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Post 10 Jan 2017, 11:32 • #1 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Someone suggested this topic in another discussion. Seemed like a good one.

Yes. On the right. Late 1950s purchase. First fly-caught trout using it on a solid 'glass rod in the Catskills.

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Have all the reels I got in the 1960s (several others along with the Pflueger on the right and my grandfather's Ocean City).

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Post 10 Jan 2017, 12:40 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/21/06
Posts: 3081
Location: Orygun
I most certainly do. Not for nostalgic reasons, but because it simply will not die (I've even used it for surf perch a few times). I got it in high school in the early nineties, Pflueger Medalist (RC model). And it's not even one of the US models. I wish I still had that first rod though, an 8'6" Browning graphite 6/7wt, pretty moderate action and would make a great streamer rod.

Cheers


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Post 10 Jan 2017, 13:14 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 370
Location: US-NJ
I still own my first fly reel and still use it pretty often.
It's a Cortland Crown II (M size) reel that came as part of a rod and reel combo kit that I got for Christmas in 1988.
In fact, the backing on the reel is still the same white Dacron backing from that time. :lol:
I've never had a reason or need to change it.
The fish I catch with it never take me into the backing and it still passes the yank test.
So, I've let it be.
The first fish I caught with it was a wild rainbow trout at Piru creek at the large falls along the Templin hwy, using a trico.

I'm not as lazy with my other reels but for some reason, (sentimental?), I've left the Crown II pretty much alone.
I did swap out the orange DT5F line though after 20 years. :lol:


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Post 10 Jan 2017, 14:30 • #4 
Guide
Joined: 08/04/14
Posts: 112
Location: ME/MA
I still have mine. It might be the newest first reel here, a Taylor Type 1, from 2013. My wife got it for me as a birthday gift when I was reading about fly fishing and expressed interests in picking up the sport. She found the Kickstarter and it became my first reel in the spring.

And here it is with my first fish on a fly.

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Post 10 Jan 2017, 14:34 • #5 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/19/14
Posts: 3924
Location: USA - Illinois
Nope - a Bronson I bought when I was 14-15 years old with caddie money, Okay as a line holder but not much else.
Years later when I took up fly fishing seriously, I bought a Hardy LRH Lightweight, that I still have.


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Post 10 Jan 2017, 16:04 • #6 
Master Guide
Joined: 06/27/11
Posts: 387
Location: US-OH
Yes. Martin model 63.


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Post 10 Jan 2017, 17:31 • #7 
Sport
Joined: 02/19/15
Posts: 74
Location: US-IL
Took some major archaeological effort, but I finally unearthed it. It (South Bend 1122) and the Heddon 8387 were B-day gifts, circa 1962. Much better rod than I deserved. With a level line, a Gray Ghost and a panfish popper, I was indeed a FF terror. Can't pick them up without thinking of my parents, and been meaning to clean 'em up and fish em forever. Now I'll do it. Thanks for starting the thread!
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Post 10 Jan 2017, 20:13 • #8 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/29/08
Posts: 435
Location: US-NJ
Nope. Back in 1966 I got a Shakespeare set with a Wonderod and a cheap Shakespeare reel that came together on a shrink wrapped cardboard backing. Both are long gone. My upgrade reel was a Medalist which I still have.


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 07:56 • #9 
Sport
Joined: 04/09/16
Posts: 58
Location: US-CT
Another one with the Cortland crown reel. I got it as part of a cortland rod/reel combo from clap and treat in the 70's. I still have and use the outfit, a cortland procrest rod with my old crown prince reel.


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 08:44 • #10 
Sport
Joined: 06/02/15
Posts: 29
Location: SE Pennsylvania
Yes, it is a Medalist 1494 I got back in the late 70's or early 80's. It is still in use on a Eagle Claw Featherlight. Originally it was mounted to a Shakespeare non-Ugly Stik composite rod that that I can no longer find. My first fly-caught trout was a rainbow on PA's Ridley Creek. Not sure whether I was using a black woolly worm or a black woolly bugger at the time, but I think that first fish "helped me" hook him - and I absolutely swallowed the hook so to speak.


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 08:58 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 03/16/08
Posts: 3540
Location: Upstate-NY
yes - Pflueger 1494 AK


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 10:06 • #12 
Guide
Joined: 11/11/13
Posts: 129
Location: Sweden
No! And no regrets. I suspect I killed it on purpose when I could afford a better reel. All I can remember of it is that it was crap, high start up and uneven resistance, a fair amount of play and the leader always found the huge gap between the spool and the housing. I do remember being really happy when my parents got it for me together with a 9 foot 7wt Kunnan eva-handle fiberglass to fish the very small streams I haunted in my childhood. Up until then I had fly fished tenkara style with 6-8ft rods I had made myself or spinning rods I had modified.
I think (hope) my mom made that purchase by herself in the early eighties.
(Dad fly fished, still do, and I looked up to him as a really accomplished fly fisherman at the time. I don't think I will bring this up with him.)


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 14:53 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/08/05
Posts: 3570
Location: Western PA
First reel I bought is a SA System 1, 456. Same as the Diawa 706. Still have it and it's still in use on an Orvis Fullflex A, 766. Prior to that, I fished my first season with a reel loaned to me. Martin tuna can #63.


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 14:54 • #14 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 12/05/06
Posts: 2087
Location: US-PA
My first fly reel was a CFO II, late 70's vintage which I saved up for.

It survives today despite slipping from my hands, falling and bouncing down a 20 foot dam I was standing on top of at the time. Considering it's aluminum construction with an exposed spool edge, I am lucky it still works fine, albeit with a few rather minor dings.

Two questions remain with me to this day:

    What the heck was I doing standing on top of a dam fishing, risking drowning or worse if I fell off the other side?

    Why the heck did I take the reel off my rod?

When I look at those dams with water spilling over the top that I used to walk across as a "yoot", I just shake and count my blessings!!


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 17:29 • #15 
Guide
Joined: 09/23/07
Posts: 259
Location: High Desert, Oregon
No, My first fly reel was a ultra light spinning reel used on a Eagle Claw pack-rod (which I still have) and a torpedo float while backpacking in the 70s. Didn't get serious about fly fishing until the 90s


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 17:53 • #16 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/29/06
Posts: 4413
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
First was a Okuma Sierra a reel that has been around for quite awhile. I gave it to a young man who wanted to learn. Also gave him my first rod. Later he sent me photos of fish he had caught. That was a perfect investment for me. :)

Paul


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Post 11 Jan 2017, 18:36 • #17 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/21/12
Posts: 462
Location: US-NY
I started fly fishing in the mid 90s at around 12. My first reel was an sa system 1 678. I lost out somewhere along the way, it was a nice reel. I bought it from janns netcraft with a graphite sa fly rod that was a dog. My first "nice" rod and reel I bought about a year later. It was an orvis battenkill disc 3/4 and a graphite st croix imperial 904. I bought the rod from oak orchard fly shop with my confirmation money. When I bought it I didn't want to cast it first because I was embarrassed, but the guy at the shop forced me to and gave me some tips. The rod was a great rod to learn on. I still have that rod and reel although it's been years since I've fished them. My thinking when I bought it was it was light enough for trout, and with the disc drag I could also fish for steelhead. I did manage to catch quite a few steelhead in western new york on it although I wouldn't recommend a 4 weight for them. Now, about 20 years later l have somewhere in the range of 20 rods and 15 reels.

I got through college with just one rod and reel and managed to have fun and catch fish. After college, I had more money and began buying used rods and reels I used to look at in the fly shop, but didn't have the money to buy, I.e. Scott Gs and Sage sps, and CFOs and Abels. I have a lot more rods and reels now, and am pretty much set for any freshwater species or tactic, but I'm not sure I have any more fun than I used to when I only had one rig. My favorite way to fish is the same now as it was back then, trying to catch trout with big dry flies.


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Post 12 Jan 2017, 12:01 • #18 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/25/16
Posts: 1069
Location: Rocky Mountains - Colorado
I still have it, but that is no major feat. I have only been fly fishing a couple of years. It is a Medalist 1494. I bought it from a friend at a gun show along with a 9 foot 5 weight "Lew's" graphite rod. The rod lives in a corner in the basement and the reel will see use this spring again, along with the other Medalists.


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Post 12 Jan 2017, 13:10 • #19 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/14
Posts: 1367
Location: Pleasant Garden, North Carolina
I still have my first fly reel as well as the rod that came with it. It was a combo from Walmart that my dad got me about 20 years ago when I was a teenager. It says "Crystal River Coachman". I imagine the whole set up cost around $30.

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I stumbled across a picture just a couple weeks ago of one of my first fly fishing outings with my dad. No idea whether we were fishing for trout or warm water, or if we caught anything. He's using a glass rod of unknown origin and Olympic medalist clone that he got in Yellowstone at a pawn shop in the 70s. He still has this setup out in his garage, though I've never seen him use it other than in this photo.

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Post 12 Jan 2017, 13:13 • #20 
Master Guide
Joined: 12/09/11
Posts: 888
Location: Athens GA
Mine was one I bought from Herter's, late 50's perhaps. I think it was green but that's about it. Was stolen out of my car in mid-70's. Jim


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Post 12 Jan 2017, 15:24 • #21 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
still have it but I don't know why.. mere sentiment I guess. It was a Shakespeare with a circle spring and an on/off slider for the click. I wore out the clicker eventually and installed a piece of plastic foam behind the spool, could press the inside of the spool against the foam to get something like a drag.. desperate.

Second reel was a Shakespeare 2531 which is still in use. It had a few quiet decades in storage, hauled it out when the glass rod bug bit, and now rather like it..
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52614

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Post 12 Jan 2017, 16:21 • #22 
Guide
Joined: 02/08/13
Posts: 156
Location: Nomadic
Mine was this Dingley I inherited from my father. Lucky boy! No markings except 4 and D5 inside and it took me 30 years to find out what I had. The first I bought for myself was a Hardy Marquis 6 Multiplier that I still have and use 35 years on. Seem to have acquired about one a year since.
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Post 12 Jan 2017, 20:36 • #23 
New Member
Joined: 11/29/16
Posts: 8
Location: US-WV
Mine was a Martin tuna can. When I hooked my first brown trout on a dry fly, I slide off the rock that I was standing on and bent the reel so bad that it would not turn, also lost my hat. My so called "fishing buddies" let my hat go past them down stream. They said that they were trying to figure out why a commode seat was floating down a trout stream. Got the reel straightened out and fished the rest of the day, wet and without a hat. I gave the rod and reel to my SIL when I got my first Orvis Green Mountain outfit, that I still have.


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Post 12 Jan 2017, 20:49 • #24 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/19/14
Posts: 3924
Location: USA - Illinois
What the heck kinda "fishing buddies" are you hang'n out with anyway??? A hat? Rule number 1, stay in the boat! Rule number 2, save the hat!


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Post 12 Jan 2017, 20:55 • #25 
Master Guide
Joined: 06/03/15
Posts: 424
Location: Weatherford TX.
My first and many others were stolen...Sigh


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