# What was your first rod & reel???



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

i borrowed alot of my dad's stuff when i was really young, lots of mitchells and z series penns... but MY first combo was a penn 712z, on a 6'6" fenwick custom wrapped... i remember fishing off a dock in hoffman bayou one time when i was around 6 and having a live shrimp on my hook... i set the rod down on the dock, with the shrimp hanging in the water... went to go get a drink, and heard 2 splashes, 1 was a fish exploding on the shrimp, and the other was the combo flying off the dock... i swam around that dock for 3 hours and eventually got it back... my dad would have been red hot if i had lost it...

i have that combo hanging on my wall... lots of good memories.


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

Van Staal


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Splittine (9/12/2009)*Van Staal


you lie round eye.


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## GENTLE WOLF (Aug 19, 2009)

Don't remember specifically but a sure bet mine was a Zebco 202 combo. Those were the days, a $12 combo and I was good to go. Now days I spend that on a pack of hooks.


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## FISHBOXFULL (May 9, 2008)

> *GENTLE WOLF (9/12/2009)*Don't remember specifically but a sure bet mine was a Zebco 202 combo. Those were the days, a $12 combo and I was good to go. Now days I spend that on a pack of hooks.


+1, anyone who won't admit to a Zebco 202 or 33 is not a real fisherman!!


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## Tyler Windham (May 5, 2009)

My choice for my 5th Bday was either a Zebco 33 or and good fly rod n reel combo.. 

I still use that combo to flyfish Tensaw River when the Willow Flies hatch in the Summer to catch bass and bluegillwith my grandfather. Brings back lots of memories!!:toast


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## FishnLane (Oct 1, 2007)

Zebco202 (still have it and proud of it.)


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

My first "rod and reel" was a Zebco 77. The reel was made with the rod. My grand parents gave it to me. :reallycrying I was around 9 years old. That was 48 years ago. I think I still have that old rod and reel.

Sea-r-cy


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## kingling (Apr 10, 2008)

my first one was a penn 706 on a gator blank


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## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

33


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## firefighter14 (Aug 22, 2009)

Zebco 202 with a johnny walker rod, man that was probably forty years ago but remember it like yesterday.


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## Snagged Line (Sep 30, 2007)

Popeil Pocket Fisherman.("AS SEEN ON TV")....................Still Have it


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

my first one was a screw together cane pole which i no longer have

here is my first rod and REEL: a 1960 model bronson dart no. 905 with a glass lite rod


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

> *kingling (9/12/2009)*my first one was a penn 706 on a gator blank


You didnt do much fishing huh. Cant really fish with a blank.


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

> *Splittine (9/12/2009)*Van Staal


and you my friend havent been fishing that long. Van Staal's havent been out but what max 10 years.


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## kingling (Apr 10, 2008)

> You didnt do much fishing huh. Cant really fish with a blank.


ive caught quite a few fish on it 

btw it is wrapped


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

Zebco 606 on a no-name 5 1/2' solid glass rod. Moved up to a Mitchell 300 on a Mitchell Conolon rod after a few years.


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## eodryan (Mar 4, 2009)

Zebco 202, and then a Zebco bullet was the first reel I really used a lot. The rod was whatever was attached to it at Walmart or where ever my Dad got it. Used to tear up the blue gills.


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## Maps (Apr 18, 2008)

Zebco 202. Caught bluegills, croakers and then a 18" shark. 

First "real" reel was a Mitchell 302 combo with a 8' surf rod from Biggs sporting goods....ya know what?

I'm gettin old.


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## gcrbama (May 3, 2008)

K Mart Zebco Combo today i would never let my kids roam the neighborhood. back then me and my friends would wake up before light and go to the pier in bear point and spend a few hours fishing with cut squid. my mom was such a sport she would clean and fry up muddy catfish and pinfish for us to pick at for our lunch that we had caught. flashback!!!!!!!!!!!!!! growing up sux


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## jigslinger (Sep 30, 2007)

Zebco 202, then 404. Then I got my first spinning combo, a little Heddon reel on a 6 foot rod. Caught a 2 lb. bass on my first cast with it on a red fliptail worm. The good old days...


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## dsar592 (Oct 12, 2007)

Zebco 33 Man I can remember going to Dauphin Island and slaying the flounder. That zebco 33 would haul them in. Now with my 50 - 100 dollar rods I still am not catching more fish. Guess i need to dig out the ol zebco.


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## flats stalker (Oct 2, 2007)

cane pole my grand dad made,its shot all to hell but is stiill in my dads shop.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

i figured alot of people would say zebco!!!

i rember the first (real) fish i caught on my combo.... my dad was about to go on a 4 day hitch on a commercial boat and i was catching pinfish at the moorings for him,,, when all of a sudden this little rat red came up and ate my bait...

dang that was a long time ago.


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## stcold4506 (Oct 15, 2008)

Zebco 33 with the rod it came on from Otasco. Wish I still had it, but the other day I actually bought a vintage 33 on ebay for sentimental reasons ($10.50 shipped) and got the kids two 202's to start them off until they get good enough for something more advanced. I figure they should start just like I did. Caught PLENTY of fish with that 33 and it sure would cast way out there. Soon as I get this one stuck to a rod, I'm gonna re-live some old good times! These 202's aren't built like they used to be, I guess none of the Zebcos are - mostly plastic now. The one I got on ebay was alot cheaper than a new one at walmart and it;s made of metal, figure I got a good deal.


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## stcold4506 (Oct 15, 2008)

Also had an 808 (or was it an 888?) that used to slay the specks off the 3-mile bridge when you could fish off it. Nothing wrong with using those old amatuer reels if you ask me.


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

Cool Thread. 

Mine was a Johnson Century, on a glass rod. I saved my grass cutting money and bought it at Sears. 

My dad and I were crappie fishing on Lake Eaufala and I was casting a crappie jig with a white curly tail on it. I really think I was bothering him more than he thought I was contributing to our fishing efforts. Anyway, I was reeling the little jig in and got a big hit. I had never fought a fish that pulled that hard before, I mean drag and everything. I landed the fish and it was Hybrid Bass about 3lbs. We fished the next several weekends and I would cast that little jig with the same enthusiasum as the very next cast after catching that Hybrid. I think I would take that reel apart and clean it 5 times between fishing trips. 

Cool Thread, John. Thanks for the Great Read and Memories.


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

> *Pinksnappercatcher (9/12/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *Splittine (9/12/2009)*Van Staal
> ...


Hell yall call Stalls Zebco so I called my Zebco a Staal, my first reel was a Zebco 33 and I still have it and its still like a tank.


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## Emerald Ghost (Mar 11, 2008)

Man, that would be a classic Garbo question,..... and I remember it like it was yesterday. 

My first summer paycheck when I was 15 years old was for $31.00 and I went to the Eckerds at Fairfield Drive and Mobile Highway by the Golden Crown and purchased a Mitchell 300 spinning reel on a Shakespeare spinning rod for $14.00 and change. I still have the reel today.


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## KPL (Sep 27, 2007)

Great Thread...... Zebco 33 I think, the black one?????? Purchased by my Grand Paw, Thanks for the memories.....


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## cobe killer (Apr 13, 2008)

good ole zebco 202. caught my first redfish under the alabama point bridge when i was 5. he hit a pinfish while i was reeling him in. i'll never forget it. my son caught his first fish, a white trout, on a zebco snoopy pole when he was 3 at the bay front auditorium. man how the years have gone by.


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## cobe killer (Apr 13, 2008)

> *John B. (9/13/2009)*i figured alot of people would say zebco!!!
> 
> i rember the first (real) fish i caught on my combo.... my dad was about to go on a 4 day hitch on a commercial boat and i was catching pinfish at the moorings for him,,, when all of a sudden this little rat red came up and ate my bait...
> 
> *<U>dang that was a long time ago</U>*.


chickenbone...what do you mean, you ain't old enough to for anything to be a LONG TIME AGO!!!oke


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## Caffeine (Mar 16, 2009)

Zebco 202.. I was hell on the pinfish and bream.


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## Shiznik (Feb 24, 2008)

Can't remember, what ever model Zebco was out in the late 60's. As I got older, upgraded to a Mitchell 302. I can remember getting those premade leaders that always had tons of shiny metal pieces on them.


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## seacapt (Oct 1, 2007)

202


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## jpotesta (Apr 20, 2008)

> *John B. (9/12/2009)*i borrowed alot of my dad's stuff when i was really young, lots of mitchells and z series penns... but MY first combo was a penn 712z, on a 6'6" fenwick custom wrapped... i remember fishing off a dock in hoffman bayou one time when i was around 6 and having a live shrimp on my hook... i set the rod down on the dock, with the shrimp hanging in the water... went to go get a drink, and heard 2 splashes, 1 was a fish exploding on the shrimp, and the other was the combo flying off the dock... i swam around that dock for 3 hours and eventually got it back... my dad would have been red hot if i had lost it...
> 
> 
> 
> i have that combo hanging on my wall... lots of good memories.




so John Im guessing you didnt get the fish since you left that part of the story out of it??


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

oooh hell no Josh!


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## Chris Phillips (Oct 1, 2007)

I used dads for several years before I got my own, but I know my first very own was a Penn 712z on a custom rod wrapped by Outcast B & T! I caught a many of fish on that rod and reel and still have it around somewhere...


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## Catfish Hunter (Oct 17, 2007)

I had a Zebco 33 Classic and a Zebco Bullet. This thread brings back some great memories.


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

Snoopy.


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## User6882 (Feb 4, 2009)

714z on a custom fenwick


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Christmas 1959








Combo


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## riptide2250 (Jan 2, 2008)

zebco 202 combo bought from tg&y


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## mpmorr (Oct 3, 2007)

33 and an old shakespeare my brother gave to me.


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## Tyler Massey (Oct 2, 2007)

The very first reel i ever had was a Johnson push button reel but when i was about 6 or so I got a penn 714z on a fenwick rod that i still have and sometimes use.


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## billyk (Nov 15, 2007)

I have no idea the brand, believe it was a "Fishing Machine" It was a collapsable rod, with a "built in reel", that sounded like a pepper grinder trying to grind up a brick. 

Had that for many years. My Dad got me a Shimano bait caster, I forget the model, when I was in high school, I saved for a long time to get a nice rod for it !! I wish I still had it, got lost in one of my many moves when I joined the Army


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## Capt. Myles Colley (Mar 12, 2008)

The first one I remember was a penn 420ss I got on my 4th birthday. I still have it and have probably caught more fish on it than any other reel I own.


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## brnbser (Oct 1, 2007)

first one I remember was a little fly rod my father bought for me and taught me to use, that's what he and my grandfather both did so that's what I wanted to learn to do.....no idea what kind or where it would be now......I figure I'm good just remembering what it was much less what kind and where the thing might be after 40 yrs.


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## konz (Oct 1, 2007)

Snoopy pole, fishing for blue gill............oh yeah!


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm not sure it was "just mine", but I started fishing with a South Bend Bass Oreno on a steel rod about 60 years and a lot of back lashes ago. It had nylon line that my Dad would take off the reel to dry after each trip. No anti reverse, brake, etc.


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## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

202 combo from Woolco or Woolworth....can't remember which.


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## Downtime2 (Sep 27, 2007)

202 combo....solid glass rod from Western Auto. (after lots of cane poles)


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## Pourman1 (Oct 4, 2007)

Zebco 202 combo ... caught MANY Fish on that thing when Innerarity Point wasn't on the map yet :letsdrink


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Zebco Mickey Mouse series. I caught my first fish on it whenI was 3.


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## James Fink (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Pinksnappercatcher (9/12/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *Splittine (9/12/2009)*Van Staal
> ...


Probably more like 17-18 years...


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

> *James Fink (9/14/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *Pinksnappercatcher (9/12/2009)*
> ...


Thanks for the correction, 

Have the really been out 17 years? I didnt think so but i have been wrong before. Like once maybe twice.


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## collinscraft2 (Sep 11, 2009)

My dad always bream fished with 8' fly rods and automatic reels. We caught alot of fish in Escambia and Tensaw. The first one I bought was a 33 and then a shakespherespinnging combo. I thought I would never need another reel. My Dad passed away last month and I sure miss fishing with him. Now my brother and I fish alot more together now. We have Das 14' collins craft river boat and I just got the mold to build his boat came out of. Thinking about building a few river boats. I have pictures of Dad on the pensacola beach pier in probably 1969 or so with 2 nice ling.


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## fisherboy20 (Jun 3, 2009)

zebco 202 :takephoto


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

Way Cool Read


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

Carbon Fiber 706 on a Carbon fiber rod.

I would post pictures but its kinda confidential, it is pretty badass.


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## MGuns (Dec 31, 2007)

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">An old Mitchell 300 combo around 1965 I believe.


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## chevymangabe (Mar 22, 2010)

My first one was an old school Rat-L-Trap rod with some kind of zebco spincast reel...Now i got the new Abu Garcia Ambassadeur Revo S on a 7' All Star rod...wouldn't trade that combo for nothin'.


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## TURTLE (May 22, 2008)

> *FISHBOXFULL (9/12/2009)*
> 
> 
> > *GENTLE WOLF (9/12/2009)*Don't remember specifically but a sure bet mine was a Zebco 202 combo. Those were the days, a $12 combo and I was good to go. Now days I spend that on a pack of hooks.
> ...


*Same here, Zebco.*

*And Splitine, Where in the Hamptons did you grow up?*


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## fish4ever (Jan 6, 2010)

This brought me back....... mine was a Zebco 202 combo as well. My grandmother bought it for me at western Auto. They lived on a river and I would spend the summer and fish every day from sun up to sundown. :usaflag:usaflag:usaflag

Mike:usaflag


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

> *TURTLE (3/26/2010)*
> 
> 
> > *FISHBOXFULL (9/12/2009)*
> ...


$80 for the reel and $50 to have it dipped in carbon fiber.


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

zepco snoopy rod and real, loved it


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## ilander (Oct 2, 2007)

Pflueger supreme on a 5' steel rod. Used that black braid line. Had 1 lure I could cast, a zorro spook about 8" long. In several years I think I caught 4 or 5 bass but they were all big ones. :clap


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Mine was a Shakespeare Wonder rod and a D.A.M. Quick. That was in about 1960. My next two reels were Mitchell 300 and then a 306. For Snook fishing at night at Sebastian Inlet with my Pops.


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Mine was a Zebco as well. What ever the cheapest combo they had was it. As a matter of fact my grand daughter's first rod is a little Zebco Hana Montana rod and reel combo. She loves it too.


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## timeflies (Oct 3, 2007)

shakespeare spinning combo from kmart for 17.00. Caught a lot of fish with it too. We used zebcos for years, but that shakespeare was the first rod that was "mine".


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## steve-o (Jun 8, 2008)

zebco 33 the trout slayer freshwater


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## pmurphy (Aug 24, 2009)

I can't really remember my first rod and reel but I would have to guess a Zebco 33. The first rod and reel I remember using that was mine was a Zebco Bullet on a Rhino pole. I caught a lot of fish on it but one day I lost a HUGE red because the drag had been messing up on the reel. He made a last ditch run right at the boat and broke the line. I never used that real again. Went out and bought an Abu Garcia baitcaster the next day. Haven't used a push button since. BTW good job on a Garbo like post. I read the title and you had me fooled.


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## reel stripper 29 (Aug 19, 2009)

Zebco 303 a fish took it right out of the boat when i was pissing guess i had the wrong rod in my hand.


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## Grouper Snupper (Mar 8, 2008)

I will neverforget my first rod and reel, I save up my own money for three months cutting grass in the neighbor hood, talk about feeling old, we got a $1.50 for a regular yard and a $1.75 for a corner lot. I dont know if anyone on here has ever heard of the store I bought it from, it was in Jacksonville, and the store waslike a K-mart store,but it was called JM Fields. The combo was a 6'6" yellow Egale Clawmedium action rod, and the reel wasa made in France Mitchell 300 spinning reel. I bought it when I was like 12 or13 it was a whopping $19.78, boy being 53 now sure seems like a long time ago.Guys, Is it amazing that nobody in the world made a spinning reel that had a sweeter sounding drag when it was screeming then the made in France spinning reels. My Dad lived out off of Ten mile rd, we lost him 3 years ago, and he left me a made in france Mitchell 488 spinning reel, the drag sounds just like my 300 sounded but just alot louder. That is got to be one of the largest spinning reels I have ever seen, I dont know what I am going to do with it. Man that Mitchell300combo sure brings back some greatmemories


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## xl883lo (Oct 24, 2007)

Mine was a cheapo Sears and Roebuck combo......it had a white fiberglass rod with a red reel that looked like one of those green Johnson Centuries. When I was about 8 I took it to Panama City and fished in the surf with it.......sucker rusted rock solid and I had to toss the reel. used the rod for another 10 years and went through about 3 or 4 Zebco 202's.....it's probably still in my dads basement somewhere.


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## Bonsaifishrman (Mar 17, 2009)

My first reel was zebco 202 on a solid glass rod. Nasty thing was always gumming up on the line. Take it apart, straighten out the line, reel it all back in and try to cast out again further, because the big ones were always out further just waiting to bite my hook. I just knew it. But to my frustration, it would gum up again. My friend Bobby just got his new black 33 (303?) and it would cast further and sweeter than anything going. It would hardly ever gum up. (We spent a lot of time ungumming the line on these reels). Some kids were experts. All I caught was tiny bluegill. We had more fun with Zorro fights with our rods like swords than fishing sometimes. Yall did ittoo! I think my 202 came from Kresges 5 and 10.

I finally got a 33. What a dream. I rigged up small frogs and would pitch them way out there and would have the biggest Northern Pike hook ups. Don't recall ever landing any but a fun time with all the stalking and water racket from the Pike strikes. Later on got to fish with my moms Shakespeare bale reel combo on a 7' hollow glass rod. What a thrill to fish with that rod. This was in the late 50's and early 60's. 

I also used to lay on the floor in front of the tv in the evenings and look through my fathers, Herters jamb packed full of stuff catalog and dream of all the sports type things I would buy and do when I had the money.


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## ironman172 (Sep 28, 2007)

my first was a cane pole, I would use when we went to Canada on our family vacations...but the first real reel was a zebco 33 an old classic...then a mitchel 300 what a good reel and still is...I can't remeber the rods just the reels....

I use to find fishing line and an old hook laying around the docks and a piece of sapling from a tree and would use that to catch bluegills and perch at the docks....till my Mom shamed my Dad into letting us use the can poles or rods after a while:doh


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

A zebco mickey mouse combo. I still have a picture with me and my first fish (bluegill), the pole and a pair of mickey mouse ears on top of my head. I was 3, give me a break


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## TwoLaughingLabs80 (Mar 24, 2010)

Dont feel bad I have a picture with me and a Snoopy rod.... I guess its better than Barbie???


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

Zebco 77. I still have it 50 years later.:bowdown Sea-r-cy


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