Heddon 205R Spinning Reel

[Swimbait]

I picked this up off of E Bay for $30. I had a Heddon reel as my first spinning reel when I was in my late teens, 1969-1971. It is long gone but I remember it as a workhorse that caught me many fish, trout, bass, pickerel among the many. This one has had very little if any use, I opened the sides up and the gears have no wear, no damage and are in a well greased environment. I did remove the grease, put in new and oiled the handle. I also took the spool apart and cleaned and lubed the drag parts, they looked almost new. I bought some Berkley Trilene XL. 8 lb test 330 yards as this reel holds 200 yards of 8 lb test. Well I put the whole spool on and was still 3/16 inch below the top of the spool! I guess today's 8 lb test is thinner than the 60s-70s stuff. I tried it on a 6'-6" inch rod and it works good but I am thinking it needs to be on a 7 footer, it looks too big for the rod and I think I would get even further casts with a longer rod. John

[Smallie_Stalker]

Wow. That is a great find John!

It's in fantastic shape for a reel from that era. May it bring you many, many years of fish catching enjoyment.

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