It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 20:35


New Topic Add Reply
Author Message
Post 14 Apr 2018, 09:35 • #1 
Sport
Joined: 02/28/13
Posts: 39
Location: US-IL
I'd like to know everything anyone can tell me about the Sheakespeare 2052's and the 2062's. It's hard to do any research on my small tablet. I could not come up with much before I made the purchase from the big auction site. I have been looking for a nice small classic reel that was not abused and didn't require a small loan to buy. I know enough to know that the 2052 is considered an ultralight and the 2062 is a med/heavy. I found a 2052dc in mint condition with box and papers. I also stumbled apon a 2062da NIB. Decided to buy both. I think the 2062 is larger than my current needs but I could not pass it up. Any info on these two reels would be greatly appreciated! I even had a hard time finding any old advertisements and catalogs online to get info from.

I should add that these will be for fishing, not collecting.


Top
  
Quote
Post 14 Apr 2018, 23:39 • #2 
Sport
Joined: 10/17/14
Posts: 68
Location: US-PA
Well, these are my opinions, others may disagree. With these reels, its just about all good. The only bad thing I can think of is the bail roller, I seem to remember a roller rusting on me a long time ago, but the 2052 I've been fishing with has been fine.

One thing to remember is that these reels were made when people were expected to keep their reels serviced, make sure to keep them lubed. The drags are excellent, I read somewhere once that 2062's were the favored bonefish reels because of their drag, but they need regular maintenance, yearly, maybe more if you use them heavy.

A possible concern is the plastic spool on the 2052, there are stories of monofilament destroying plastic spools, but I don't know if this extends to the 2052 or not. I'm not worried about it happening with my reel.

The 2062 always seemed an odd size reel to me, oversized for the line it seemed best suited for, so I never used it much. The 2052 is bigger than my idea of an ultralight, which I think of as an Alcedo Micron, Ofmer Mini or Orvis 50, but I think its perfect with 6# line for smallmouth or walleye, it will handle 4# line quite well too.

These reels are a joy to fish with, and I think much underrated. Except, maybe, for the Alcedo, I don't think anything made at the same time is any better than these. The only spinning reel I like fishing with more is the Alcedo. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

good fishing, Tim


Top
  
Quote
Post 16 Apr 2018, 13:48 • #3 
New Member
Joined: 01/26/16
Posts: 2
Location: US-MO
Been using one since 1972 for every thing from bluegill up through white bass and catfish also switch off and use a Mitchell 308 sometimes. Occasionally get some funny looks from the under 30 crowd about what I am using but then kudos from the 60+ guys who appreciate someone using old school equipment!


Top
  
Quote
Post 17 Apr 2018, 13:56 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/04/12
Posts: 705
Location: SE Pa
Excellent reels, same ultra smooth worm gear drive and spool oscillation method as the Penn Spinfishers but lighter in weight. Compare a 2062 with a Penn 712 or Mitchell 300 and you’ll see what I mean. The 2062 line rollers have a tendency to develop a ‘groove’ as they spin with the line but this is because the roller is in perfect alignment with the line. To solve this’ simply Bend the plate the roller’s pin is connected to so the roller has an 80 degree or so angle to the line instead of a 90 degree. The line will then ‘swipe’ a bit across the roller and not wear a groove.

This issue I haven’t figured out how to resolve is the anti reverse lever getting sloppy. It’s not spring loaded to stay in place on or off like most reels - rather is held simply by friction / tension.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s I would fish hard maybe 200 - 250 evenings - nights a year and really stress my equipment and never had any problems whatsoever with these. At one point, I actually wore both the little plastic grip your thumb & finger turns when reeling in - and also the axle / screw that the plastic grip spins on. I still the worn out parts. The reels have a classy look especially with a Wonderod.


Top
  
Quote
Post 19 Apr 2018, 09:00 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/04/12
Posts: 705
Location: SE Pa
I re-read my above post and thought I'd add a follow up note ..... I love my 2062 that I used for many years and still do use occasionally. But I do think the Penn 712 is a better reel. I've used mine for almost as long and caught everything from bass to flounder from the beach to even bluefish from party boats and never ever had a single hiccup. Not even a bail spring or line roller change needed - and I've used it HARD. And its finish doesn't even reflect the use and abuse (beach salt and blowing sand is terrible) that it has endured. It's almost like it heals itself. I just wish it was a bit lighter in weight.


Top
  
Quote
Post 20 Jul 2018, 23:54 • #6 
Sport
Joined: 07/07/17
Posts: 28
Location: US-IL
Hi Guys, I just bought a 2052 this week. I have a 2064 which is my favorite spin reel. I bought the 2052 'cause it seems like the same basic reel downsized. It's a user not a collector.

Jay Edwards


Top
  
Quote
Post 20 Nov 2019, 20:34 • #7 
Sport
Joined: 12/04/11
Posts: 72
Location: US-MI
Around 1964 I purchased my first decent open-faced spinning reel a Shakespeare 2065. Used it in a lot in fresh and saltwater. My sharpest memory of the reel was that when placed in almost any vehicle and subjected to a drive of more than 50 miles it tended to disassemble. The first thing to go would be the handle followed by the nut that held the roller assembly on the bail and finally the large screw that the bail pivoted on. This happened on virtually every long trip I ever took. I was not until I returned from Vietnam in 1969 that I moved on to a Mitchell 300 and the first thing I noticed was that the bail turned the opposite direction as the one on the Shakespeare. Today I seldom use a spinning reel though I am impressed with how quiet most are and the instant anti-reverse that most feature. My Coxe 25N's paired with early 6ft glass bait casters are my stock and trade,


Top
  
Quote
Post 23 Nov 2019, 07:20 • #8 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Hi Bill, always good to see you - we'd like to see you post some of your bait rods on the forum.


Top
  
Quote
Post 23 Nov 2019, 09:01 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Walleyjoe made a well-stated key point that is important for classic/"vintage" fly, spinning and casting reels: One thing to remember is that these reels were made when people were expected to keep their reels serviced; make sure to keep them lubed.

Some of the so-called "old school" types would put it more colorfully, as the firearms writer Jeff Cooper: "Only an idiot would want an idiot-proof product."

When I read that years ago, I was disgusted with myself for not thinking of it. So I checked if it was cribbed from the Maxims of Rochefoucauld. Best I could tell after modest research, it was original with Cooper. Part of what little new wisdom has been developed since 1950, and probably on the list to be rubbed out in favor of some inane platitude.

Thank goodness some of the reels are still around. There were a couple out in the neighbors' barn behind my house that I had my eye on. But I think they went to a huge estate sale where people pay way too much just for a scrap of faded red barn board.


Top
  
Quote
Post 24 Nov 2019, 11:00 • #10 
Sport
Joined: 12/04/11
Posts: 72
Location: US-MI
You've inspired me Mac to do some pics over the winter on early glass casting rods. Most of my research of late has been to assemble a chronological History of True Temper steel casting rods up through their first efforts in hollow glass. The reference above to the Shakespeare 1755 reel reminds me that I have recently recreated the favorite outfit of my youth. After witnessing a casting demonstration by a Shakespeare salesman in 1956 and then being allowed to use this reel with his help, I saved up my lawn mowing money and bought one. I paired it with a brown fiber 7ft Hiawatha spinning rod from the local Gambles store. A great soft action rod by the way which allowed easy casting of lures as well as live bait. It served me well until 1983 when on a canoe trip I dropped in on a rock on the shore of the Chapleau River. I fished the reel until it was totally worn out! After acquiring several examples of the 1755, I became aware that there was a problem with using present-day soft monofilament. (This was confirmed by the way with the chief engineer during our recent ORCA visit to the Zebco factory) Soft mono binds when it passes around the pin the same as a rubber band when pulled back and forth around a nail in a board. I could not find a Hiawatha rod duplicate but the following picture shows it on a similar early Phillipson.

Image

The second picture is a screenshot of 16 year-old Bill Sonnett in 1960 landing a pike on the above-mentioned outfit in northern Canada. The strange headwear is a mosquito net temporarily pulled up.
Image


Top
  
Quote
Post 24 Nov 2019, 12:02 • #11 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
you go Bill, great stuff, and beautiful combo.
I just finished rebuilding an Abu 170 (one of the venerable reels that pays drag unlike the newer version). Matched it with a Silaflex 910 soft-tip glass casting rod for him.
I loaded it with 8-lb Cortland mono because I had a bulk spool. I learned the ejector pin wouldn't reliably let go of the thin modern mono.
Easy to solve by pressing and releasing the casting button while holding the line (the pin releases the line), then pressing the button again to grab the line with the rubber bumper, and cast.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 24 Nov 2019, 17:06, edited 1 time in total.

Top
  
Quote
Post 24 Nov 2019, 12:23 • #12 
Sport
Joined: 12/04/11
Posts: 72
Location: US-MI
It took me a while to realize why the half dozen 1755 reels I had tried out over the past few years were so hard to crank on the retrieve. Eventually, I figured out that it was the soft exterior of most modern monofilaments. I did note when visiting the Zebco repair room that they were loading their reels with either their own brand of mono or that red "Cajun" mono. Recently, I ran across a forgotten, sealed, boxed spool of German Damyl Gold 8lb mono which appears now to work like a charm on the 1755. I didn't really appreciate how spring-loaded that stuff is until I attempted to load a spool on a Mitchell 300 last week. I have never had such a frustrating time loading a spinning reel. What should have taken 10 minutes, took over an hour with much swearing along the way. That stuff had a mind of its own that rivals a spring on a pendulum wall clock! It really doesn't want set in coils like a line that has been on the spool a long time but rather, straighten itself out at every opportunity--LOL


Top
  
Quote
Post 24 Nov 2019, 17:06 • #13 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
The thin, limp Cortland 8-lb on the Abu 170 and Silaflex 910 will slow-lob 1/4-oz to 150', and should readily fish 1/16-oz.
It spooled limp as all get-out, and I used about 1/4 phone book for line tension. Again, my algorithm makes the thin, limp line work every time with the ejector pin - but you're exactly correct, a thicker, stiffer line would work every time and wouldn't need my cast algorithm.


Top
  
Quote
Post 25 Nov 2019, 16:34 • #14 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
Most of those old spin cast reels were spooled with at least 10lb line.I remember stren labels on the chrome *ebcos.I still tinker with the older green johnsons and they can be brought back to life with a disassembly and good cleaning.If you guys are looking for old abu matics etc,i run across them all the time as well as shakespeares etc.I think they solved the line pickup issues with the modern underspins .I like the daiwas best.I dont use them but for my grandson wife and other occasional anglers they work well with few internal tangles.PM me with any models of old reels you are looking for and price range.I literally see 100s of these every year at fishing sales and flea markets.I would forward them for whatever they cost me .I hate to see all this stuff sitting around unused year after year.I just sold 2 of 3 bronson multiplies in the boxes ,2 were NOS and i used with decent line for 10 a piece. He then sold me a used once used battenkill 5/6 disc with the case and new line for 40.I think he had some abumatics in the boxes.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 09:45 • #15 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
there's no reason to suffer bad line.
I remember as a teenager, my dad fishing 808s w/ 25-lb mono inshore, while I fished my Mitchell 300 (with the added torpedo-grip long handle), 14-lb Stren and 7' Tri-sport, and caught all the fish.
When I grew up, began buying him Lew's and Falcon rods for birthdays and Christmas.

My girls started on Zebco UL-1 with Eagle Claw Featherlight, the reel loaded with sexy 4-lb copolymer.
Image

Those long fishing trips with my dad always need an afternoon tuning his tackle, and usually replacing a working portion of his line on at least one reel - most always replacing that working portion of some cheap chartreuse gawdawful 25-lb mono with 12-lb Seaguar. I always bring my bulk spools, and it's kinda funny, he always makes fun of the amount of gear I bring.
(this is doubling the leader length on his popping cork, and may have been an excuse to sit on the palapa with brew and stogie)
Image

He will then lube his reel, we'll find where his casting brake is really set, and re-set it properly.
Image

to me, massive line test is the equivalent of a bad chef. Both my dad and Stevo migrate straight to this practice (though Steve is a phenomenal chef), but the bad chef analogy - if 15-lb braid is good, 45-lb braid is better (equate to spices).
But they're the only two people I know who carry spare rod tip-tops in their tackle - and use them.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 26 Nov 2019, 12:30, edited 2 times in total.

Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 09:48 • #16 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/12/16
Posts: 4094
Location: USA-CO
Good times, and good tuning of gear.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 10:52 • #17 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Image
ps - the 15" lighted hook grabber is multi-purpose. Aside from the design purpose and exactly measuring the lower slot on keeper seatrout, you can slide the light off, and it's a Perfect axle for holding a bulk line spool and filling a baitcaster.

Of course on a spinning or spincast reel, you stand the bulk spool with the label up - or if you were filling the Shakespeare spinning reel would flip the bulk spool with the label down.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 11:34 • #18 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
That is a slick tool there BDWho carries these?.My son will be going to his walleye hotspot this weekend.A Lake Michigan trib that is also full of big steelhead this time of year.They do a lot of night fishing and several walleye over 10lbs are caught.He got 2 12s and a 13 last year,These are incredible fish for this area.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 12:43 • #19 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
KastKing MadBite makes them - they also make lighted pliers.
Amazon sells the hook remover, but you can only get the pliers straight from Kast King - I just ordered two of the pliers for Christmas gifts.
Lou flipped over the lighted hook remover and ordered his sitting at his laptop at Arroyo City.

The long hook remover is good for offshore, and even specs inshore can gullet themselves on hooks - no other way to remove them without seriously hurting the fish.
Usually when you have the tool positioned, squeezing the handle flips the hook right out, and also holds it firm.
Of course the light is beyond useful for night fishing, and also helps to make sure you're grabbing the hook and not a gill.
Image

ps -KastKing also sells a really good copolymer in light test (4-lb) - tough and abrasion-resistant.


Top
  
Quote
Post 26 Nov 2019, 22:36 • #20 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
Thanks BD and great pics as always


Top
  
Quote
Post 27 Nov 2019, 13:54 • #21 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Photos and especially the effort of writing a photo essay (trip report) help you remember the details for years - even decades.
It ends up, the details you write about are the details you remember.
The undersize spec in the last photo (from 3 years ago) had eaten a TSL grasswalker so I couldn't see the lure - when I began fumbling down the fish's mouth, he spit the lure - wasn't even hooked.
Image


Top
  
Quote
Post 18 Dec 2019, 10:45 • #22 
Sport
Joined: 12/04/11
Posts: 72
Location: US-MI
This discussion reminds me of an incident that still brings a smile to my face. I was teaching a fishing class to about a dozen innercity children about 1984. All were 11 years old. We fished from a large raised platform that served as a swimming dock in the summer and stood in 8 feet of water. Most children used the cane poles that we provided and all caught one small bluegill after another as fast as I could help unhook them. They were having the time of their lives. Occasionally a child would show up with their own tackle and prefer to use it. As I was helping one child I heard a loud and unidentifiable noise immediately behind me followed by the splash of something falling in the water, not more than 6 feet in front of me. I turned to see a very small boy hold a nondescript spin casting rod and reel that he had just cast out with a sinker and hook. The cast was at best, twice the length of his rod. The line coming out of that close-faced reel was the same color and size as uncooked Prince spaghetti. After a second or two I realized that his cast was the source of the noise and the line the reason for both the short cast and the god-awful noise. I asked him "What size line to you have on your reel"? I will never forget the smile on this small boy's face as he looked up at me and proudly announced, "65-pound test".


Top
  
Quote
Post 18 Dec 2019, 12:59 • #23 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
maybe he was after tuna


Top
  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  

New Topic Add Reply



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
Google
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group