The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

First reel was a cotton reel on a split pin whipped to the cane, second reel was a Tokoz skeleton pin

First reel was indeed a Black Prince which came as part of a kit from my mother's catalogue (along with a Sealey White Wonder solid glass rod). Second reel was a Pfleuger spinning reel which actually wasn't that much of an improvement over the Intrepid. The third reel however was an ABU Cardinal 40 which was a complete game-changer for me.

I started with a tiny black plastic ELO drum reel. This was replaced by several second hand Tru spins. These were usually gift horses from friends of various parents or even cleverly off loaded by unkind passing strangers . They were rubbish,none lasted long. I cannot understand the affection some hold for them.
My brother had the dreaded Prince of Darkness but luckily he was more into football than fishing so didn't use it enough to enjoy the thrill of having the line cut by the bail arm groove just when he'd hooked a decent fish.
The first new reel l remember being given was a black Monarch 66 and l definitely felt better equipped , for a while . A failing bail-arm spring and line groove still killed it pretty quickly .
Dad then invested in two new Intrepid Diplomats; one for him,one for me . Hateful devices. Terrible for line going round the body and behind the spool . Also not only did the line rollers on the bail -arm seem to be made of cheese ,they didn't even roll .In fact we cut through so many that in the end the man in our tackle shop gave us a little bag of free rollers. They didn't last long. I hated the Diplomat! No wonder l've always liked centrepins.
First decent fixed spool to enter my hands was a Mitchell 324,bought new with my very first pay packet.
Still have it and it works perfectly 48 years later.

My first fixed spool reel was a Black Prince followed by an ABU Cardinal 40.

My second reel was a brown Daiwa, didn't know anything about it, it came with a load of tackle from a second hand shop

Kirpan wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 10:36 pm My second reel was a brown Daiwa, didn't know anything about it, it came with a load of tackle from a second hand shop

That's three of us now with the brown Daiwa! As mentioned earlier, I think mine was a 7300 and I remember it being a pretty good reel (all things being relative!). It had a rounded-off, roughly rectangular shaped gear casing.

I picked one up a while back that reminded me of it. Very similar in shape, but perhaps a later version as it is a gunmetal grey colour. Quite a smooth reel for an old 'un.

John Milford wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 11:51 pm

Kirpan wrote: ↑Sun May 19, 2024 10:36 pm My second reel was a brown Daiwa, didn't know anything about it, it came with a load of tackle from a second hand shop

That's three of us now with the brown Daiwa! As mentioned earlier, I think mine was a 7300 and I remember it being a pretty good reel (all things being relative!). It had a rounded-off, roughly rectangular shaped gear casing.

I picked one up a while back that reminded me of it. Very similar in shape, but perhaps a later version as it is a gunmetal grey colour. Quite a smooth reel for an old 'un.

Yep, my first impression was 'very smooth' reel.

This R/H wind model was donated to me (it is brown, despite the colour in the photos).