I've heard rumors of a fishing forum around this joint, but I'll be darned if I can find the place. Must be where the infamous "secret committee" hangs out or sumpin' and I don't have a hall pass.

Do you ever use a closed-face spin-cast reel for anything? I have an old Johnson Century (100B) reel that I would love to pass on to somebody who would appreciate it. It's not worth anything (monetarily speaking), but it has a bit of history (for me). When I was 10 years old, I mowed lawns around the neighborhood for a bit of "foldin' money" and I saved up enough cash to buy my grandfather a Christmas present. I'm about 99% sure this was in 1962 (I was 10 years old). If I remember correctly, my dad took me to Sears Roebuck to shop for a reel. The guy in the sporting goods department showed me a new Johnson model that had just been introduced that same year and I bought it. Two years later, my grandfather had a massive heart attack and died (I was in the 6th grade, 1964). Shortly after "Pop" passed away, my grandmother gave that reel back to me (she passed away in '77).

So, for the past 50 years, this reel has been sitting in the bottom of various drawers, old tackle boxes, wherever ... but I've never used it. When you mentioned the story about your friend, I thought about that old reel and dug it out of my garage this morning. It's suffered a few minor "dings" over the years, but is in pretty darn good condition considering it's age. Everything seems to work, but it's pretty "stiff" and actually feels like the old grease has dried out inside the case. I'd imagine it basically just needs a good cleaning and re-lube. My (only) son doesn't fish and has no use for it, so I'd like to see someone have it who might appreciate the story behind it ... and POSSIBLY actually use it at least long enough to catch a fish with it. Can you stand another old relic hangin' around your place?

I haven't taken the time to snap and download pics, but it's persactly like this one (only a little dirtier!):

johnsonreel1.JPG johnsonreel2.JPG johnsonreel3.JPG johnsonreel4.JPG