Throwback Thursday-I bought this Shimano Bantam Mag Plus 250SG XHS reel at Little Jim's in Annandale MN in probably 1982 or 1983 for $69.99 plus tax. I can't remember anymore if I bought it in the old store or at the one they have now. I think it was the old store, but memory isn't the greatest.
Dad only fished with spinning gear, so learning how to cast this thing was solely up to me. I read the instructions from cover to cover and there was nothing telling me how to properly adjust the reel for casting. I promptly went out and backlashed it so bad the reel was unusable. When I got back home, I got new line to put on it and I learned to cast in my back yard. Many more backlashes followed, but eventually I figured it out.
5:1 was considered Extra High Speed. My how things have changed. As I recall the big selling point for me at the time was Quickfire Free Spool, aka the thumb bar. I didn't want one that had a mettle push button and this one didn't. The reel served me well for many years and still is in usable condition. I have had it on an ice fishing rod since the early years of this century. Seeing as how I have stopped ice fishing, I don't use it anymore.
