Today’s Friday Finale post is a slight change of pace – some photos of historical gear, baitcasters, in particular, that were the hot thing back in 1975. They were featured in a gear guide to new tackle offerings by many of the major companies, as seen in Fishing Facts magazine, and will likely be pretty familiar to many readers. In my case, one of the featured reels, the Quick 700/700B, was the first baitcaster I ever owned and the one I learned to cast with. Back then, the low profile reels were still just beginning to come out, and the majority of the market was still dominated by round reels.
Here are a few of the pics with write-ups from the story. See if any of these bring back some old memories.
QUICK: “Quick Corporation of America announces four new Championship Series reels for 1975. Designated 700, 700B, 800, 800B, these revolving spool, star drag, baitcasting reels are manufactured in West Germany. They feature an improved calibrated spool tension brake which can be adjusted for many sized lures and a one-piece spool construction for better strength and balance. Quick claims a star drag system with two and a half times the drag surface of any other reel for extremely even tension at any range setting. The 700B and 800B models are high speed fast retrieve reels with ball bearing drive.”
LEW CHILDRE: “New from Lew Childre & Sons is a bait-casting reel designed especially for the black bass fisherman. Lew Childre claims the SPEED SPOOL reel is the most comfortable reel ever made. Its low profile fits the fisherman’s hand and the reel is very light in weight. Spool control during the cast is made easier. The spool is narrow and has a greater diameter than many reels. A red line indicates how far to fill it for maximum performance. The spool starts fast and stops quick – avoiding jerky starts and overruns that often occur when firing short range casts in under the brush. The level wind disengages during the cast allowing greater distance. The level wind guide itself is a Fuji diamond polished Hard Speed Guide which reduces line wear and allows a longer cast.
Since the spool is narrow, the angle of the line to the guide is minimal and the guide can be in any position for the cast. Upon retrieve, the line is cross wound on the spool preventing it from cutting into its own mass when fighting a big fish.”
DAIWA: “[Next] is the Millionaire 3H precision baitcasting reel. The 3H boasts a high speed retrieve, 5 to 1 gear ratio, stainless steel ball bearings, centrifugal anti-back-lash control, star drag, and an automatic level wind that guides the line smoothly off the reel for smoother, longer casts.”
GARCIA: “Shown last is a bait-casting reel for the fisherman that wants that extra speed in his retrieve. The Ambassadeur 5500C has a fast 4.7 to 1 retrieve ratio plus ball bearings for smooth casting.”
I have owned all three of the reels shown. Still have them, but they have long been retired. They were very heavy compared to today, but they took a beating and kept working.