I have, as a part of my love of angling, what can only be described as a "hotrodder" mentality…read moretoward older, classic fishing reels. They were the standards of quality back when, but can they be tweaked, tuned, and modified so that they outperform the out-of-the-box must-have hardware that trendy fisherfolk snap up after every year's Fishing Show? My desire is to do as much of the work myself as my resources and abilities will allow, but I know and understand that I need a mentor to teach me, by example, the zen of fishing reel maintenance, repair, and improvement. I mean, a Shovelhead Harley is always a Shovelhead Harley, but how to make it become ALL the Shovelhead Harley that it can be?
My first desire was to find a local craftsman, but my searches all ended up in communities around North Georgia far, far from my Newnan home. Telephone calls to shops within a 100 mile radius yielded people eager to take my order, but lacking any signs of dedication to the sport. So, my search progressed outward via the Internet, followed by short phone conversations, until I called Mat's Reel Repair in way-up-north-and-snowy Eagle River, Wisconsin. When I called, Mat himself answered. Awesome. After some vague, tenderfoot questions from me, which Mat handled very diplomatically, we got into the kind of conversation that only two soaked-to-the-bone lovers of the great outdoors and the art of angling could share. That did it for me. I shipped off a much beloved Abu Garcia 5600 reel to be cleaned, micropolished, tuned, and have high performance sealed spool and worm gears installed, plus some other enhancements. He sent me an estimate of $54.50 (so reasonable I swooned), and I authorized the work. He finished it a week later, emailed me an invoice, which I paid, and the reel arrived 2 business days later. It is now Pavarotti, not a community opera singer. I have taken it apart, and oooohed and ahhhed at the finesse of the work. It's almost a shame to set it to work hauling heavy fish through miry waterweeds and casting time after time into brackish coastal waters, but it will be a joy, also.
