[Topsail Angler]

I recently "found" an old rod and reel that belonged to my dad, I forgot I had it stashed away in the attic. Wonder if any of you guys are familiar with the model.

The reel is a Penn "Long Beach #68" and the rod is a Montague 7770 6' made by True Temper. The rod is glass with wood handles, metal seat and fiber/thread wraps with metal guides. The rod is great shape, the reel works but needs some work. It has braided line that looks about 80# or better on it.

 

[sinker man]

HAMPSTEAD , That reel used to be pretty popular for king fishing from the piers and as a grouper /amberjack reel. It was cheaper than the 6/0 senators and thus a lot of fishermen used them where ever a standard 6/0 was popular. To me they are a little on the large side for grouper and amberjack but not to large. As for pier fishing and trolling their biggest downfall is that they are relatively slow retrieve reels at 2:1. Though not quite as strong as a senator they are nearly so and they make a suitable replacement. I think you might still be able to get an aluminum spool for it which was from the super 68 line. All of the stock parts should be readily available locally. You can actually cast it with an aluminum spool and a long rod. The current spool is probably the weak link although with dacron and proper pumping technique you shouldn't ever have a problem with it. The reel should be fairly cheap to refurbish if you decide to do so. The true temper rod is as tough of a rod as has ever been made. It is out of style but I'm not above fishing with one. I do believe the 7770 was a 30 lb class rod suitable for snapper fishing but a little light for BIG grouper. I maybe wrong though as my memory sometimes gets crossed up. If I were going to use it much I would consider rewrapping it with 1 more guide or at least putting a new coat of finish over the old thread. Current market value is probably 40-50 dollars unless the reel is really rough. I can occasionally find them at about 1/2 that price but they aren't common here. They might be much cheaper at your nearest flea market as they were common in the vicinity you live in. You can always check e-bay for prices. MY flea market price here would be $35.00 given the reel was in good working order. Just an educated guess on year of manufacture for the rod 1967-70. (reel was made up to a few years ago.) AL

 

[Topsail Angler]

Thanks Al for the great info on my "find". Actually I'm very interested in keeping and using the Rod. I might have the reel rebuilt but to be honest, not sure I would use it. But that rod, now there's a beauty. Don't matter to me if it's out of style. I like it, that wood handle and old style glass is just gorgeous to me. I'll take your advice on recoating the wraps. I inspected all the guides, no nicks, burrs, pits, etc. So they should be fine.