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Post 08 May 2007, 17:40 • #1 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Ebay was awash this week with great vintage reels, anybody have any thougts on the 8.5 or 7.5 I seem to have won both at bargain basement prices. I need a few nice reels for my Phillipsons and these two seem to fit the bill. Any experence with these models? Also picked up a really nice Aeon-Zera 4 with a WF-5-F spooled.
Richard


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Post 08 May 2007, 22:32 • #2 
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Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Ff4gt, I don't want to sidetrack your main query about the Marryats, so start a separate discussion if you prefer. I noticed the Aeon-Zera (unfamiliar to me) but never got around to asking the seller about it. I'm curious what you can tell us about the reel or if you could provide photos that show its mechanism more clearly than did the Ebay listing.


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Post 09 May 2007, 00:41 • #3 
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Posts: 19077
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I have an MR 7.5 that has landed about 1000 fish. Here's a post I put on another board about it a couple of years ago.

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My Marryat MR7.5 has landed many, many trout and something like 500 or 600 white bass. I love the reel. The roller-bearing clutch is the part that people both love (me) and hate (my friend Billy). It's hard to get dirt into the roller, but it must be lubed with just the right viscosity oil (30-wt.) in order to work. Billy thinks he got dirt in his, but I think he let light oil from lubing the spindle get down inside the roller bearing. On the San Juan, it froze solid on him, and he had to take the spool off, ended up droping the spool in the river, and lining the fish by hand - a San Juan fish. That cold night, on top of a cliff, in a ritual warmed by scotch, he threw the Marryat as far into the dark as he could. His only trout reels since then are System 1 click-pawl. I still love my Marryat.

the MR series reels are magnesium, and they are extremely light - surprisingly light. Bill Archuleta (and his grandfather before him) is the factory designated repairman for these, BTW. After 25 years I finally sent mine in for a rebuild of the roller bearing clutch.


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Post 09 May 2007, 16:29 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
I will be glad to post some pictures, and hopefully they will both be light enough weight to work on a couple of lightweight short Phillipsons I have. Thats a very interesting comment on lubrication of the roller bearing? so am I suppose to use motor oil? my most commonly used light lubricate is either Garcia Silicote reel oil or Mistery oil, my most commonly used grease is Garcia pure Silicone, but Im always interested in trying anything better and always interested in not having problems with my reels at the wrong time.
Ive fished the upper Kern in January and February at 17 degrees and never had any of my old stuff freeze up with the above, admittedly Ive never fished a Marryat yet, but have heard alot about them, especially about how light they are. Having the good luck to aquire a few very light short Phillipsons of late I find I need a couple of very light reels, thus the purchase. But please do tell me the correct lube for these reels, with the amount of experence you have I will listen and learn, thanks,
Richard


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Post 09 May 2007, 16:38 • #5 
Administrator
Joined: 01/10/06
Posts: 7811
Location: Holly Springs, NC
If the reels need work, send them to Bill Archuleta. Bill is a pleasure to work with.

If Ron sends Marryats to Bill, then that is the ONLY option. Ron fears no reel that isn't worth fearing!

Tom


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Post 10 May 2007, 05:53 • #6 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
(I have had my roller bearing apart in the past - the thing is, Bill has all the parts, and its not worth the trouble to buy the parts, pay shipping and do it yourself, when it does it all for $45)


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Post 10 May 2007, 18:58 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/20/07
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Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
These are pictures of the Marryat MR 8.5 this reel has a spool capacity of 2 7/8 inches and a usable width of 1 1/16 in, the nominal size is 3inches by 1 1/2inch. Based on other reels of similiar capacities this reel should rate 6-7-8wt with appropriate backing. As received this reel has a WF9F line and is full to capacity including backing.
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The reel is quite light, should be great for some of my lightweight 8ft flyrods. I will remove the 9wt line and spool it with an 8wt. As received the reel is right hand retrieve, I as yet dont know if its convertable to left hand retrieve.
Richard


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Post 11 May 2007, 00:45 • #8 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I wouldn't call these reels perfect by any means - I hate to say it, but the completely unloveable Ross Gunnison gets that title. But Marryats have striking good looks, a very good drag, and yes, a real watch-like feel about them.
The magnesium is soft - so be careful, and the magnesium anodizing is pretty soft, as well.
But as I said, mine has been fishing 27 years and has never let me down.
When a quirk turns up - clicker goes silent, drag adjustment seems a little soft, get an occasional bind in the roller bearing - send it to Bill A. Consider these little signs to be the "maintenance needed" idiot light on your dashboard.
It will come home with perfect adjustment and TLC.


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Post 11 May 2007, 02:50 • #9 
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Joined: 03/20/07
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Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Thanks for the tips, the reel didn't come with any of the normal paperwork. Im hoping I can figure things out a bit better when I receive the 7.5, it suppose to have the paperwork with it.
Is this reel reversable from right hand to left hand cranking?

Im hoping this reel will balance out on a Phillipson Johnson Profile 8F903E with a WF8F Bass taper. The rod and reel will be for the more protected fishing of the Lake here, so hopefully neither will suffer any abuse. I have a couple of what I like to call beater rods and reels for climbing up the river banks and over bolders with.
Richard


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Post 11 May 2007, 02:58 • #10 
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I don't have the paperwork myself, but I believe it requires opening and flipping the roller bearing components.


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Post 11 May 2007, 03:05 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Well if the 7.5 comes with the paperwork I'll take a picture and post it with the reel here. Otherwise perhaps the fellow you mentioned might have it and be willing to xerox it or something. I hate to tear into a reel like this just to see a handfull of ball bearings roll out into the plastic tray I work in.
Sounds alot like the switch for the old Abu Garcia Diplomat series, but each reel seems to have a different twist on how its done. The Orvis Vortex is a good example of being different. Its alot easier if you have the exploded diagram to look at as you loose parts in the work box.
Richard


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Post 11 May 2007, 03:16 • #12 
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
if you contact bill, he will probably recommend sending it in for him to convert and to service.
***email address removed***
archuletasreelworks.com/


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Post 11 May 2007, 12:58 • #13 
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Joined: 06/08/05
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Location: Western PA
Converting the drag isn't too difficult. You need a small screw driver and you'll lift off the clip-in plate that surrounds the spindle. I've done this moving each angle a bit at a time so I wouldn't bend the plate. Then you reverse all the springs and hollow roller bearings. I find a small pair of needle nose plyers comes in handy for all this. All the springs and bearings must be facing in the same direction. If they aren't, you'll figure it out quick. The little stone can be flipped around and manipulated for outgoing click, incoming click or removed (no click). Wish I still had a diagram to post. For oil, I use a thin machine oil; Gemline's All-Purpose Turbine Oil. Grease or heavy oil will kuck up the reel.
PS ... I'm very non-mechanical. If I can do all this ANYONE can.


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Post 14 May 2007, 16:19 • #14 
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Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Thanks guys for the info, when I get the 7.5 if it doesn't come with the paperwork I need I will most likely package them both up and send them off to get them switched over.
I haven't used any reel grease on reels in years. Back when I was young I used to service alot of Mitchell reels for a tackle shop at a local shop and charter fishing boat business. As such I had a large supply of Garcia pure silicone lube and Silicoate oil. I still have some. Luckily back when my son was a boy scout another dad who used to help out when we took the boys out on high adventure weekends and vacations to backpack into the golden trout wilderness, became good friends. He was AirForse attached to the space program and ended up bringing me some previously opened small amounts of high grade silcone lube home. Seems once a container was opened it could not be saved for want of contamination, so all opened but not empty amounts were to be disposed of. Rather than just throwing it in the used oil drum he got permission to bring it home. Very small amounts none greater than an once, but very high quality pure silcone grease or lube, good to 300 below zero and many hundreds of degrees above the boiling point of water. As such its a lifetime supply for my flyreels. :D
Richard


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Post 27 Jun 2007, 06:53 • #15 
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Joined: 03/20/07
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Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Ok as promised these are the photos of the MR7.5, its really a nice small reel, I would say a 3-5wt, if you dont use alot of backing. OD of the spool is 2 7/8 inches, overall width is 1 3/32 inches, usable spool demensions are Diameter 2 5/8 inches width 11/16 inches. Very light weight, should be perfect for one of the 3-5wt Lami honeys.

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Post 27 Jun 2007, 07:04 • #16 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/14/06
Posts: 720
Location: US-CA
reel

Here is one that I thought about putting a bid on. It is pre marryat and made in the usa. I believe gehrke is the same guy that put out the sink and float solutions.

-Russell


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Post 27 Jun 2007, 07:15 • #17 
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Joined: 03/20/07
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Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Hahaha I did too Russel, but I concentrated on winnng the two 9.0s he had listed as well as the spare spool, Wulff line and Hardy Spool. Plus I picked up an MR8 that same week as well. Thats one reason I decided to learn how to work on them, they are nice lightweight reels, will be great for my Phillipsons. I already have the MR8.5 I converted last night to LHW respooled with an Orvis Bass WF8F for my Phillipson Johnson Profile 600 9ft Bass rod, it balances perfectly. One of the problems with all of the lightweight Phillipsons is they are hard to find a reel that will balance well, the MR8.5 was perfect. Im going to put the MR8 on my Johnson Profile 800 7 1/2ft once I convert it and load up the spool. Im currently using a 3 3/8 inch Young Pridex loaded with Orvis WF6F Bonefish, its makes a perfect light bass rod for small poppers and hair and foam frogs and such, they have fast become my two rods I grab when going down to the lake, its a safe place to fish them, unlike climbing the river banks and crawling threw the brush and such.
Richard


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Post 16 Aug 2007, 14:34 • #18 
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Joined: 03/20/07
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Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Here's another of my Marryat Series of MR reels, this is the MR 9 A, great for a 9-10wt very lightweight reel even though its got a pretty wide spool. I picked up a couple of these with extra spools a couple of months ago and just got around to cleaning them, converting them to LHW and respooling them. The more I fish the smaller reels in the series the more I like these reels, they are like a fine watch, smooth and absolutely dependable if kept clean.

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I will try and get some pictures of my Marryat MR 8 A when I take it down to clean it later this summer and add them to this string.


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Post 17 Aug 2007, 00:16 • #19 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Marryat was my first love in fly reels, even before I bought mine in 1982 or so.


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Post 17 Aug 2007, 03:49 • #20 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
I can see why, they are light (much lighter than my Orvis Vortex reels, or my Sage series 5000 reels) While I haven't been fishing my graphite rods this year (spoiled with the Phillipsons in glass I guess) its easy to see I will be using these great Marryat's on the graphite rods as well if I ever dig them out of the closet again.
Ron, did they make a smaller version, smaller than the MR7.5? while I have some small reels I really do like the Marryat's and now I have the Wulff 2077 5 1/2ft 5wt I want to match it up with an equally light reel that will balance well for spring.
What do you put on a rod that weighs 1.2 oz and is so short thats not gonna be butt heavy? I tried a little Medalist 1492 and it went butt heavy without even being lined.
Richard


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Post 17 Aug 2007, 03:54 • #21 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
yes, they made an MR-7, which was smaller.

You know, these reels are magnesium, not aluminum.

A 1492 is 5 oz.
My lightest reels, under 3 oz., are (Young) Battenkill Flyweight, and JAF Sandstone.

The JAF magnesium reels are 2.2 oz.

here you go
cgi.ebay.com/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290149868004


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Post 17 Aug 2007, 10:42 • #22 
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Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Thanks for the link BD,
I will try and pickup an MR 7 first. I really do like them. Even though they are Magnesium, Im not crawling the bolders with the Johnson Profiles and Marryat's anyway, altough sometimes the walk back into the back country is a bit rough into the Golden Trout Wilderness. Usually I carry something like the one piece rod (its collectable and does have some value) back in the rod tube and put it together at a safe and suitable site to go fishing. My brother in law who lives next door to me (next saddle over) and I have been backpacking the Golden Trout Wilderness for nearly 40 years. While we are both getting along a weekend trip beyond the turists and day hikers really pays off for native trout fishing here. 40 years ago I used to smoke, and back then you could throw a butt into the water and sometimes the fish would jump out of the water to catch it. Plus the native fish are so darn healthy, not beat up and threadworn like stockers that have wandered up river. Fact is none of the stocked fish is allowed that far up so its a pure strain of Golden Trout. And don't ask me how they heck they managed that trick. I do know that nearly 20 years ago one of the creeks that goes into the upper Kern River from the Golden Trout Wilderness had to be poisoned out because some stocked trout had managed to get up there, but for the life of me I haven't totally figured that one out. I know all the creeks that I've fished so far and the ponds too, have at least one for real waterfall before they reach the Kern, perhaps thats the answer. But again I haven't fished them all either. Fact is there are creeks back in there that aren't mapped or even named. Some old Gold mining camps long grown over etc, quite an interesting area. One of the old Indian Cabins dating back into the last quarter of the 19th Century we turned into the local historical society here and they went in by horseback and packed the whole darn building out and put it back together at the local museum here in Kernville. Had alot of Indian painting on the inside and such. California has several Primative Wilderness areas each is kept in a state of suspended arrest, only foot or horseback traffic allowed by permit only. Well worth getting back at least a day or two away from the day hikers.
I will look for the Marryat first, I have sort of a fond place for those reels now, the more I use them (daily) the more I like em. Otherwise I will have to look at those newer JAF magnesium reels.
Richard


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Post 22 Aug 2007, 06:56 • #23 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
cgi.ebay.com/ws/ebayISAPI ... 0162105114


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Post 22 Aug 2007, 11:39 • #24 
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Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 2544
Location: Wofford Heights, Calif. Kern River
Thanks for the link Bulldog, I have two of the 9 A models already, I think this guy must have alot of them though, last month he had a gold one up for sale too.
Another member send me the link to a tiny 2.5 inch Forbes reel If I don't run across the Marryat 7 by the time the auction gets close I most likely will pickup the Forbes, its magnesium and fits the bill for reel weight.
Richard


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Post 22 Aug 2007, 12:55 • #25 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/08/05
Posts: 3570
Location: Western PA
Overstock.com sold those 2.5" magnesium reels forever. They were going for $72 or so? Took forever for them to sell off the stock. 2.2oz. or something? Okuma had a few out on the market too. Back to Marryat; the CMR are very similar in weight to the classics. The drags have "ball point pen" spring in them. My opinion; great looking but all show ... you'd be bummed when you examined the guts.


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