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Overview
Vintage fishing reels are great to collect and, in some cases, to use on those special fishing trips. Many people buy these reels for nostalgia purposes, or simply because they like them. Others find that they just work better, and they appreciate the way they were manufactured.
Types
There are many types of vintage reels. The most popular are Penn, Pfleugger, Shakespeare and ZEBCO, all of which are still manufactured today. Others that are no longer made or not as well known include Bronson, Ocean City, ABU and MItchell. Winchester also made fishing reels at one time.
History
There are websites, books and articles dedicated to vintage reels. A lot of hard-core fishermen also consider them to be as valuable a collectible as baseball cards or cars.
Identification
Back several decades ago, many reels were extremely large. They had simple (by comparison) gear systems and larger drags. Many had a very simplistic exterior design as well. Most vintage reels are also black, aside from the Penn reels, which are often red. Another noticeable characteristic are the silver rivets that hold the reel case to the frames. Others have steel hand grips across the reel, as well with chromed steel reel cranks.
Grades
Vintage reels use a grading system, based on a scale of 1 to 10. The scale is based on aesthetic value (notated by an A in front of the number), so a rating looks like A9 or A10, and an M that refers to the mechanical value. An A10 grade means the reel is in near-mint condition but could have been taken out of the box. By comparison, an A5 grade means the reel has large chips and cracks on the surface, there is some pitting and corrosion and there are some parts that need to be replaced. An M10 grade means everything works perfectly. The M5 grade means the crank turns with difficulty and there are some broken gears.
Considerations
Vintage reels are a great collectible; however, they are not the best functioning reels out there. Vintage reels have less-sensitive drag systems and the gear systems are made with lower-quality steel. You can find very good vintage reels that are still in great condition, but they are rare. Most of these reels have corrosion and pitting on important parts that reduce the functionality and makes them likely targets for bigger problems down the road.
