from the December 2007 issue of Family Fish and Game magazine

Somewhere In The Back Of My Garage, I Still Have One. . .
by Jim Ferguson

It's been years since the last time I even saw a Zebco 33. I vividly remember my very first encounter with one. My Grandfather had let me use it one day while he picked out a bird nest I had in my bait-casting reel.

The Zebco 33 is a classic. It has been 52 years since the first reel was put into production and they're still building them. This simple spin-cast reel can take the worry out of casting. I'd like a dollar for every backlash I've ever had. I'll bet I could buy a Honda CVCC or maybe a Starbucks coffee or two. To be completely honest, if I had stuck to using the Zebco 33 I probably would have put more fish in the boat over the years. Well, maybe. But I truly believe I would have spent more time fishing and less time picking.

We all hope that the new anti-backlash feature of the modern day reels work. Unfortunately, I've been known to get so tangled that my reel would look like a gypsy wedding just before someone broke the champagne glass and yelled "To Life."

The main reason I stopped using the reel, after I inherited my Grandfather's, was due to some salesman. He convinced me that the Zebco 33 wouldn't hold up in heavy use; not to mention what would happen if I were to catch a monster fish. Even though, up to that point, I had only caught average fish. I was absolutely sure that a monster was in my future. Obviously, I wanted to be prepared.

The next time I saw a Zebco 33 was on a fishing trip to Canada. By this time I was fishing professionally and many of my sponsors would line up fishing junkets for me to take their clients on. One of the guests on this particular trip was a blind evangelist named Jim Gayle. He joined us at the lodge which was about 60 miles north of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

When he arrived he had this old fiberglass rod and a Zebco 33. I took one look and wondered, "Who sold him this rig knowing full well he was blind?" In my heart I just knew that guy laughed all the way to the bank. It was probably the same guy that sold me on the idea of my super duper anit-backlash reel. After examining his equipment I decided I would take Ol' Jim with me the next day and try to help him have a good time. Hoping we, well...would catch a limit of walleye and a small northern pike. I told him the size of fish we were catching and I casually mentioned it might be better for him to use my super improved ultra-max fishing rod. He returned with something that was so profound that it has stayed with me to this day. "I have faith in my rod and reel. Thanks but no thanks, the one I have will do just fine!" I smiled and thought yeah right, that outfit will be history, the first time a 12 pound northern comes along and hits your Mepps.

I got him into the boat and we fished most of the day. We talked about everything under the sun. Somehow our conversations always came full circle; back to something that related to fishing. It was sometime during the next three days when the excitement began. We had just crossed a point and were steadily trolling along when an 18 pound northern devoured his Mepps.

The fight was on. That fish turned him and me inside-out and after at least seven runs we landed the monster. My faith was renewed in the Zebco 33. The way Jim handled that fish was truly a sight to behold.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he held up his trophy for pictures. I tried desperately to fight back any signs of emotion. First reason being that he had caught the biggest fish of the week. Secondly, it reminded me of fishing with my grandfather in the last years of his life. I had the job of tying his hooks and putting on his bait for him because he was blind as well. I was suddenly flooded with so many fond memories. As I took snapshots of Jim, before we released the northern back into the lake, I became acutely aware that I had become a bit misty eyed as well.

It's funny how the simple things in life can bring you the most joy. A worn out Zebco 33 took a lickin' and kept on reelin'. It reeled in fond memories of fishing with my grandfather and of the times we shared on the water. This holiday season buy a Zebco 33 and take a kid fishing because you'll never know what you may bring back to the boat. It could be a trophy fish or a memory of another time and place when Grandpa was king and you were his favorite.

Last week, Ed Miller of Iowa City joined the ranks of great fishermen I have known. He caught a 15 pound, 30 inch catfish out of Coralville Reservoir drifting a jig and a minnow in eight feet of water. What was the tackle? What else but a Zebco 33 using an 8lb. test line and the fight took over 20 minutes. Incidentally, I thought you might want to know that after taking a photograph of that big cat Ol' Ed released it back into the lake completely unharmed. If you venture out to Coralville Reservoir this month I'll bet you can still hear that big cat breathing a sigh of relief because you or I didn't catch him.

I'm going to go out into the garage and get Grandpa's old Zebco 33 and bring it inside. I think it's on the top shelf next to the urn, with the cat in it!