pop-n-bugg

Plus, I have seen some of these "CNC Machined Aluminum reels bend from a very minor fall. The old Martins and Pflueger's say, "Hold my beer".

Absolutely. Vintage Martin reels are just so reliable and when these reels were new, they were a lot of bang for the buck and readily available just about anywhere that sold fishing supplies. Most fly fishers have used a Martin or Pflueger at one time or another. I love the build quality and simplistic nature of these vintage reels.

Martins bring back a lot of memories from yesteryear. Fun times growing up and memories of fly fisherman that have passed on. I have 3 Martins (63, 66 and an auto), a Pflueger 1494, a Shakespeare, 2 White Rive and an Echo. The Martin 66 and Pflueger see more time than any others.

Last night I replaced the backing and line on the reel and gave it a good cleaning. I had a little surface rust on the foot. It is ready to go now, just have to find a new rod to put it on. I don't think there was anything wrong with the line that came on it but it was probably an 8wt, at least. Went back with a WF6F. I think it has a lot of years and a lot of fish left in it. Everything operates smooth and everything is tight. I checked all of the screws and such just to be sure.

I have a Martin 66 on the way. Got it, loaded with ling that appears to be in great condition, with shipping and tax for a little over $30. i have a soft spot for the old Martin reels. I have an old Martin 63 that I have had since the late 80's. it has brought in a ton of fish. I am starting to fancy the old, vintage Martin and Pflueger reels over the new, modern reels. They just speak to me more and bring back a lot of memories from yesteryear. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow as it is supposed to.

Capt. Bob, My glue of choice is loc-tite professional. Only drawback is it set quick. Never had anything come lose that I used it on. I can't find it now so I am using gorilla super glue. Like it so far but still prefer the loc-tite. I second that on tying your own.

That is interesting. I have never seen that before. I wonder if they got a bad lot of thread or whether it was just old and rotten? I wonder if they put some type of glue on their thread after it is tied and it didn't get put on either through a mechanical problem or human error? Make you go "Hhhmmm".

Capt., I've got to where I don't dress poppers up a lot. Bass and bream generally don't care how "dressed up" they are. I will generally paint them a bait fish color and go a little light on tail material. I only put legs on about half of my poppers. I catch fish on ones with legs and on the legless. Seems minimal material gets just as many fish. Those are some very nice looking poppers you have there. I know they'll produce a lot of fish. Tight lines!

Philly The legs I used were silicone. There were a few of them that were busted up pretty bad. May salvage the hooks.Besides.poppers there were a lot of Betts Trim Grims. Around 15 of them. All in like new condition in some great colors. Look like size 8 and 10. Kinda feel like I won the lottery.

I did actually get it today. The 1494 is a really heavy made reel. It came with line on it so I am Put some dressing on it and see how it does. If it is too far gone, i have some brand new line to load the spool with. Life is good.

Different sizes A lot of them were bream poppers. Probably #10 hook size.

I had a coworker give me some compartment Plano boxes with various flies. Between about 5 boxes there were probably 200 fries with about 50 or 60 poppers. Most of the legs on them were either broke off or melted or dry rotted. Most of these have never seen water or never been used more than a couple of times. Most were in "like new" condition besides the legs. I was able to use a needle to push the old legs out of the bodies and use my bobbin threader to pull new legs through the bodies. I got most of them done in one night. Saved me a lot of time in tying new poppers and a ton of money not to have to buy new poppers.

It will probably outlast me. May take the USPS that long to get it to me. The website says that it is "Out For Delivery". We shall see.

Well, the USPS stood me up today on delivering my reel. Why am I not surprised?