Customer Reviews

Johnson Century Gold Spincast Reel (100-Yard/8-Pound)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Growing up, my father always purchased Zebco 33's because those are just good reels. I broke with the Zebco tradition when I purchased this reel as MY first reel six years ago. I use it for catching catfish, bream and white perch (crappie/sac au lait). The reel casts incredibly smoothly. In fact, I've had very-seasoned fishermen express surprise at how smoothly it casts.

I don't take very good care of my reel, so I recently pulled it to pieces to clean and oil it. It was very easy to put back together and works like a charm now that it's got clean oil in it.

Using this reel, I find that I have very good control in my casting which is important when fishing for bream or white perch. If I ever have to pitch my old reel, I won't hesitate to buy another one.

Over many years of fishing I have used lots of different fishing reels. One of the best reels that used to be produced was the Johnson Century close faced reel. I have sevral from 6-10 years ago and they still work fine. Recently I bought the latest version of the Johnson Century Reel and used it one day and it simply fell to pieces on me. It will cast out but you can't reel your line in without it catching. I thought maybe it needed oil (although a brand new reel should not need it), so I oiled the bearings and it still doesn't work. Despite having 5 ball bearings it is cheaply made and not worth buying. Unfortunately there are few close faced reels on the Market, so I am using my old reliable Mitchell 200 and Shimano (neither of these are available today). Use your hard earned money and buy a good old fashioned Zebco 33 but don't waste it on the latest edition of the Johnson Century. Keep fishing! Don't give that up.

The reel seems to work ok. Nothing too special. I've used it a few times without any problems with the reel itself. But the fishing line it came pre-spooled with is completely worthless. It has so many nicks and abrasions on it that it breaks at every chance. I put new line on it after the third use of the supplied fishing line.

The smoothness during casting is good. On retrieval, it kinda sucks. This reel no way compares to the Johnson reels I bought back in the 60's. Those were made in the USA and this new one was made in China. I have no problem with the line that came with the reel. I do like the drag, the best I have found on closed face reels.

this reel is the most unsmooth reel ive ever used. from the push button line release to the crank and retrieve it is very rough. when you catch any fish with some size it actually binds up and you cant crank. the only thing that was decent about it was that the drag worked compared to other closed faced reels. i would not recommend this real to anyone, after one fishing trip i returned it!

This reel is the smoothest of all push-button reels, any brand!
I have bought all brands and most models, so I know from experience.
The drag is perfect, and most push button reels have terrible drags resulting in line breaks and loss of fish. It has 5 bearings making for a smooth retrieve.
The quality control on all push button reels leaves someting to be desired. I have had some terrible Zebco reels, others good. Shakesphere is surprisingly good considering the price. My Diawa failed to meet my expectations. The supplied line is good on the Johnson reel, but when you replace it, I recommend the Stren Green 6lb test. Copy and Paste the below into Youtube, and you will see the reel in action:

Johnson Spincast Fishing First Fish Large Mouth Bass

Real smooth action. Easy to use, but the screw metal is cheap, and the stud broke when I tightened it too much.

We used this product twice and the first time the drag wasn't working right, the second time we used the reel, the gears would grind and jam every once in a while. When I called customer service from Berkley they told me that they would not accept it for a warranty claim and it would cost the price of a new reel to fix, I am not happy.

Much smoother than the other reel I have (bought the old one from Walmart for $30, which jammed once in a while). The price is quite good. I bought one just to try it out and will be buying a second one. These are easier for kid to use.