Mike's Reel Repair

[quiet]

I owned one of these many years and found it surprisingly effective and easy to use. So, I recently bought one (on Ebay) for a 7-year-old friend. Not surprisingly, the line doesn't cast smoothly. The basic parts are all there and working. But the line seems to be catching on the the teeth of the brake shoe instead of reeling off smoothly. My guess is the thumb clutch is worn and isn't pushing the clutch rod in far enough to move the brake shoe forward enough to clear the line. Another thought is I might have chosen too light a line. I replaced the line with 4-lb test after I got it and now I'm wondering if these didn't come with a heavier "beginner" type line that would probably reel off more smoothly.

Anybody ever work on one of these? I'd like to get it working so the kid can enjoy using it as much as I did mine.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=LVUtAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract - Here is the original Popeil patent, which was very helpful in learning the names of the parts.

[jrncubs]

Quiet,

Like you, I just picked up the 1972 Popeil Pocket Fisherman off of eBay and found it out of the box unusable. I tried to actuate the thumb brake to cast the line out and it would not budge. I took off the side cover and inspected the internals of the reel. Turns out the mechanism was just jammed due to lack of use and gumming up of the grease lubricant. I cleaned the spring loaded clutch rod and lubed it up and now casts almost like it was new out of the box. I used Coleman fuel to clean up the parts and some 3 in 1 oil to re-lube. I need to find out the type of grease that would best work inside this reel. Still hunting on the net for that info.

Hope this helps!

[mike]

I have one of these things sitting on a shelf at the shop. I bought it from a fellow who was retiring from fishing.
I remember using a Pocket Fisherman years ago with my grandpa, and I remember it working to a point
Casting was a whole other issue!

Mike
_________________
"Keep it outta the water damnit!"

www.mikesreelrepair.com

[repairmanray]

I have a pocket fisherman too. I found it in the basement. it is old but would fit into my glovebox if i can get it working right. this is the problem. all the plastic is old, and might have changed shape, angle, ect. When i try to cast, it hangs up, like the problems stated above. but if i hit just the right spot. 3/4 down on the button, the string spools off perfectly. this is the first time i've tried fixing a reel, but the PF is so cool! i thought i could move the sweet spot of the cast button, by shimming the chrome thing on top upwards, but it didn't seem to change anything. Hopefully i've described the issue, and parts well enough, that some of you here that know the terminology and theory can understand and tell me where to shim it to make hitting the cast button will put it in the right position to cast freely. thanks, ray