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Posted: 4/14/2016 11:16:33 PM EDT
[Last Edit: triburst1]
This is my first rig, a Zebco 202, now over 30 years old. My dad bought it for me at Bass Pro. I still remember catching my first fish on it at 6, a beautiful pumpkinseed. I also remember when I was 11 and caught 26 crappie on it in one day.
My wife caught her first fish on it, a 5.5lb largemouth bass, out of a kayak. She couldn't/wouldn't get it in the boat, so she had to row to shore so I could wade out and take it off the hook. The first time my son used it at 4, he promptly chucked it off the boat. I dove to the bottom of the lake to retrieve it. 
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Posted: 4/15/2016 7:46:02 AM EDT
[#1]
I have my great grandfathers casting reel I learned to trout fish with..the pole was broken in a move about 20 years ago.
the reel works fine as the day it was made some time in the "Teens" or Twenties. 
never had the patience to fish though...rather watch paint dry..but admire those who do. |
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AL, USA
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Posted: 4/15/2016 8:51:58 AM EDT
[#2]
Got my first rod and reel combo a Zebco 202 when I was 5, from my dad and grandpa. Used it on the Rock river in northern Illinois every year for summer Vacation. Didn't do much fishing otherwise. When I got married I took my oldest daughters and taught them to fish on that same rod and reel. My youngest 2 also learned on that combo when they got old enough. Both of my Grandsons and one of my granddaughters used that combo to learn fishing. Unfortunately that combo was messed up in a move. I now use an open faced reel and rod combo I bought from Kmart when I was 10, I am now 53. The grandkids love to use that one, it's always a fight for who gets to use it.
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Posted: 4/16/2016 7:21:37 AM EDT
[Last Edit: osprey21]
[#3]
Yep - had it for over 60 years.
Montague Sunbeam 2pc spinning rod with a Mitchell 304. |
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Posted: 4/17/2016 8:26:21 AM EDT
[#4]
Mine is also an old 202. My rod is red though. I saw it in a shed a few years back, not sure which one. Lot's of small mouth, blue gills and red eyes came out of the water from that one when I was a kid. Some of my best memories of river fishing in the rain were made with that combo.
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Posted: 4/17/2016 9:00:45 AM EDT
[#5]
I have the reel, a Shimano FX. The rod was a crap telescoping deal and it broke after a year or so. I have the replacement, a matching Shimano FX. Not fancy but I caught a bunch of fish with them.
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OH, USA
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Posted: 4/19/2016 10:15:08 PM EDT
[#6]
Mine was a Zebco 33 combo and it was lost in the shuffle years ago.
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FL, USA
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Posted: 4/14/2017 9:09:27 PM EDT
[#7]
Yup my first setup was a Kunnan 7' graphite rod and a Penn 710z. Still have it today. It's a great setup!
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AZ, USA
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Posted: 5/24/2017 12:48:01 AM EDT
[Last Edit: BeardownAZ]
[#8]
Wow, had the exact same rod/ reel as OP
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Posted: 6/12/2017 3:14:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: johnh57]
[#9]
Sometime in the 70's I bought an Eagle Claw glass spinning rod - maybe a 7'6" or 8' rod, and a smaller shorter lighter rod for small stream - 6 1/2' maybe. I re-wrapped the guides just because with a horrible orange and black thread. Both the rods are still around here though rarely used as I don't do much spin fishing anymore.
My first reel was my dads 1960' era Mitchel 300's. He had 2 of them, I still have them both. Mostly relegated to ice fishing rods these days, but I still have them and they still work fine. I have the small version of the 300 also (308 maybe) I had a nice Fenwick backpacking rod from around the same time - convertible handle for either fly or spin fishing. I still have the aluminum tube it came in, but the rod is gone. My brother thinks he destroyed it somewhere along the line. IIRC it used to come apart at the most inopportune times when fishing. |
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Posted: 6/16/2019 9:42:06 AM EDT
[Last Edit: sparkyD]
[#10]
My first was stolen off my grandparents porch 43 years ago along with my grandpa's. It was an Abu Garcia spinning real combo with tackle box. Second one I think either My nephew lost it or made off with it. It was a Diawa spincast on a 6' Samurai rod. I do have my third combo a Zebco 606 but I never used it much i preferred the the shimano Bantam I got the same year. I also got a Shimano spincast real that same year and that real has been on several rods. the first being a Browning that a big drum wrecked. Second was a eagle claw that got the tip broken behind the second eye in a move. Then I got an ugly stick that's lasted many years but I absolutely despise. But my wife likes it.
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Posted: 6/16/2019 9:51:09 AM EDT
[#11]
I broke the tip off my 23yo Shakespeare rod last summer walking back to the campsite.
A little piece of me died 
That rod has landed a lot of trout, and trolled many lakes and rivers in the NW. |
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Posted: 6/16/2019 10:27:22 AM EDT
[#12]
I've been through so many rods and reels. There is a stack of old rods in a corner of the shop...maybe 20 or so...that I just haven't thrown away yet. You can only save so much old stuff. My kids got new stuff when they were old enough. Nothing special about the old Zebco. All my rigs are Tier One now.
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Posted: 6/16/2019 10:53:38 AM EDT
[#13]
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Posted: 6/16/2019 7:35:31 PM EDT
[#14]
I wish, dad bought it for me at bass pro when bass pro was the size of a 7-11. I caught a mess of pan fish with it. Rogers lures was up the street from me, I used to ride my bike up there looking at all the cool lures. Spent all my allowance money in that store. Rogers is still in business, but more of a hunting store.
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Posted: 6/27/2019 12:06:24 AM EDT
[#15]
I do.
The thing you use to tighten against the reel is fucked up. I should try to send it in to see if I can get it refurbished or something. |
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GA, USA
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Posted: 7/5/2019 1:17:34 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Stasher1]
[#16]
I didn't start fishing until my early 30's when my FIL bought one of my boys a RocketRod. Total POS that scared all of the damn fish away by hitting the water like a brick, but it made me invest in a more traditional rod/reel to replace it. It wasn't long after that, that I bought one of my own.
On my way home from the hospital after watching the birth of my youngest son (12 years ago), I bought a Zebco 33 Platinum and a 6' Ugly Stik. It was all down hill from there. I still have both the rod and the reel, but don't use either one. My youngest boy has the reel mounted on an Emmrod Packer and the rod simply collects dust on the rack. |
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OH, USA
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Posted: 12/29/2019 10:14:26 AM EDT
[#17]
I had the first rod I ever bought until about 2 years ago. It was a 7' Med Shimano spinning rod with a cork handle. I caught darn near every fish OH has to offer on that thing. I still have the Shimano reel I paired with it. A Spirex if I recall correctly.
My kids closed the garage door while it was in the track. It broke into several pieces..........  I got all my grandparents fishing stuff when they passed. I have what appears to be a bamboo fly rod, still in the packaging from the 40s or 50s? One day I should. go through all that stuff and see what is actually there |
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Posted: 5/21/2020 2:42:44 PM EDT
[Last Edit: demoMouse]
[#18]
I had a great little Zebco when I was a kid. Great for crappie. I think it got sold at a garage sale. Hope whoever got it after me enjoyed it just as much
I still have the first Shakespeare I bought for myself. |
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Posted: 5/24/2020 8:19:52 PM EDT
[#19]
I still have my first "real" bass setup. I bought it in the mid 80's. A LCI Excelon (Loomis composites inc) and a Abu Garcia 4600 CB reel. I still take it out a few times a year.
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Posted: 2/26/2021 5:20:17 PM EDT
[#20]
No, but I have my dad's Johnson spincaster and fiberglas rod that predate me.
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Posted: 3/13/2021 9:50:05 PM EDT
[#21]
I did, but gave it to a niece who wanted to fish. it's close to 60 now, a 202 on a small fiberglass rod.
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Posted: 3/13/2021 10:43:48 PM EDT
[#22]
If your cheap rod and reel lasts for more than couple of years you are
not fishing often or catching big or enough fish. An avid fisherman will go through a lot of gear over the years. I stripped the gears out of my first Zebco the first year when I was six. Sure...hauling logs up from the bottom of a lake/river isn't good for a reel, but that is fishing. |
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Posted: 3/13/2021 11:02:55 PM EDT
[#23]
I've got some shimano "greenies" that are probably pushing 30 years old, but my first? Oh hell no. I'm pretty sure it was a cane pole.
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Posted: 8/28/2021 8:42:02 PM EDT
[#24]
No...but I have some abu garcia baitcast reels...from early 90's nearly in perfect shape.
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Posted: 8/28/2021 9:02:17 PM EDT
[#25]
I do.
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KY, USA
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Posted: 9/1/2021 11:55:11 PM EDT
[#26]
Just about all my early stuff got stolen when I went into the AF back in the mid 80's.
Had a nice pair of Daiwa (silver?) spinning reels on Eagle Claw rods, a Johnson spincast on some old True-Temper and a Shakespeare spincast on a Zebco rod. |
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Posted: 3/6/2022 3:01:59 PM EDT
[#27]
Yes, I still do. 50+ years.
A Zebco 404 on a fiberglass Great Lakes rod. I lost it for a while. I had left it in a house I was living in. Found it several years later while working on the same house. I haven't used it in years. |
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Posted: 5/28/2023 1:25:37 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JupiterMaximus]
[#28]
My dad hated fishing, and most any outdoors pursuits. I bought my first cheap rod and reel It was the ubiquitous zebco 33. The rod has long gone bye bye. Still have the reel.
To make matters worse. I inherited an old 50s model Ambasaduer reel from my Grandfather back in high school. Dad sold it at a yardsale while I was in the USMC. Still mad about that one. |
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