JM 500 Dropped Through A Wormhole And Into My Lap

[Mojave River Angler]

I was just sitting at my desk doing whatever and a student walks in and says "hey, I hear you are into deep sea fishing...bla, bla, bla." She drops this box on my desk and says she want to sell this thing. I can see she has here a JM 500 from way back...like as old as meish (42). So I tell her I'm not really sure what it is worth bla, bla, bla, and then she interrupts me and says..."hey,(you know, like save your breath) I just want $5". At that point I said I'm sure it is worth that and ponied up the Lincoln and stopped looking the gift horse in the mouth.

She said it has never been used, and she might be right. I see no evidence of use.

Any idea how old it really is?

[Fire Ball]

Wow, looks like an awesome deal for $5. :Envious:

[Troutman65]

Not sure what it's worth . At $ 5.00 you could not pass it up . Great find .


I'll give you $10.00 for it .

[Fishbones]

The 500L was the first Jigmaster designed and manufactured by Penn, and it's also the only Jigmaster still manufactured today. While in 1958 the Jigmaster (then model number 500) came with two light-weight plastic spools by default, metal spools were available as extras. Modern reel comes with an aluminum spool (designated by the "L" in 500L)

hope thats a start to your info mission..

[Mojave River Angler]

I'm going to clean out the old grease and put in new. Then I'm going to spool on some good line on both spools and take it to the Sea of Cortez. I just got a new Okuma Catalina for my Jigstick, but I can't resist the temptation to pop this baby on and let the Yellows make it scream too. We'll see how it goes.

My research also turned up several comments about the old spool failing in the heat of battle. If I were going to put this thing to the test without buying the aluminum spool I just might sand the spool and give it a couple of wraps of 5.7 oz. carbon fiber since I have it (and the skills to apply).

[murrieta angler]

I hear, some guys put on Newell metal spools. Not sure from which reel though.
I occasionaly see them for sale from $40-$60 bucks.
Great deal for "FIE DOLLA!'
Robert

[Fishbones]

do not fish that spool, i have seen them split under pressure, go buy a new jigmaster and put it on the shelf ...
its a classic and not worth destroying.,.,

[Mojave River Angler]

If I get the failure on video would it be worth the $5? I'm no collector and I am a total cheap skate and fishing is a hobby for me. I leave all ther serious stuff to work and drunks crashing into my cars (plural).

It is shiny enough to make a nice mantle piece...too bad I don't have a mantle.

[Hometown]

I agree with fishbones but if you want to use it newell use to make solid bars to hold the side plates together and aluiminum spool I think they still make them and it makes the real much stronger.You can even turn it in to what was called an Albacore special buy buy a penn 99 spool and bars great 25 to 30 lb real.
do not fish that spool, i have seen them split under pressure, go buy a new jigmaster and put it on the shelf ...
its a classic and not worth destroying.,.,

[midgettosser1]

i beleive there is a newell spool floating around ebay right now for $25.

[Mojave River Angler]

Ok, I'm still trying to understand the mode of failure. Are you guys trying to get through my thick skull the idea that the spool fails, as in breaks in half, or that the the spool pressure pushes the sides apart and them jams, or both?

$5 Reel
$25 Upgrades
Shipping
Hey, wait, is this a government program here or what?

Thanks for chewing the rag with me on this guys. It is much appreciated, no matter how hard my head is.

MRA

[Nessie Hunter]

Its a Penn, go fish it till the sides fall off...

They have made the same basic reel for 70 years.
If it was crap, there wouldnt be 5 brazillion of them out there...

I have some parts if ya need them,(should it ever break)
Im here in Hesperia...

[midgettosser1]

I have no experience w/ plastic spools, other than old shimano spinning reels I have laying around.
But Id imagine enough tension on the line when reeling w/ a plastic spool could lead to some warpage.

If you were to make an analogy on it.... would you rather have plastic rims on your car, or metal rims?

I'd rather go with metal.

You can probably find an aluminum spool for cheaper than 25. that newell spool i saw listed at 25 is obo. id offer 15 maybe

[Fishbones]

will you trade it for a new Penn 505HS only used 3 times??

[Mojave River Angler]

Its a Penn, go fish it till the sides fall off...

Ya, that's what I'm thinking. I'm going to give it a whirl on some small stuff to get comfortable with it. Maybe I'll find I don't even like the thing...in any case, I'll report back later as to what I've learned and most importantly, what I caught with a "Fi Dolla" reel.

[Mojave River Angler]

Ok, so I took the JM500 to the Sea of Cortez just as a backup. Because of line choice and conditions it ended up being my primary for the first few days of fishing. Loaded with 60lb. mono I dropped for yellows. The little $5 reel that could landed me my first yellow at about 25 lbs, and several other in the 22 to 25 range and then brings up the 48" 33lb biggest yellow of our trip...with the two part plastic spool still on. After 5 hard runs on really tight drag the handle was really getting hot, but it hung in there and brought the big one home. Just got lucky:LOL:

Case Closed

[dfisher]

ahh very nice..

give you 2 fiddy for it, it is used now. haha

[Nessie Hunter]

Congrats, nice yellow tail... They pull like freight trains..
Good test for that $5 piece of American History!!!!!

[Mojave River Angler]

You got that right. It is like getting hooked on a sub passing by as the line loads up. Then the drive for the bottom...then the pumping...ahhh, it is all coming back just thinking of the struggle. The burning arms and sore shoulders...swollen finger the next morning. Lets you know you are really living.