thoughts on intrepid reels

[FishingCarpenter]

this season i have been trying the elite, super twin and supreme after buying them on ebay. after making bail arm springs and line rollers ( silicon bronze seems best) and getting my head around the nylon/ plastic main gear . l can truthfully say they are very well made with very little wear even after 40/50 years ,the components fit very well and close tolerance. once cleaned and serviced work faultlessly, biggest surprise was the simple bail arm and trip on the supreme , not having a spring to break is great , shame the dropped the idear. very smooth and 5 pound tench was not a problem . the clutch is good but even better with a little copper slip. even brought 2 crestas for piking and on dismantling them was amazed at the amount of stainless steel and brass , again smooth. wish i had tried them earlier. i am now a believer in nylon main gear as no wear is evident,and quite. i think thin grease is better than thick as it gets in the grease point better and you can see the over spill easily. not having many gears in the chain helps as having spent ages on other reels l am glad i took a chance.

[Stingray]

Very interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing. You have mentioned four of the best ones there and no disagreement on the plastic gear on the Elite and Supreme (not Cresta and Super Twin) as I have never had a problem with them either. Incidentally, late examples of the Elite did have a metal gear.

"Thin grease due to the oil ports/nipples" : I never ever use those oil ports on any reel. I always open them and apply grease and oil exactly were I think they are respectively needed.

[JW1]

I love my Intrepids, I have Elites, Regents and a Classic and use them regularly, hard to believe how old they are.

JW

[Jeremy Croxall]

Very underrated reels in my view. Intrepid made such a huge range and provided anglers of all ages and budgets with a reel enjoy fishing with.
I love my Elite and also use an Envoy which has a manual bail arm although it will trip against the stem if you prefer to close the bail that way. Its a simple reel but bullet proof and a lovely compact little reel....and its made in England!

[FishingCarpenter]

When you think of the reels of the 60/70 from the rest of the world , the intrepid company really were forward looking. The elite is the best looking and to have a built in bite alarm with the 2 way ratchet,! Would be interesting to know what the nylon/plastic is for the main gears as today's nylon is difficult to machine very accurately. As for the crests 2 ball races and 2 roller bearings, no wonder they last so long . I also really like. The grocery and young side casters ' Orlando . Bit heavy but after lots of drilling and putting the line posts close to the edge so no backing is needed you end up with about 14 oz as opposed to 25 when first acquired. The slowish retrieve means you don't have to pump which keeps pike nice and calm early on ' and the ability to turn the spool around stops line twist .

[Catfish.017]

I,m a big fan of Intrepid reels, my first reel as a lad was a 'pre loved' Classic. I was lucky to find an excellent example on the bay a few years ago and use it regularly being a lot lighter than many vintage reels. Don't forget the Continental too, a very smooth reel with Worm and Wheel gearing like the Ambidex and the same bale arm mechanism as the Supreme with no spring to break. One tip here, as the closing action is quite 'fierce' I have had a bale break on a Continental so I tend to close the bale over manually (by hand).

[FishingCarpenter]

Thanks for the tips catfish but I am left handed so the continental will be the one to get away

[Stingray]

I too would recommend the Classic - lovely little reel which was only made for a short time, hence not many out there. I have a pair.

PS. I have beach fished with my G & Y Orlando Minor, an excellent but undeniably Heath Robinson reel.

[Beresford]

I had an Elite literally fall apart playing a pike.

[AshbyCut]

I have been in love with Intrepid reels since I bought my first reel around my 10th. birthday ... an Intrepid Monarch Mk. II ... with which I fished for all my teenage years for everything from perch and roach in my 'secret pool,' to my first match on the Ashby Canal, to 'worming' for trout and eel on scout camps, to catching jack pike on a tributary of the River Mease, to spinning for mackerel from Devon and Dorset beaches on family caravan holidays in the 1960s.



I also love my Intrepid 'Classic,' about 2/3rds the size of a Mitchell 300, but a lovely light reel for crucian.



My Intrepid 'Elites' are a delight ... light and reliable ... and a match (in my opinion) for the Mitchel 300 (I await to be shot down in flames ... but there's nothing like an Intrepid to take me back years) ... a perfect roaching reel.



BUT ... if I were to go piking, or carping ... I'd be using one of my Intrepid Continentals ... much more suited to the task.



Just my opinion, of course !!! (or should that be 'of coarse' ?)