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Post 18 Apr 2007, 11:41 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 10/23/05
Posts: 733
Location: Howell, NJ
I recently went on the hunt for a new reel to balance either my new Lami 4wt or my Fenglass 605 and have been watching this little MArtin for some time. Well, I bit the bullet and bought the MArtin Classic 3/4 for 27.00 shipped and it is SWEET. I cannot believe the quality of this little reel, despite the fact that it is made in Korea. The tolerances are super tight, it's lightweight at 4.0 oz., the drag sounds real nice, is adjustable, and the finish is pretty nice. Anyone looking for a nice little reel should check these out ... it's much nicer than my Quest Reel from LL Bean.

Click/ Pawl Drag

Image

Outside of Reel

Image

This will most likely get fished on my 605 as the balance is just perfect. It looks like my Battenkill C/P 3/4 will sit on the Lami 4wt.

Lou :hat


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Post 18 Apr 2007, 11:55 • #2 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I have a 5/6 and generally agree with your assessment.
One problem I noted was that the springs were too stiff - almost too stiff to be useable, but after a bit of bending got the tension to be acceptable.
I matched it on a Cortland 9' 6-wt.


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Post 18 Apr 2007, 11:55 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 10/23/05
Posts: 733
Location: Howell, NJ
The springs are a tad bit tight and I am glad to hear that they are bendable. In any event, I am very pleased with this reel especially for the price.

There are reels out there that are nowhere near as nice for twice the price, but with a better known name.

Lou


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Post 19 Apr 2007, 00:11 • #4 
Sport
Joined: 02/15/07
Posts: 66
I have a U.S. made 5/6 classic which only has a single pawl. I have been searching eBay for the older black U,S, 3/4 but they don't seem to come up. Yours is an amazing reel for the price and maybe I will grab one soon. I would love to find the U.S. version since they seem to be rare though.


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Post 19 Apr 2007, 04:36 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 03/20/07
Posts: 849
Location: US-TX
Thanks for posting.
That's just the sort of reel I've been looking for.


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Post 20 Apr 2007, 21:58 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Bulldog sent me over to this board (I had to delete my local whirpool account/user name; thus a variant whrlpool for the global account to use this board also) to peak at the reel discussions because we seem to have a common interest in the excellent blue-collar Martins. He may not remember that I'm also the only guy I know who kept fishing fiberglass rods all these years, taking a lot of ribbing for it in the late '80s and early 90s.
Anyway, the Korean MC 3/4 and 5/6 aren't bad, especially at the prices these days. Being a fan of double taper lines, especially in the lower line weights, I find that modern capacity designations are usually geared to WF lines, so a 5/6 reel is usually a 4/5 to me. If I remember correctly the Korean MC 5/6 is the same diameter, just a wider spool, as the MC 3/4. So a 5/6 is the most versatile all around size for lots of trout fishing, and its slightly greater weight would be desirable on many rods, fiberglass in particular.
If anybody is interested, I have a new, unused Martin MC 5/6--same as the reel shown except for size--that I'd sell for $26 delivered. I bought two of these by accident and only need one. Just use my ez-in box if interested.
The single-pawl Martins as referred to above are USA made reels of better quality and design, with a polished line guard and full frame polished reinforcement rings. This is the cam-operated, coil-spring powered click drag that, to my knowledge, is unique to Martin and dates back to at least the model 67. I like the last USA made Martin Classics, which are very strong for a pressed side plate reel, with riveted cross pillars. Earlier versions, a little classier, used machine screws for the pillars, the construction dating back to the 67s.
The last USA-made classics are still pretty commonly available, especially in the 5/6 size. I've had one of these for years, used with a DT 4 line, so as with the Korean reels, it's a more versatile size. I couldn't resist a USA made 4/5 size, though, that was as new with a DT line on it; paid $15 for it on Ebay within the last month or so. Neither of these reels have the catchet of the MG3 or MZ 3/4 and 5/6 that bulldog and I both like--but they are just as functional and have the identical coil-spring adjustable click drag. Anyway, the Korean or USA reels are still pretty common on Ebay; if somebody wants my Korean MC 56, just contact me. Or if you have to have the 3/4 size, here's one on Ebay: cgi.ebay.com/Martin-Class ... dZViewItem


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Post 24 Apr 2007, 00:59 • #7 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
here's the drag Steven is referring to, on the Martin MG-3

Image

and I agree, this is one of the best drag designs ever


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Post 24 Apr 2007, 05:05 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/05
Posts: 1008
Location: US-NY
The Martin Classics are my favorite cheap reel. It wasn't all that long ago when they were still made in the U.S. During that time I bought a 4/5, a 5/6, a 7/8, and several extra spools for each for a total cost that's less than what a high end reel costs. They work very well. They can't take much abuse though, so don't drop one.


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Post 30 Apr 2007, 13:22 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Just another point on the ruggedness, or lack of it, for the Martins of their core design USA models. The previous comments mention that the MC 45 can't take much abuse. Quite so, but I look at this as a user-based decision for a certain design/materials type. I don't generally buy things for their potential to take abuse; instead I select them for their intended use and use them as intended. So we could say that any relatively lightweight, small reel won't stand much abuse. Now let's look at three prevailing construction/materials methods in reels over the years: die-cast, sometimes with secondary machining; machined, often one piece open frame with integral reel foot; and stamped, assembled from components, as were most USA-made Martins (and the rugged Pflueger, also). You can batter a die-cast or machined aluminum reel enough to bend it, but now you have a project bending it back. You probably can't, or you might break the porous casting or stiff-grained machined reel while trying to bend it back. In fact, instead of bending, it probably would have broken or cracked when you whacked it to begin with, so forget about fixing it in that case, or just replacing a damaged part like the reel foot or line guard. Or give it a lighter knock and you just have a chip flake of metal through the adonizing or a ragged dent that no amount of tinkering will ever make look right. Now take the Martins, which gain their sturdiness from strategic placement of their steel pillars, reinforcing rims, and stiff reel foot, as well as from the contour of the aluminum side plates and spool plates sides. These stamped components are relatively soft, but protected by stiffer components. If they are whacked, they are far more likely to bend or dent than crack or chip. A little thumb pressure usually will bend them right back, and they tend to reconform to their original shape. Smaller chips or impressions in the rim edges are easily touched up with a little similar color nail polish. Worst case scenario in a severely damaged part, that part only needs to be replaced. Economical to manufacture and to repair. In this regard, then, they will stand up more easily to incidental damage than a cast or machined reel, which is more likely to receive irreperable or all-or-nothing damage.


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Post 01 May 2007, 05:09 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/05
Posts: 1008
Location: US-NY
Quote:
I don't generally buy things for their potential to take abuse;

whrlpool,

I don't either. I take good care of my tackle, but accidents can and will happen. If you practice this sport long enough, sooner or later you're going to take a spill in a rocky stream. When that happens, the reel is in a vulnerable position.


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Post 01 May 2007, 22:33 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Gaddis, I think I've bumped my head more times than ding a fishing reel, but I certainly agree with you on the Martin and the potential for accidents with any reel. The only reel I ever remember dropping is a very nice machined wide arbor marketed in Europe by Shakespeare. Sure enough, it now has a little chip--no mechanical harm. Had that been a little Martin, I'd have thought nothing of it. A bent spool or sideplate is easy to repair on them. I was just trying to explain why in terms of the different design and construction techniques.


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Post 02 May 2007, 12:40 • #12 
Guide
Joined: 06/08/05
Posts: 307
Welcome Whrlpool.

"I don't generally buy things for their potential to take abuse"

So - the reason you stayed with fiberglass all these years is not because it can take so much abuse - but so that you can take abuse?

My favorite recent fiberglas abuse story was the last fish I caught last fall, a coho about 10 lbs. There was anchor ice extending from shore about eight feet and we were fishing from the bank. My buddy was going to break the ice with some boulders for me to land it, but I waved him off and horsed the fish up onto the ice with my $20 Powell glass eight weight. Once the fish was on ice it was easy and frictionless to slide it over and unhook it and slide it back into the water. There is no other suitable rod material that has so much strength before it breaks, once it's past it's elastic limit.
I have to admit that it's for the abuse that glass can take, much as I like the fiberglass action.
I also fish mostly DT lines.

If you're a friend of Bulldog's, you now have about 100 more friends here.

-Vinnie in Juneau


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Post 02 May 2007, 13:06 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Very clever, Vinnie. Abuse from other fly anglers you mean, right? After a while, no one bothered to make fun of me because they knew I would do what I wanted anyway. I just had a liking for one glass fly rod because, well, you know how they cast and handle compared to a graphite rod. I did stop taking abuse from a fiberglass 8-weight, which wore my arm out almost as bad as the bamboo clunker it replaced. I also had a Montague fiberglass, about a 7 weight, from the early 60s that I used (guides replaced several times) until a couple years ago when somebody stole it. I'm over that and let one just like it go by on Ebay not too long ago. I guess I did like fishing with retro stuff and didn't get a single new rod or reel for about a dozen years. You're right, too, fiberglass is tough and makes a good canoe/boat rod where it gets knocked around lying on the thwarts, maybe nicked (I'm not paying $100, let alone 500 or more for a graphite rod that is badly weakened by all but the most superficial scratch). And fiberglass sure has the strength for big fish, which I don't consider abuse.


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