An excellent starter reel for a young fisherman .... I recently ordered 2 of these for my nephews from Cabelas they work like a dream .... the drag is a little touchy to start out but other than that its the BEST Zebco reel i have used in my lifetime .... it comes pre spooled with 10 lb line ... the handle fits in your hand pretty good it casts like a dream .... for the money they charge for them its a good deal the drag works on a dail and once you got it figured out where you want it ... your good to go ... I have my nephews put on a Zebco Rhino rod and the combination of these 2 make it pretty hard for any fish to escape ... If your looking for a spincast reel I would recommend this reel mike
Mike you got it right when you said the 33 was a good starter reel for a kid. They are great for that. I am not ashamed to say that I have caught my fair share and then some on them. I have several that I keep on 5-1/2 rods of various styles just for kids or even grownups that I take fishing.A local tackle shop here sells them for $10 every spring. That's cheaper than Wally. whatever it takes Cheez
thanks Cheez ... if i were just starting out or I had kids of my own this would be the reel i would use or recommend ... Im sure most of you out there would agree that its not complicated to use .... and IMO its the best Zebco reel they have made in a long time .... the price wont hurt you either mike
I agree! my mom and sis has 33's. they are very nice! just got to see whats going to happen when mr big thug on the line.
33's are great but I don't think they can stand too many Mr. Bigs. They will smoke under heavy pressure. Anything up to 6 or 8 lbs on a regular basis is ok though. whatever it takes Cheez
I still use a 33 for bait fishing. Recently bought one of the new 33's for my daughter. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the new ones. I remember in the 90s the 33's they put out were junk.
I have caught my fair share of bass on them when I was younger. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a new one when I was a kid, it was a giant step up from my Zebco 202. Still like using them as a bait catcher. My son has hauled in plenty of walleye with his 33 and really likes it. Abu
What about the Zebco 33 TITANIUM? it has a Rhino titanium rod and a 33 "titanium" reel what ever that is. What do you guys think of it?
I have one of the OLD 33's, at least 20 years old I'm sure. It works like a champ. gotta say that I LOVE it.
the OLD zebby 33 with the flat metal crank arms are pretty hard to beat i still have a couple though ive not used them in a while after reading this post i would like to re string them and reuse them again for bait fishing since ive gotten abus and mitchells it kind of hard to not want to use those but a nice 33 is a pretty sweet reel to use as its simpictic operation and casting ability is impressive. i dont know the dates but the old 33s are good and the newer rhinos are very good.i have a larger rhino spincast and it works well with medium size line , however i had alot of problems when useing slip bobber setup with it. the stopper would hang up inside the spool houseing. :sad:
I love the Zebco 33 combos. I don't use anything else anymore. For a fellow like me, who is only trying for pan-sized fish, I don't believe that they can be beat. At $20 for a rod and reel you simply cannot beat the price. Their reliability is great. I've fished mine pretty hard for more than a year now and have never once had a mechanical problem with it. Nor have I ever had to untangle my line. It has never failed to reel in any of the fish that I've managed to fool into taking my bait. I like their simplicity. Push the button, cast the line. That's all there is to it. I also really like the bait clicker feature. Once you've got your line out, you can turn on the clicker, sit the rod in a holder, and forget about it till the reel starts singing.
Back when I was a tot,some 35 years ago.I use to luck up and get to go with my dad to the money ponds to carp fish.I remember well that the Zebco 33 was a reel of choice back then.I used the reels for the same propose and landing so huge carp.I later on retired my good ol 33's but I still have the jewels locked up in the gun cabinet.They're fine little reels and you have to admIt Zebco got rich with these reel's and o' we can't forget the great 202 and the wonderful 404's .I've used them all and had fun with them,but as us older kids get even older we must have bigger and better toys.I'could see using the reels ,but you can't spool them with heavy line.They made there mark in history,and still doing so.Would I recommend buying one for heavy catfish use,no ,but for once in awhile fishing ,sure.
I don't have a boat and fish pay lake. I have two 33's that I still use and have caught a 20lb before on one of them. I use surf reals and rods now that I bought at the beach one of them is a pen and the other is a maco. I'm thinking about getting a new bait caster,anyone with thoughts on which one to get?
My son found a 33 on a nice medium heavy Daiwa rod at a garage sale for 8 bucks. I cleaned it up, respooled with 10# mono, and it works like a charm for him. BTW, I think it was an '88 or '89.
