Back in the day I..............

[TeamMonster]

I fished every second I could.

[fishinjohn]

I thought fishing was a matter of life and death, now I realize it's WAY MORE THAN THAT

[masoneddie]

I didn't think anything could beat a Zebco 202...

[stripernut]

I thought fishing was a matter of life and death, now I realize it's WAY MORE THAN THAT

X2

[jperch]

I wore out the gears on my Zebco 202's.  They sat on top of one of those "coat hanger" South Bend steel fishing rods.  I dreamed of owning one of the fancy Shakespeare closed face spinning reels/fiberglass rods that all the grown ups in my family owned.  I wore those out eventually too!  jperch

[L.A. fisherman]

oh my zebco!

[tomturkey]

How many kids started their fishing careers with an old 202.

[TeamMonster]

How many kids started their fishing careers with an old 202.

Guilty 

[Hillbilly75]

202, to the 33 to the Mitchell 300 to the ..........

[rgfixit]

Back in the day.....about 22,000 days ago.......I had a steel bait casting rod and reel. "Backlash-o-Matic" was the brand I'd guess. Spooled with black braided fishing line sized to winch small cars out of the ditch, it was perfectly suited for a 7 year old chasing blue gills.

Dad even rigged me up a "Worm Tickler". It was a hand crank generator from an old telephone. Had a couple wires and two steel rods attached. I'd wet an area of lawn, stick the rods in the ground and crank away till the crawlers rose to the surface.

Armed with a cigar box full of hooks, sinkers, bobbers, a string stringer, a fishin' knife and coffee can full of worms, I'd load up my 12' flat bottom, plywood boat, fire up my 7 1/2 horsepower Western Auto Wizard outboard and head down the lake to my favorite stream.

Some 60 years later, I feel exactly the same when I fire up my current outboard and head out on the water. Still a 7 year old at heart when it comes to fishing. Not much better than watching a bobber

Rg

[SizeMatters]

.........gathered with every kid in the neighborhood to fish for "cats" with our Zebco 202's by the hiss of Coleman lantern light along the banks of Buffalo Creek in Freeport, Pa.  Annual rite of spring.

[filetandrelease]

When stream fishing I still feel that excitement when I see a trout come out of hiding to crash my offering

[perchgypsy]

I started with a open face reel ,I'm old just not that old
Some of my best memories are collecting wood along the bank to settle in for some bullhead fishing
nice little fire and sit and watch the rod tip,I haven't targeted bullhead in yrs but back in the day this is what spring meant

[bart]

How many kids started their fishing careers with an old 202.

I started out with a 202... 

[Shuba]

Back in the day I started with the 202 and the Johnson closed faced
" cast a country mile "