What was/is your favourite piece of tackle that is no longer produced ??

[newtontoney 57]

Just for something different , what are peoples favourite all time pieces of fishing tackle that is no longer produced/made .

 

Can be RODS, REELS, HOOKS, MONO, SUNGLASSES ......ANYTHING !!

 

I will start it off by Saying Shimano Beastmaster 50/80 reels......

[outandabout 373]

USA built Penn Spinfisher reels

[lofty64 1,309]

I will say Shimano 4000oc       I haven't got one any more , but after reading this post have ordered one online , have caught some great fish on these reels .......

 

Don't remind me of good fishing gear , please , as my wallet tends to lighten......

 

 

    â€‹

[archerfish 685]

French-made Rublex Flopy Lures - made from moulded rubber and with an adjustable bib.

 

Cheers

af

[plankton 725]

I always find people's nostalgia for fishing gear interesting.

 

For me, I feel that current technology in rods and reels and everything else for that matter is the best it's ever been. At times a company will make changes to a good product and make it worse, but usually another company comes in and fills the niche with something even better.

 

I have had many bits of gear that I loved which are no longer available, but I can't think of a single example of where it hasn't been replaced by something better.

[dmck 627]

French-made Rublex Flopy Lures - made from moulded rubber and with an adjustable bib.

 

Cheers

af

 

 

AH.... rubber frenchies..............        I really did enjoy my youth.....

[newtontoney 57]

Plankton............would disagree with you in regards to some pieces of kit .........some kit ends up costing the manufacturer too much money (durable expensive components) so they stop manufacturing . not in all cases, but a few. In a few cases it may seem as though they have improved an item, but at times cheaper materials have been used in replacement to cut production cost. and a false sense of "improvement" is delivered to the buyer.  

[outandabout 373]

 

French-made Rublex Flopy Lures - made from moulded rubber and with an adjustable bib.

Cheers

af

 

 

 

AH.... rubber frenchies..............        I really did enjoy my youth.....

Not much good if you're Flopy though........

[outandabout 373]

Plankton............would disagree with you in regards to some pieces of kit .........some kit ends up costing the manufacturer too much money (durable expensive components) so they stop manufacturing . not in all cases, but a few. In a few cases it may seem as though they have improved an item, but at times cheaper materials have been used in replacement to cut production cost. and a false sense of "improvement" is delivered to the buyer.

 

The little sticker that says "made in China / Taiwan / Korea / Vietnam / Malaysia" is usually the give away..........

[lofty64 1,309]

Interesting topic , I have a Power rod one piece ,13 foot surf rod , I have had it for years and looking at the rod it states , ROD MADE BY LEN BUTTERWORTH ..........a very nice rod of the beach for salmon and casting etc . I have heard that there is also the same rods ....with the markings....MADE FOR LEN BUTTERWORTH     ......of less quality .....why when on a good thing change it by sending it over seas to gain more profit.....???......and lessen the quality .

[plankton 725]

I don't know why people always want to knock gear made in China, Malaysia, etc. It is a mistake to associate gear made in these locations with poor quality or cheaper materials. Those factories will make exactly what they are asked to make, which could be a cheap piece of crap or something very high-end. The reason things are produced there is to save on production and labour costs, and without that move most gear would cost way more than you would want to pay.

 

Everyone wrote off Penn when they moved most of their production to China, but they are producing some of the best gear ever. I have a few Slammer reels, some built in the US and one in China and there is no discernible difference in quality. The new Squall and Fathom reels are some of the best gear they have ever made, both completely produced in China.

 

Some of my favourite bombproof surf reels are the Daiwa Sealine X overheads which are made in Malaysia. They are an excellent value as well, but if they were made in Japan the cost would be much higher.

 

The Beastmaster 50/80 referred to in the original post was part of Shimano's first series of reels to use the XT-7 graphite body, which allowed large overheads to be much lighter and revolutionized the industry by using a lighter cheaper material. The larger reels in that series however were plagued by an issue with the drag pressure plate. They were made of a silicon material that naturally degraded over time, rendering the drag ineffective and filling the reel with the leftover sticky goo, which was difficult to fix. These were reels made in Japan. I have a smaller reel in the series, a 12/30, and it's a great little reel which fortunately had different material used in the pressure plate, but I can't tell any difference from the newer TLD 20 which replaced it. Shimano also no longer makes most of the bigger, wider reels from that frame material either as it can crack under higher drag settings, something that continues to be a problem with the TLD 50.

 

So what other examples have people got from their experience? Does this bias towards older gear or things made in certain countries have any basis in fact, or is it simply an emotional response?

[outandabout 373]

My response is based purely on personal experience with those little stickers.

I was given a Spinfisher 950 as a present........upon spooling it up,the reel was grinding.......took it with receipt to the store it was purchased from,exchanged no drama.

Asked for it to be checked...........same prob........he went through his entire stock,same prob.........took cash back instead.

 

Previously had an Okuma bait feeder reel.......epix 80 from memory.........seized up on its first run!

Back to the store,exchanged it with a small cash injection for a shimano baitrunner 6500 B

 

Tried a banax when they first hit our shores.........coffee grinder at best.

 

Many say that they are the exception rather than the rule,and they're better now...........fair enough.

But,you only get one chance at making a first impression........I've been burnt,but that's just me.

No more little stickers in my tackle box.

[Tinker 1,645]

Doesn't really bother me where my hardware is manufactured.

What does concern me is where I purchase it, which 99/100, will be my local tackle shop.

 

Having said that, my favourite bit of fishing kit would be either Cranka Crabs, or my Quantum Smoke PT25 reel.

No idea where they are made, I just know they work.

[newtontoney 57]

I dont think they are necessarily emotional responses Plankton......you have every right to your beliefs , but for me(and have tried and tested the following items) an older style made in the USA spinfisher is far superior to a modern  or chinese made one.   A Beastmaster is superior to a TLD.   All the modern day Abu's iv used over the years are @#$% compared to the older swedish models.And as for the squall and fathom by penn(iv also used these for a few years),im curious as to what makes you think these are some of the best pieces of kit penn has ever made ? Im not saying that all modern gear is no good, and isnt an improvement in technology ...but if you look into materials used in comparison, there will be different cheaper alternatives in alot of products being used.The technology may have advanced in some cases , but the materials used have changed for cheaper alternatives to cut production cost.And by using cheaper materials in a product you are  substituting a number of things in a product.

[newtontoney 57]

I dont want to turn this into an argument by the way hahahaa.....there is no right or wrong in regards to this subject. each to their own. 

[outandabout 373]

 

So what other examples have people got from their experience? Does this bias towards older gear or things made in certain countries

have any basis in fact, or is it simply an emotional response?

Plankton has made some very real and valid points in his statement,no denying that from me at all.

I like the old school type gear,and that's where we differ.......I had "bad experiences" with some of the newer stuff.........I concede that I was probably unlucky (story of my life really!) and got the "bad batch" etc etc,but that's all experience,good bad or indifferent,you learn from it.

I was asked to fact or emotion.........fact,but my opinion only.

No arguing from me!

Good topic though,and hearing some of the old gear that people loved brings a tear to my eye lol........

[plankton 725]

Definitely not an argument, just a good natured debate. Just like newtontoney and outandabout I'm not trying to offend anyone. At times I get frustrated by comments on forums where people make a claim but can't offer any evidence to back it up.

 

All three of us have shared some good personal experiences. To answer a couple questions, I have found the Squall series to be excellent casting reels right from the box that are lightweight but sturdy construction with strong reliable drag systems at a very reasonable price. Pretty much everything I want or need in a reel. In contrast I have used old Penn Squidders back in the US which many hold as the holy grail of overhead beach casters. I found them to be average at best, and the ones that were decent casting reels had been heavily modified.

 

In my experience with older Abu baitcasters, they are some of the best casting reels, even better when tweaked a bit, but the drags were utter crap. Any water or grease or salt that found there way into the fibre washer would either cause the lack of any drag pressure or worse a fully locked up drag. When Abu switched to carbon fibre drags 10-15 years ago it was a huge improvement. I don't know about the current models, but in reality I think that niche has been taken over by companies like Akios (made in Taiwan by Omoto).

 

Another thing about materials, I think in the old days a lot of gear was over-engineered, using materials that were unnecessary simply because they could. Now with resources becoming depleted it makes sense to downgrade the material of components where possible. All spin/threadline reel bodies were once made from metal, but for the majority of uses composite frames are perfectly fine and makes good sense.

 

Out of curiosity outandabout, if you don't have any of those little stickers on your gear, what sort of stuff are you using?

[lofty64 1,309]

Just have to add , I also have had abui s ,7000......9000......yes the swedish older models , and they were great , I brought a abu 7000 awhile back and although it is marked with china ...I have had no complaints with it .......and have caught some nice snapper with it.....cheers

 

 

and going back 35 years ago lol..lol I reckon one of the best reals were the MICHELLS      .......

[outandabout 373]

 

Out of curiosity outandabout, if you don't have any of those little stickers on your gear, what sort of stuff are you using?

USA built Spinfisher and Senators

Swedish built ABU

Aussie built Alvey

And a couple of Shimano baitrunner Japanese built

[adamibinfishin 224]

Interesting subject this one. The list could be endless. Sometimes you need to really thrash a product and only realize once it's gone that it's a true classic especially when the newer replacement doesn't measure up.

Couple of items come straight to mind like the dual blend composite 540 sabres, saltiga z series pre mag oil reels, stella gold sw series. Shame they changed both these models to be honest.

Nearly forgot. Also use a little shimano bantam 10x that I bought when I was a kid. Still wish they made these also.

Cheers

[smokeykebab 175]

My response is based purely on personal experience with those little stickers.

I was given a Spinfisher 950 as a present........upon spooling it up,the reel was grinding.......took it with receipt to the store it was purchased from,exchanged no drama.

Asked for it to be checked...........same prob........he went through his entire stock,same prob.........took cash back instead.

 

Previously had an Okuma bait feeder reel.......epix 80 from memory.........seized up on its first run!

Back to the store,exchanged it with a small cash injection for a shimano baitrunner 6500 B

 

Tried a banax when they first hit our shores.........coffee grinder at best.

 

Many say that they are the exception rather than the rule,and they're better now...........fair enough.

But,you only get one chance at making a first impression........I've been burnt,but that's just me.

No more little stickers in my tackle box.

You should see the punishment my epix 80s been through. Still going strong 5 years plus of heavy use.

[Knackers 696]

Swedish made ABU, definitely. I have a chinese made 9000 and it has been surprising good. Had a chinese made 7000 and what a piece of crap. Threw it away.

 

USA made Penns. The Chinese made versions are absolute crap. Had the anti reverse break on a 9500 version. They are crap, crap, crap.

 

I miss a Fenwick glass boat rod I had. It was rated at 20 lb but you could catch KGW on it all day and then catch 25lb snapper on it no worries. Original Sabre blanks I miss as well.

[plankton 725]

Interesting that many have had issues with Chinese made Spinfishers. Are these the newer Spinfisher V model or the previous ones? I have not used one of them in years, my dad had quite a few of the older US versions and they were always great. Since I've been buying my own gear I've opted for Slammers over Spinfishers, and the Chinese one I own is fine. My only issue with the newer Chinese Penns I own is the colour of the gold anodized parts, it's much darker and gaudy looking than the older stuff.

 

I only own one Senator, a US made 4/0 that was originally Dad's, and I don't expect I'll ever need to replace it, but it's good to know these exist just in case.

 

http://www.pennfishing.com/penn-reels-conventional-reels-penn-senator/penn-us-senator/1347900.html#sz=16&start=18

 

Interesting that Penn Australia doesn't sell any model of Senator these days, Chinese or otherwise.

[outandabout 373]

My issues were with the 950s,the one that took on after the 9500ss...........I've never used the V series models

[Knackers 696]

The problem with Chinese made gear is you never know what you are getting. The "company", Jarden internation, that is Penn, ABU, Berkely and Shakespear  or whatever put out tenders to make X amount of reels. I'm pretty sure they don't even have a factory anymore. Manufacturing companies then bid to make the reels. So one Penn/ABU or whatever will be made by a different factory year to year/batch to batch. That is why quality and materials used is hit and miss. Normally you can't tell and buy on good faith then after a bit of use the problems come out. That is why I had one epix baitfeeder that seized after about a year of use, it had crap bearings in it that all rusted, but my little Salina II is actually quite good.

 

I've learnt my lesson now and only buy Daiwa and Shimano reels when the others die.

[ludaqryz 290]

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