Overview

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  Watchmaker and entrepreneur Jasper R.D. Hull invented the first closed face spincast reel. Hull and his manufacturing partner--the Zero Hour Bomb Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma--marketed the first production models in 1949. Hull remained with the company until May of 1977 when he retired, having designed a total of 26 fishing reels. (See reference 1). Though Zebco introduced many improvements in the spincast reel, the fundamental parts of closed face reels remain the same as in Hull's original invention.
  
  

Body Parts

• A ring of plastic or metal forms the body of the reel. The ring includes a molded or cast foot that attaches to the fishing pole. Front and back covers thread onto the center ring and enclose the reel's mechanism. Older models sometimes used a two-piece case, with a one-piece foot, reel body and back cover.
  
  

Controls

• The basic closed face reel offers three controls. A thumbwheel adjusts the tension of the drag system. A windlass handle cranks the line back onto the reel. The thumb lever in the back cover releases the spool to allow a cast. Turning the windlass handle engages the gears.
  
  

Spool and Drag

• Spinnerhead, spool and clutch washers store line and allow the spool to turn when playing a fish. The spinnerhead, a dome covering the front of the spool, moves forward when casting. During retrieval, a worm gear on the central shaft pumps the spinnerhead in and out, layering the line neatly on the reel. Clutch washers release under tension, letting the spool turn when the pull on the line approaches the breaking point.
  
  

Drive Train

• Small gears, bearings and axles apply the turns of the crank handle to the rotation of the main shaft. The central shaft runs from front to back and holds most of the important internal parts. The quality of the bearings supporting the central shaft greatly affect the reel's performance. Better reels use several ball bearing rings rather than solid brass bushings.
  
  

Extra Features

• Closed face reels include anti-reverse pawls that drop into place if the reel cranks backwards. The pawls contribute to the reel's anti-backlash design. Bite alerts or bait clickers--lightly built levers that skip over the teeth of internal gears when a fish pulls the line forward--click to alert the fisherman to a fish on the line.
  
  

Miscellaneous Fittings

• Complexity of closed face spincast reels varies. The Zebco 101 only requires 11 parts, but the Zebco 33 includes 27 components and higher quality reels contain many more. Tiny springs, screws, nuts, lockwashers and bushings make disassembly and maintenance difficult.