RedClayRoots79
BANNED
Still do 33s 202s 404s. They set up in the in the ceiling over head retired.
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How Many Old Time Fisherman Had a Zebco 202 or 33 ?
- Thread starter Redbow
- Start date
202s, 404s and 33s were a step up from some cheap reels Dad got from Sears. The little Sears reels were mounted on 5 ft rods that maybe had 4 guides on them.
60 years old and still going strong. Eat your hearts out! I got it on a little 30" youth rod. As soon as I get my first grandchild he/she learns on it with paw paw.
Redbow
Senior Member
Went out to my shop this afternoon and took the old Zebco 33 off the pegs where it had been hanging for the past 18 years. It had some dust on it and a bit of corrosion but not bad. I took the reel off the rod and cleaned it, then oiled the reel and took the front cover off. To my delight every feature on the little reel still works, smooth as it was the day I bought it decades ago and it still looks good.. Even the line is still good I could not break it with my hands. This was a combination rod and reel packaged together with a yellow practice plug that I think I still have somewhere in the shop..If I remember correctly I bought the 33 combo in K-Mart, I paid maybe $15 dollars or so for it..
I cleaned the rod it was made in the USA as well. The rod is a Platcor 850 5' made in Omaha Nebraska..It has the big rubber hand grip on it that feels super fine in your hand..The piece that you clamp the rod to on the bottom of the reel says Zebco, made in USA...I am not sure where the Zebco 33 was made, at one time they were made in Tulsa Oklahoma I believe.. Amazing American technology for just a little bit of money that sold by the millions and gave many people countless hours of fishing fun. I have even seen people Spot fishing off the pier with 202's and 33's...I think I will catch me a Bream with the 33 and rod the next time the Wife and I go fishing in the White Oak River..
I cleaned the rod it was made in the USA as well. The rod is a Platcor 850 5' made in Omaha Nebraska..It has the big rubber hand grip on it that feels super fine in your hand..The piece that you clamp the rod to on the bottom of the reel says Zebco, made in USA...I am not sure where the Zebco 33 was made, at one time they were made in Tulsa Oklahoma I believe.. Amazing American technology for just a little bit of money that sold by the millions and gave many people countless hours of fishing fun. I have even seen people Spot fishing off the pier with 202's and 33's...I think I will catch me a Bream with the 33 and rod the next time the Wife and I go fishing in the White Oak River..
B. White
Senior Member
Hooked a lot of trout, rays, etc. with the 404 and 808 from about 74 to 80, mostly around the Keaton beach area. We used steel leaders and I don't remember anything they could not handle. We had some broke lines, but I don't remember any reel failures.
I did not have the same luck with the first 33 I owned. It only took one school of West Point hybrids on a rainy day with rooster tails to wear it out, but no telling how many I caught.
I did not have the same luck with the first 33 I owned. It only took one school of West Point hybrids on a rainy day with rooster tails to wear it out, but no telling how many I caught.
BriarPatch99
Senior Member
I have a old Black Zebco 33 ....I think it is a 1955/56 model...
Also have a 44 which is nothing but an under lever 33 ...
Several newer 33 (15/20 years old)
Also have a 44 which is nothing but an under lever 33 ...
Several newer 33 (15/20 years old)
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GeorgiaGlockMan
Senior Member
I had a 202.
All my friends had 33s growing up....same design and op
I hated that reel design.
Still have a Garcia Mitchell 300 that I prefer to the 33s. I "broke" it in 5th grade trying to fly a kite in high wind. Snapped the bail right off.
I was heartbroken for a month.
My grandpa fixed it that same summer. I wouldn't sell that reel now for $1,000.
Eta...I love old fishing reels. Added picture of 6 of 7 of my first reels (tossed the 202 in a duck pond after having to hand line a "big" catfish). The 300 is lower left.
All my friends had 33s growing up....same design and op
I hated that reel design.
Still have a Garcia Mitchell 300 that I prefer to the 33s. I "broke" it in 5th grade trying to fly a kite in high wind. Snapped the bail right off.
I was heartbroken for a month.
My grandpa fixed it that same summer. I wouldn't sell that reel now for $1,000.
Eta...I love old fishing reels. Added picture of 6 of 7 of my first reels (tossed the 202 in a duck pond after having to hand line a "big" catfish). The 300 is lower left.
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Yep, still remember that sound and feel too. A solid "clack" sound going back into gear from inside the heavy-duty plastic case. I remember that from the last 202 I had dated back to when I was 5 or 10. Finally had to throw it away some 10 or so years ago.
All the push buttons have that click but it seemed like the older plastic 202 cases amplified it some how.
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Dutch
AMERICAN WARRIOR
I have 2 Classic 33's and 2 33' Max's.
TinKnocker
Senior Member
I am not even an old timer and I have had both. The 33 is a crappie/bream slayer.
cowhornedspike
Senior Member
Started out as a kid with the Zebco 77 kids rod combo. Caught a pile of fish with that set. Graduated up to a Mitchell 408 (high speed 308) and have stayed with open face spinners ever since.
EAGLE EYE 444
King Casanova
I grew up while first using a Plueger open face reel which had a 3 1/2-4 ft long fiberglass rod. Then I started using a solid metal rod that was about 5 ft long with that reel. My Mother and Father used to use various Ambassadeur reels when I was really young. Heck, I was only about 10 years old then.
THEN came the BIG time because my Father bought me a couple of the Zebco 202's and the world changed because it was so easy to catch fish then. I honestly believe that over several years of those, I wore out at least 4-5 of those reels and my Father got a man to fix them for us. (The gears were plastic back then). Well that man turned out to be a liar and a thief as he never fixed any of them and basically stole them as well as he said he just didn't know what happened to them. Basically, everybody in the County found out what a shady character this guy really was. (I remember that this man's brother was our Preacher back in those days too.)
Then my Father and I both started using Zebco 33's and I must have used at least 10-12 of them over these years now and I currently have 6 of them strung up with new line and a some new rods also. Those are what I caught some nice bass and bream on during the past few months that I posted the photos on here. During these past few months, I also bought 3 more 33's and also one is their "Platinum Series". All of these newer ones have all metal gears and hopefully will last a while.
I have fished ONLY with the 33's now for the past 50 years or so for pond or regular lake fishing. I do have a great ABU GARCIA Ambassadeur, Model 521 XLT PLUS casting set-up on an ABU GARCIA 500 GRAPHITE COMPOSITE ROD MODEL LXS80M, 8 FT, 2 PIECE, that I previously used for catching those huge shad as they made their run up the Savannah River to the Augusta area each spring. After you hooked them in that very swift water at the dam, they would put up a heck of a battle and then you had to have a friend to help get them up the 15-20 feet high "Lock and Dam" wall, as it required the use of a metal rectangular basket tied onto a long rope to land them. They were really exciting to catch (the daily limit was 8) and I always gave them away to other fisherman as I just enjoyed the battle. I remember that a really old guy from Switzerland taught me how to fish for these type fish back close to 25 years ago now.
This type of fishing just doesn't exist much anymore because the Corps of Engineers closed this Savannah River dam facility as such and no boat traffic from downtown Augusta can travel down to Savannah any more.
To the O. P. of this thread, THANKS for bringing back some really GREAT memories of the past.
THEN came the BIG time because my Father bought me a couple of the Zebco 202's and the world changed because it was so easy to catch fish then. I honestly believe that over several years of those, I wore out at least 4-5 of those reels and my Father got a man to fix them for us. (The gears were plastic back then). Well that man turned out to be a liar and a thief as he never fixed any of them and basically stole them as well as he said he just didn't know what happened to them. Basically, everybody in the County found out what a shady character this guy really was. (I remember that this man's brother was our Preacher back in those days too.)
Then my Father and I both started using Zebco 33's and I must have used at least 10-12 of them over these years now and I currently have 6 of them strung up with new line and a some new rods also. Those are what I caught some nice bass and bream on during the past few months that I posted the photos on here. During these past few months, I also bought 3 more 33's and also one is their "Platinum Series". All of these newer ones have all metal gears and hopefully will last a while.
I have fished ONLY with the 33's now for the past 50 years or so for pond or regular lake fishing. I do have a great ABU GARCIA Ambassadeur, Model 521 XLT PLUS casting set-up on an ABU GARCIA 500 GRAPHITE COMPOSITE ROD MODEL LXS80M, 8 FT, 2 PIECE, that I previously used for catching those huge shad as they made their run up the Savannah River to the Augusta area each spring. After you hooked them in that very swift water at the dam, they would put up a heck of a battle and then you had to have a friend to help get them up the 15-20 feet high "Lock and Dam" wall, as it required the use of a metal rectangular basket tied onto a long rope to land them. They were really exciting to catch (the daily limit was 8) and I always gave them away to other fisherman as I just enjoyed the battle. I remember that a really old guy from Switzerland taught me how to fish for these type fish back close to 25 years ago now.
This type of fishing just doesn't exist much anymore because the Corps of Engineers closed this Savannah River dam facility as such and no boat traffic from downtown Augusta can travel down to Savannah any more.
To the O. P. of this thread, THANKS for bringing back some really GREAT memories of the past.
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wildcats
Senior Member
Still have couple of each. Two passed down from my dad that are, of course, priceless.
Horns
Senior Member
?
JB0704
I Gots Goats
I grew up fishing with nothing but Zebco 33's. The folks who really wanted something nice put abumatics on. I don't use either anymore.
redeli
"Useless Billy Coach"
I have a 101 still in the plastic
doublebarrel
Senior Member
i bought a 33 when they first came out and the line would cut grove at the pickup pin and they were not worth a darn until they finally corrected this! I had Johnsons that sat sideways on rod and line came out side of reel. BB
EAGLE EYE 444
King Casanova
DB, I've had that same problem a couple of times over these years. On one reel, the line dang near cut just about through the pickup pin before I realized it. After I ultimately had a couple of the 33's to just tear up, well I saved these pickup pins on them and was able to reuse them in other reels. They have lasted several years now as well.
I also remember a two piece fiberglass rod way back many years ago that had metal eyelets on both sections including the the tip eyelet. Several years later, that tip eyelet had just about cut a groove completely through the circle of the eyelet too. These eyelets did not have any ceramic coating on the eyelets back then. It wasn't easy trying to repair that eyelet tip back then as there was NO internet to try to locate any of these parts for sale.
I had finally starting using the ceramic guide eyelet inserts type rods and ended up with a couple of those spare rods over the years as such.
I ended up using one of those really old two piece rods with the ceramic inserts and was able to use just the top section of that rod and insert it onto the newer rod base and it worked for many years that way with a "hybrid of sorts" two piece rod. I never had a prolem after then with the insert rod tip being just about cut through as such.
