G.Y. Jecta III

[Peter Waller]

Grice & Young reel, cost me a fiver at a car boot sale. Seemingly seized and looked to be in a fearful state. Got it home, soaked it overnight in paraffin, what a transformation! A previous owner had caked it in grease and that had attracted dirt and gone hard. Got it apart, dug the grease out of the works and then changed over to WD40 and a toothbrush. Wow, perfect mechanics, spins flawlessly, a delight to handle. First impression is that I have a very fine pike reel but having now used it I realize that I also have a very free spinning, trotting reel albeit with unusually large handles. I really am rather pleased with my new 'old' reel. Built to last that's for sure, must be near bomb proof, Seems that the only difference between a Grice & Young sea and a river reel is the size of the handles. Anyone familiar with the Jecta reels?

[chesters1]

I had a sea jecta i used for boat fishing before i had a multiplier, nothing special like any centerpin but it did its job

Bit of general info here

http://www.macman.id.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72:grice-a-young-jecta-century-seajecta-and-sea-century&catid=37:luderick-fishing&Itemid=57

[Peter Waller]

Hi Chester, thanks for the link, interesting. Still none the wiser as to the differences between many of their reels, other than the name and knob size. Like you I have Sea Jectas for boat fishing, I still use them for downtiding on the rare occasions that I now go to sea. Not so sure that they are just like any other centre pins though, do seem to be incredibly durable. Performance wise they aren't in the same league as a modern pin on a ball race but hey, do I really need a pin that spins not only whilst I boil the kettle but also drink the tea? Long enough to boil the kettle does me just fine!

[chesters1]

Going by intrepid the "differences" can be vague and not obvious to the naked eye ,sometimes a new box design and different bit of paint ,on the other internal changes may just replace flaws and not mentioned at all incase it harms sales.

When i meant just centerpins i meant theres no frill one way down / out the other up / in ,the only centerpins i can think of with extras (ok fly reel) are geared ones like the gearfly or ones with some sort of clutch like the superfly but i guess theres others out there.

As i said i only had one until i had a real reel (wink) it was perhaps a month until i bought an ancient battered penn ,i am not a centerpin lover ,i would never use one and believe me that was about all you could afford when i was a kid and generally tinplated or crappy ancient wood i remember the satisfaction using my dads 2lb hammer on mine when i was given a intrepid standard by my uncle

Thinking back i did (and still have) retain my unnamed turn cast reel (where you turn the reel 90 degrees to cast) as a backup but it was grudgingly ,as my fishing was at keston or local ponds i had no need for a free running reel as i only started fishing rivers after i had the fixed spool and would prefer an abu 500 series anyway if i went today as i do occasionally on the wey and theres few stretches where you can see more than 20 feet so pointless trying

Edited July 12, 2016 by chesters1

[Peter Waller]

Must be an age thing, my first 'proper' reel was also an Intrepid Standard, a reel I loved and literally wore up when I then bought an ABU 505. At one point I had an Adapter-Cast so I could turn my crappy Strikeright Junior-Flow 90 degrees. Looking back I never had enough line on it for casting so pretty soon abandoned it, never to be seen again, waste of hard-earned pocket money..

Edited July 12, 2016 by Peter Waller

[chesters1]

I guess its choice after all ,some like centerpins like i like old cars with carburettors, you can tinker because they are pretty basic and usually break down or wear out less than new ones LOL