The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Jeff Smith wrote: Nice pics and very useful-thanks for posting. One modification I intend to try out, is to replace the bail arm with a manual pick up roller. I have a huge example that is designed for Mitchell 306 (PUM) and it looks like it'll fit the D.A.M, and be of the correct height. I may have to slightly shim the spool height and add a collar to prevent the roller holder from turning but Its likely than no permanent alterations will be needed to the rotor and the reel could easily be returned to original spec if required.
in my honest opinion the bail arm and tungsten carbide line guide might be a weak point on these reels anyway. For use in the surf for bass, it will certainly be a worthwhile mod.

Oh, no - not modding - please no .

I often thought about it in the past but got enlightened by the fact, that you would need a roller at your rod tip to make any sense. I think a turning line guide is way overestimated. You will have twisted line in any cases. That's the "disadvantage" (if you want to call it like that) of fixed spool reels.

OldTackle wrote:I often thought about it in the past but got enlightened by the fact, that you would need a roller at your rod tip to make any sense. I think a turning line guide is way overestimated. You will have twisted line in any cases. That's the "disadvantage" (if you want to call it like that) of fixed spool reels.

Its not so much for the roller, more for the manual pick up which I much prefer to use in the surf .I'm talking about getting right in there amongst it up to your 'nadgers' bassing type stuff so, the simpler the reel , the better. The real beauty of these DAMs is that simplicity. After a bit of a dunking in the sea they can be fully stripped ,if necessary, in minutes........you just can't do this with modern reels.

E X A C T L Y !!! Simplicity and almost zero tolerances. That makes them great survivors!

You dont see DAMs very often in the UK and in a reel collection that I'm embarrassed to disclose the size of from the usual manufacturers I didn't have any until a few weeks ago where at a car boot sale frequented by a number of house clearance traders, (a rich source of cheap vintage fishing stuff from the sheds of the ... ahem... recently deceased), I picked up a virtually unused 220N because it was different and I didn't have one. '3 quid to you Cock!' offered the seller - I live in the North West. I didnt haggle as is de rigeur at said boot sale and handed over the money. I was really impressed by the quality on closer inspection and would recommend to anyone to buy one if they can find one.

And I'm old enough to have used the 220N when it was new, albeit as a small child, and therefore a bit too old now to be referred to as 'Cock' by anybody.

DC

For the bargain price of 3 quid??? Are you kidding me? They must be almost unknown in the UK. In my opinion they are a bit less worth(because younger) than a true 220 but from the design even better. I have a 220N (also barely used) if someone is interested. I did not advertise it yet because I haven't had time to service it. Great reel to cast some lures!

It looked good value I have to say on condition alone - put it in the bag and thought nothing of it until I got home. As I said I didnt know much about vintage DAM reels as I'd never really come across them. Really impressed though, as good as a Cardinal and I've got plenty of those.

The week before last, same boot sale, there was a wicker fruit basket in which there were two reels buried under some cheap jewelry. I could tell the maroon one was a 1970's Shakespeare 2014 but I couldn't identify the black one from above. As I got hold of it the seller said they were both a fiver which was a lot for the Shakespeare frankly. By this time I'd seen what the black one was and I was fumbling in my pocket for the 5 pounds - which I didn't have. The seller said what have you got? and counted the change in my now shaking hand. The £4.32 was acceptable to him which seemed good value for a very good Cardinal 55. I nearly fainted.

DC

Jammy sod!

Those sort of finds don't happen very often Nobby when in online auction land you can almost guess to the pound what a reel will sell for these days but at the risk of sounding smug I've been on a bit of a roll in recent weeks - there's more.

The seams of bargain gold are definitely those 'boot sales' where the house clearance traders go. I went to one a month or so ago where I witnessed a seller literally throwing, from the back of his van, a dozen or so rods in their bags onto the ground. The chap in front of me was of the view they were all fly rods, and this is staunch northern canal match fishing territory, and wandered away at which point I already had a tight grip on the one in the familiar dark blue bag. Yes a Hardy '70's fibreglass Richard Walker fly rod, there's a hole of rodent origin in the bag to be stitched up and one intermediate ring to be re-whipped the right colour - small inconveniences for the £2.50 paid methinks.

At this particular boot sale the locals think £3 is tops to pay for anything and so traders can struggle to shift good stuff for decent prices. I noticed a stall with a few rods for sale but no reels evident. Hmmm. Rummaged around in a box of sundry items and lo! an unmarked Shakespeare Sigma 40 rose Excalibur-like from the box of girly oriented bric-a-brac. I thought he said 13 but I was reminded where we were and he corrected me to 3.

And finally - even I was overwhelmed about a month ago where a trader who normally sells tools was helping a mate out by selling his old tackle and there was a van load of it. I didn't know where to begin and just stood there open mouthed, in wonder, twitterpated, like Scrat with that heavenly hazelnut. I returned to earth with a bump in that the trader who claimed to know nothing about fishing wasnt going to let anything go for £3, ordinary fibreglass rods were £10 and upwards. Nevertheless after a bit of a chat he produced an Ambassadeur 6500 new in box, late '90's silver one with the gold and chrome stickers. His logic on the price was to charge half of what the price label on the box said. £27.50 duly handed over.

After which I ran to the nearest cashpoint and returned 5 mins later for the pick of the rest of the reels, pristine Mitchells 386, 300, 300A, 400, 300s (with 4 spools), 2 x immaculate Shakespeare 2200's (one boxed), a good Mitchell 314, ABU Cardinal 44x, Garcia 9200, Ambidex No2 full bail, and an incomplete Alcedo Mustang. 80 quid the lot and he threw in some spare Mitchell spools, some '70's ABU spinners and 4 new chromed brass rod butt caps and rubber bungs for nowt. I went home and had a lie down.

By the way I've found that small female children are a great help at such places. I patrol the isles Fagin like but often Experimental Sharknott No2 who is 16 but looks younger does the 'pocket money' based deal. Even a hardened Scouse trader can't resist 'puppy eyes' and a trembling bottom lip.

DC

Until last Sunday I would have to grumpily disagree, never having found anything of worth at any of the boot sales I have attended in the last 10 years.
But it finally happened at Farnham Angling Society's Boot Fair last Sunday........a Speedia that cleaned up very nicely indeed and just before I started work on the centrepin and end-float screw I tried it...it spins for 3 minutes and 17 seconds. I quietly put my tools away and marvelled at it...no way I'm fiddling with that reel any further!