Steve!  Nice catch. Nice to know that the old stuff works just as good if not better than the new stuff.   Did you pre-breadcrumb that baby?

No chumming. I did "cheat" in using a modern lure, the Dark Sleeper.

https://megabassusa.com/product/dark-sleeper/

The Dark Sleeper looks  like a pretty good lure.  Gonna have to try one of those.

Look what I found.  I forgot I had this. The rod is a Betts Smooth Caster from Detroit, MI..  The reel is an Ocean City 1600 and has some old school braided line on it.  I've never used it because the reel needs work.  Looks like I have a small restoration project to do.

Know of a source for old school braided line?

Neat old rig. A little TLC and I'll bet that thing will work fine.

The good wife Mabel found an old Penn Long Beach rod and roll bait caster combo at a yard sale some years ago. It needs a little clean up. One of these days. Should be good for cat fishing.

For years I walked a couple of rivers that flowed into Lake Huron south of my QTH. Spring and fall, for salmon and steelhead (AKA Rainbow Trout)

I used 11'5" light weight rods that allowed me to use leader material down to 4 lbs (required when fishing the rivers when the visibility in the water is high)

Myself and two of my friends were at the river on most Sunday mornings in the fall right up into December chasing steelhead.

In the spring we would fish once opening day came until the steelhead left the river to go back to the lake.

Lots of fun, lots of great memories too.

These steelhead were caught in the Maitland River which flows into Lake Huron at Goderich Ontario.

http://www.ve3pp.ca/Slabs.htm (http://www.ve3pp.ca/Slabs.htm)

Nice old Penn Long Beach Steve.  AFAIK they were considered “boat” reels, for fishing where you usually were dropping a line overside, not really for casting.  But that didn’t stop me as a kid from teaching myself to surf cast with one and a really stiff Tonkin bamboo boat rod my Grandfather (the same one who gave me my E. H. Scott SLRM receiver) gave me when I was about 11.  Lots of backlashes along the learning curve.  Like the Scott, I still have the Penn and the old bamboo stick.  When you put some fresh line on the spool, fill it up until you are about 1/8 inch from the OD of the spool endbells.  You’ll get a lot more casting DX with a full spool!

Chris, yeah, I was gonna say that looks like a deep sea setup for fishing the bottom over the side of a boat like for stripers like we use up here.  The mono filament looks pretty thick for that purpose.

A little TLC and that classic rod and reel setup should look good and do fine. 

My grandfather used to make his own 'stink bait'. Yes, it did! Phew! but it drew catfish like a magnet draws filings. Many a fine meal!

A local told me the Long Beach was a boat reel/rod. I had no idea. I've only been deep sea fishing once about 35 years ago. Makes sense. I wondered why it was so short!

PP, those are some nice fish! Thanks for sharing the memories.

My comment re filling the spool up also applies to your beautiful Abu bait casting reel.  It’ll really make that one sing!  Be careful though when casting across a channel.  There is a nearly new 4 Oz Gibbs bottle popper hung up in the bushes on the west side of the Quonnie Breachway in Westerly RI that I planted there last fall on a longer cast than I was expecting!  You can get to the west side but it’s a more than a mile hike from where you can drive without a pass for driving on sand.  I was planning to get the pass this season, but not sure how much use I’ll get in the current situation to justify the 200 buck cost.  Might just take the hike just to see if the Gibbs is still there.

Oh, I've lost plenty, even weedless Texas rigged worms. Downed trees and big branches grab ahold and don't let go!  >:(

Here's the latest in fishing fashion for good health.  Everyone will leave you alone.  No need for a license. Even the fish will stay away.    (Bunker of Doom Design)

Yeah, really. My brother has added a recorded coughing session to his door bell sound to keep alway solicitors and the like.

Actually, many fishermen wear face coverings now. It's become somewhat of a fashion statement. They are useful when it's cold and windy and also if the sun it too intense.

Just rescued this from a garage the other day. Its the earliest, uber rare Penn Spinfisher 700 with a cast handle. Sometime in the 60's they changed the handle to the familiar anodized piece. The reel still works great but will need recapping and an alignment.

Nice one Tom, should clean up nicely, although getting all that salt deposit off the spool is sometimes tough.  You probably can get a replacement spool, although it might be tough getting one for the early. 700, the paint color seems a lot darker than the 704 “Greenies”. The attached picture shows one of them that I put on one of the big Murat rods.  I bought a couple of reel seats, which I secured on to the rod with carefully applied rings of gorilla tape.  Back in the day, they often went nuts with way too much electrical tape, didn’t do justice to the craftsmanship of the reels and rods it was applied to.  The 704 has the aluminum crank handle.
 
Lots of good spots to exercise that 700 over your way.  Didn’t get over to Jamestown to fish last year, will definitely be over this year.
 

Some of the vintage lure's that pre-date me, they're over 60 years old. I never noticed this before but some of these are screwed together with very tiny screws and the hooks are screwed in as well. 

Ahhhh...the red and white Dare Devil.

I have used that one for pike, trout, bass and whatever swims and attacks.   My favorite lure by far.

Back in the 80's I wanted to catch and have mounted every major CT River fish.  On my wall is an 11 pound catfish, a 6 pound shad and an 11 pound great northern pike.  The pike has the original Dare Devil hanging from its mouth.  I need to catch another stripper and LM bass, but these days I always release them.

For lots of action, use two poles in the fall for the CT River. One line has a live shinner swimming around with no sinker. The other pole uses a Dare Devil constantly cast in and out.  The pike can't help themselves!

T

T,
Where do you typically access the CT River?  I've done the live shiner thing.  Very productive.

  There's something about the color combination of red and white that pickerel and pike can't resist.  Back when I was a kid, wading in shallow water one day, I happened to notice what looked like a torn piece of an old paper drinking cup laying on the bottom.  That piece of waxed paper cup had a red and white swirl pattern on it; probably the Coke or Pepsi logo.  My foot disturbed it, it fluttered up off the muddy bottom, and then, right in front of me, here comes this pickerel - probably 16 inches long or so - and grabs that red and white piece of paper cup and swims away with it!
   I've sworn by those red and white Daredevils ever since.  Not just for pike and pickerel; the Daredevil has been one of the most consistently productive lures in my tackle box for for just about any species other than catfish.  There are plenty of red and white imitators, but the original Daredevils seem have the best action and casting weight.

Lower right is - I think - a very old "River Runt", before they went plastic. Right above it is what looks like an original Helin "Flatfish".  And the "Jitterbug", or course.  Cast out onto a glass-calm lake in the dark, wait a few seconds, give it a gentle tug and hear that pulsating gurgle, and SPLOP! - a big large-mouth inhales it.  Lots of wonderful memories there.

Chris, you're right on the colors. I have a 710 that's a dark green like the early 700. My 710 was given to me around '72.  My dads 704 is about the same vintage and is the blue shade like yours. Word was Penn wanted to be sure the 704 looked different than the 700 since mechanically it had been improved.
They are a staple.

Love those old lures. I have some of the same ones.

And the old advertisements.

You Connecticut boys should get one of these.

and it can double as a good buddy antenna.    cawmawwn

One last vintage fishing thing I overlooked.  The tackle box.  Older than me at 60+ years.

And who can forget the Eagle Claw guy.  I hope he received residuals!

T


And the mystery tornado chaser Tron-mobile.

Yea, that dude should be a millionaire. I have an old pack of those hooks. They were part of a tackle box I bought at a yard sale.

I recall seeing those type of tackle boxes when I was a kid. Nice heirloom there Bob.

Got this classic Pflueger Summit. That's why I was looking at steel rods.

that is one really cool looking reel!

It really is. Nothing like this is made today! I took it apart, cleaned and lubed it. Smooth as butter.

It's been 3 years since fishing last for me.  Just bought the license a few minutes ago.  This thread has got me hooked.  No pun intended.  Even took a trip to one of the CT popular trout rivers (Salmon River) not far from the QTH.  Many throwing flies this morning.  

Bob,
I drove by in Colchester the other day and it seemed packed, looking from RT2 or River Road.  I may get my license too. I take Yaz out paddling in my fishing kayak so might as well fish.  The CT River is always exciting and kinda treacherous in a way, so it doubles the fun.  (Especially now that it's flooded) Shad peak soon in late Apr/May in Windsor using beads or the spinners.    A pail of shinners from the guy down the street will be quite the ticket for all kinds of fishing.

Steve...  it was all Mitchell 300s for freshwater and the Penn reels for salt water when I was a kid. Those made you the channelmaster. Glad you are really into it.  Who knows, planting a "Victory Garden" and keeping our fishing catches may become mainstream again.

T

Good to hear you boys are getting back into it. Lots of fun and a change of pace (usually). And you can take photos too.  ;D

I'm looking at getting an old Mitchell 300. Gotta have a vintage spinning combo to balance out the vintage baitcasting rigs I have now.  :D

Was out today. Caught 24. This crappie had his tuxedo on.

Got my power back late yesterday afternoon.  What a crazy storm.

Tom,
I went down River Rd. (the dirt portion) that runs parallel to Salmon River on Sunday just to do a stroll.  It wasn't to bad people wise.  Wish I had my gear with me. I would have taken a shot.  My next stroll will be going down the other side of Rt. 16 heading toward Moodus. There are some spots where one can access the river there too but they are limited compared to River Rd.  Have you ever kayaked down toward the dam?  I've seen 4WD'ers driving down the river. I find that so wrong. I don't know how that is allowed especially with the sensitivity of the salmon population unless it's being done illegally.

I like having a few shiners to toss around.  They make for good fishing.  I have used fake earth worms on a bobber. Even though they are "dead", bass and pickerel suck them up.

Nice fish, Steve.  Glad to see you're having fun.  Would be nice to see some green on our trees like you have.  

I am a converted Fly Fisherman, but just put up another antenna with my Bass Rod.

My dad never fished which was a sin, because I was brought up just north of the Adirondacks. My uncle decided to teach my cousin and I to fish, so he bought us cheap rods and a pack of Daredevil Lures. This was 1973. The catch was that we had to go some place where fish still liked Daredevil Lures to learn! So he talked our parents into taking us on a cross Canada trip in his Winnebago for 6 weeks. I was 16 and my cousin was 14. So my first experiences were catching Trout on The Alaska highway in the Yukon Territory in lake Kluane, and in Alaska and Salmon on The Kenai Peninsula. We caught Arctic Grayling, Dolly Varden, Whitefish, Char and 2 kinds of Salmon on those stupid Daredevils! 

Later on I learned Bass fishing in South Florida while at Motorola. You kind of had to fish to be social. That was all Texas style Rubber worm fishing, which was all the rage in the1980's.

But it was my year off in Bozeman Montana in 1983 that got me onto Fly Fishing. They laughed at me with my Bass Rods. Yes the XYL and I took a year off when we were both 26 and no kids yet.
To be fair we both got part time jobs there, money saved already, and we had zero debts. I feel for the kids today.

Tight lines and wires! WU2D

Michael,
That's a fishing trip many dream about myself included.  I watch videos from time to time about fishing trips into the back country and want to do the same thing.  There's some really cool stuff.   Thanks for sharing that.  Way cool!

Bob

Wow Mike!  You’ve been a lucky guy to have had those experiences!

On the subject of fishing videos, which I highly recommend as an antidote to overexposure to COVID news coverage, check out all the surfcasting ones available on YouTube.  There’s a young guy who goes by the name Fishaholic who puts up some great ones, mainly from Montauk, up here in nearby RI, and New Jersey.  Many others as well from all over the world.  Those from the UK are very interesting.  Some of the surfcasters over there use REALLY long rods, they make the 11.5 footers I use look like Barbie kiddie rods in comparison!

Great stories Mike! Smart move taking time off when you were young, especially for outdoor activities!

Used a vintage combo I recently acquired for the first time today - a Garcia Mitchell 300 (actually a 301 since I'm a lefty) and a Garcia Conolon 2508. I haven't tracked down the exact ages but these both existed at least as long ago as the early 60s. I tore down, cleaned and lubed the reel. The rod was almost mint. Lots of fun pulling in 10 gills and shell crackers. This light action rod really bends!

All of my reel handles are on the left side -  and I'm a righty??   I don't get it.


T

OK, I see. The 301 uses the right hand side for a lefty... interesting.  It's all about using your best arm for casting the rod, not reeling it in.

T

On spinning reels. Baitcasters it's the exact opposite. Go figure.

Get ya one off eBay and relive your childhood! They are super easy to work on and parts are still available. I'm not reel mechanic and I was able to tear down, clean, lube and reassemble the 301 in less than an hour.

  Here is the perfect vintage outfit for those pesky Bluegills or Crappies (we referred to them Calico Bass in MA)

A pair of vintage Penn 14/0's  with 800 yards of 130 Lb Mono on them; just in case they give you a hard time. The only time I use these now is for shark fishing. Nothing quite says "fish on" like the clicker going on one of these guys going off at full steam. Always loved the colorful crank handles on the vintage Penn stuff. Just for a size comparison, My ocean city 76 Fly Reel is in the picture. Has all the markings on it for silk line. I use this with a rebuilt Leonard 9' Bamboo Fly rod that was shortened. There was only the second section and two tips, so I turned it into a nice 6' Brookie rod by mounting a grip and reel seat to the second section.

  Always have lots of fun using vintage rods and reels. Enjoying reading this thread.

Steve

I have a large collection of rods and reels too many.  Over 100 rods and probably 130 reels.  I'm left handed so I have many Mitchell reels 301, 309, 305 and right handed 300, some 300 are nos never used.  Did a little fishing earlier today.  Trying to use some of this gear a lot of which is new never used.

The interesting thing with bait casters is the regular model is for left handed fisherman.  Right handed fisherman have to have the odd model.  Otherwise you would cast with your right arm and then move the rod to your left hand.

Probably haft of my stuff is for salt water about 40 Penn reels  Mitchell bait casters,  Penn rods Ugly Sticks, St Croix, Lamiglass and others.  The rest is for fresh water.

At my age I'll never live long enough to use all this stuff.

Happy fishing

Fred

Wow, those are some BIG reels there Steve. I'm going the opposite direction with the ultralight stuff.

Fred, that's what many right-handers do with a bait caster, switch hands. I don't have to do that! Sounds like you have an impressive collection. Post some pics.

Fired up the other Apache today. Caught 41 fish with it.

Finally got down on the water this week a couple of times.  Can’t fish my favorite RI beaches and breachways, out-of staters are not permitted at this point to fish from shore, either fresh or salt, in RI.  Been casting from a small CT state reservation about a half mile from home on the CT side of the Pawcatuck River, stripers are in there chasing herring and shad runs.  None this morning though.  Was more of a casting practice session with a couple of the big Murat 11.5 footers and Penn 704 Greenies, and some wooden Gibbs pencil poppers and a Danny swimmer.

Well that’s the first time that’s happened - both the posted thumbnail and the full sized image display upside down, usually the thumbnail is upside down and the full size flips to righ side up!

Chris,  
something I have wondered about; for those who have purchased all water fishing licenses are anglers prohibited from using their licenses on the shoreline as well?

Regarding the upsidedown picture, the image tied to the link is upside down in an image viewer as well.

Not exactly sure what you mean by an all water fishing license..in CT we purchase, or get for free if over after age 65, a fresh water license and a salt water license.  To fish in RI as a CT resident, you would normally only need to purchase a RI out of state fresh water license, there is reciprocity between CT and as far as I know all adjacent states, NY, MA, and RI, your CT salt water license is all that is needed to fish on the salt in the adjacent states, perhaps in other states as well.  Fresh water is another story, as a CT resident you need to purchase a RI non resident fresh water license.  I suppose if you didn’t want to buy a fresh and salt license for your home state of CT your could buy a RI salt water non resident license as well as the fresh water one, or just the salt water one by itself.

But the present prohibition on out of state residents fishing on RI shores and beaches apparently has nothing to with whether or not you have purchased a license.  It all has to do with the RI governor’s order that all out of date residents entering RI for any purpose other than their work there must quarantine for two weeks on entry.  The RI DEM web site says that non-residents that hate entered the state and completed their two week quarantine can fish in RI.  But someone like me, who lives less than a mile from the RI border and has for over 40 years done about 90 percent of our shopping and 90 percent of our medical appointments and treatments in RI and has not been prohibited from doing so during the current COVID crisis, can’t fish there.  M

I wonder if RI will refund any money to out of staters who might have purchased RI non resident fishing licenses for the entire year already and now are prohibited from using them.  I was planning to purchase a RI sand pass to take my Tacoma on RI beaches this year, where out of state residents pay an additional 100 dollars over the 100 dollars paid by residents.  Sure glad I haven’t bought it yet, and wondering if they will pro-rate any of that 100 dollar out of state surcharge if and when the beaches are re-opened to out of staters.

DEEPs Allwater License is  a combined fresh and saltwater license for CT residents.  Saves the buyer $10 if purchased together.  

My saltwater fishing is shore or surf fishing mostly from Waterford and  E. Lyme on the town and state beaches.  Some of the town beaches are closed to the public but just was wondering if that applied to residents who fish in CT especially at dawn and dusk. 

 

I sold the boat years ago to buy a house.  Wish I never did that.

OK Bob.  Understand what you are talking about now.  Since I’m an official old fart now, (65 and over) the 10 buck discount for the CT all water license is a moot point because there’s no charge for either fresh or salt  licenses for me!

Re restrictions here in CT, I don’t think there are any state imposed ones,  other than maintains the usual social DXing.  Fishermen have always been social DXers.  Just try starting to cast close to another surf fishermen’s established spot on a beach, and God forbid cross his line with your cast and see how that goes!  Just like calling CQ on 3880 with a big signal when there’s a QSO on 3885!  On breachway rock walls which might get busy during a striper blitz, the social norm is to do a rotation along the wall giving everyone a shot at the better spots along it.  But sometimes things get fouled up by people bottom fishing for little scup (porgies) on the same spot for hours on end and don’t care about giving other’s a chance.

I would think the CT DEEP web site would have the latest requirements posted.  As far as local restrictions, I would check local town websites.  The spot near me here is a very small state reservation and the only sign there is the one that’s always been there stating no night parking except for fishermen.  I like that sign!

Hi Chris,
I was thinking the same thing about fisherman social distancing style.  It's a natural.  I see it when driving through Salmon River State Forest even without the COVID crisis and folks just naturally being apart to prevent line snagging. Opening day is another story.   Maybe my fears of shoreline access are unfounded at least with state beaches. Local might be different.

First fish of the season!  Nice little schoolie striper about a foot long.  Was a nice play on the old light action 7 foot Murat Custom rod, and my very non-vintage Shimano Sustain 3000HG, a very nice small reel that was my pick from my 45 year service award gift catalog.  First time I’ve used the rod and new reel ever. 

They had another Shimano reel in the retirement gift catalog,but when I tried to order it, it was no longer available, so Diane got a very nice ladies sport style analog dial watch instead.  She certainly deserves it for putting up with the all the extended  overtime, no weekends off for months, and extended work travel over the years!  She was all for me initially going for the second reel by the way.

Chris AJ1G Stonington

Came across this website while researching how to (successfully) free up a stuck drag on a relatively early Mitchell 306 (pre-Garcia-Mitchell) spinning reel.

https://mitchell-collectors-international.org/

Mitchell Collecters International - has extensive history, catalogs, and photo galleries of the Mitchell line of spinning reels. Back in the 50s and 60s, Mitchell and Penn were the predominant manufacturers of spinning reels before the Japanese product lines  hit the market.   

Those Greenies are classics! Very nice.

I would argue that Airex was the predominant spinning reel manufacturer starting in the later 40s through the early and probably mid-50s. Not sure when they faded out but their 1955 catalog has about 8 different reels and probably 20 rods, plus line, tackle and other equipment. They were either started by or closely associated with Bache Brown, who is considered the father in spinning fishing in America. Interesting history.