One cool and sunny winter day about 40 years ago, dad and I took a long walk from our home to this fishing spot behind the public swimming pool. The plan is to fish the Hong Kong Victoria harbor. We stopped at a fishing supply store to pickup some live sand worms. The walk took about 40 min one way. It did not bother me too much as it is normal in the 1970s Hong Kong. Back then your most reliable form of transportation is your own two feet. Besides, there is no bus services to this area. Dad's setup is a little 6ft collapsible pole and this tiny Plfueger 640-II reel. I think it must have been loaded with 8+ lbs. line as I remember the line is stiff and we tangled a lot. Looking back, this setup is just awkward, but this is his all-around setup for ocean and fresh water fishing. Dad was not a very experienced fishermen back then. I don’t remember we ever caught anything to take home. Normally, we caught some tiny rock fish and other unknown tiny fish. Dad always said they are too small for anything so he just throw them back. I remember I always think it is boring to come to this place as there is not much other things to do there, we never caught anything worth to take home, and dad is not much a chatter. Nevertheless, going fishing is still better than staying in a small flat that we were living in, and I can always get some yummy street food walking through the market. So I am happy to go with him. And that is one of the typical fishing trips that dad took me. (Come to think of it, Hong Kong Victoria harbor is highly polluted back then, I am glad that we never caught anything home to eat…. Hahaha. ) Years later when I was studying in UC Santa Barbara, I started to do a lot more fishing on my own and other outdoor actives. I like the great outdoors especially fishing. I guess these little fishing memories must have seeded for my passion today. 感謝老豆 Thank you!
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| 老豆 1980s |
Dad pasted away a few years ago (1936 ~ 2016), this old tiny fishing reel has been sitting inside my old gears pile for a long time. A few days ago when I was gearing up for some trout fishing rigs, I saw it laying there almost seems like it is calling for me. As I pick it up, a lot of good memories started to flow back to my mind. So to honor my dad’s teaching, I will rebuild this reel for future trout fishing use.
Before we begin, a quick over view of the pre-build condition. As the reel has not been used for over 20 years, it is not running smooth at all. Not sure when is the last time if ever my dad had put any oil in it.
Alright,
let the operation begin.
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| The
push button release for the spool |
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The
internal gearing are the most basic type. The grease and oil looks very nasty.
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After
removed the axle holding screw, the main axle can be slide out.
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Use 10mm socket to remove the nut holding the
spool cup/holder. Tips: Turn clockwise to loosen the nut.
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Next.
Remove the worm gear
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The
main gear is full of oil grease. Some of them are harden like plastic.
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Got
the anti-reverse gear dissembled.
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These
green stuff is likely the original factory grease. It is already harden like plastic
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There
are more of these harden green grease in the ball bearing. No wonder...
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Finally
have all the parts dissembled. I hope I can put them all back in good order
later. Hahaha
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| Taken
me an hour to clean all the parts with WD40 and a lot of Q-tips and paper towels |
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Time
to re-grease all the gears. Lithium grease is for the main gears and anti-reverses gear.
The light oil is for the main axle, ball bearings, and any places that has tight
gaps.
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The
point is lightly grease. I sure hope I did not put too much in it.
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The
reel is finally running smooth again. Although the performance is nowhere near
the kind of performance of a modern spinning reel, it is not bad. Definitely good enough for some great fishing. I hope with some care it
will last long time and maybe my kids can one day learn to appreciate it. Will post some fishing video and photos later.
Quick history about this vintage reel. The Pflueger 640-II is made in Japan by Omori Manufacturing(大森製作所) According to the Internet, Shakespeare has invested in Omori back in 1960s/1970s. The Pflueger 640-II is almost identical to the Shakespeare 2200II spinning reel. From what I read the dimension and mechanical should be the same. Unfortunately I don’t have access to a Shakespeare 2200II for comparison. I have taken a few pictures from various sites to show here for a quick reference. I guess they must be OEM version of each other? I will update if I came across more information in the future.
***I don’t own some of the photos posted below. If the owner of the photo wish to be taken down, please contact me directly and I will remove them right away. They are here for a quick comparison and your photos serve the best purpose. Good job and Thank you.
