Zebco 202

[LongLineRelease]

Oh yeah. The trusty zebco outfit. Got started with one of those around kindergarten and used through my childhood. I started fly fishing at 12or 13. I didnt really get independent with it until my mid 20s

 

[chubmaster]

Gotta start somewhere! Zebco 202 and 404 were my first rods, as I moved on to spin casters, which is what I used to develop my love for fishing. I didn't even start fly fishing until I was 35, which is when I started having kids. Long story short, I am still a novice fly fisherman, and very much learning. I use spinners and fly gear depending on the trip. The only variable that has changed is that I rarely, if ever, use live bait. I used live bait for the first time in forever ice fishing in Minnesota last year. My hope is to introduce my boys to fly fishing at a younger age and let them have fun with fishing regardless of the "type". God rest my Dad's soul, but I wish he would have introduced fly fishing when I was young. He was a great/only influence on me, but I hope to sow three more fly fisherman over the next 5 to 50 years.

 

[Letort]

I as probably about 12. My first nice fly rod was a Fenwick glass - $35.

 

[FarmerDave]

I can't believe I missed this thread.

What is a Zebco 202? :-D

Bought my first flyrod when I was about 11 give or take a year. It was an old H-I bamboo. Circa 1934. It set me back $5 which was a weeks pay at the time (paper route).

I knew nothing about fly fishing, just noticed all the fish eating bugs off the surface in my uncles pond. First time I used it for trout was when I was about 18 or so, and it wasn't exactly legal.

Tom, my little brother had a 303. He may still have it.

 

[barbless]

The 202 was my first fishing reel. Caught many a white perch on it, and eventually a 2 1/2 lb. smallie.

But the memory that sticks in my mind was my first time stream fishing, at age 10, for sunnies and rock bass in Conodoguinet Creek below the dam. With an unsplit cane pole and bacon for bait. Original tenkara style. Hammered them at the edge of every weed bed. Took them home- a 15 minute walk- fried them up and chowed down.

Then two months later we moved, to a Maryland suburb with no freshwater fishing opportunities within an hour's drive.