# Ocean City Bay City reel?



## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

hey guys, i just acquired an Ocean City Bay City reel without a box, (and there is no lable except for the name) i got it for $20 but it seems to be in near perfect condition, and i was wondering if anyone had any info about them i havent been able to find anything about them, its about the size of a penn 4/0 (gestimate) so does anyone know spool capacity, casability, gear ratio or anything like that? any help would be great 

tight lines and God bless :fishing:


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

It's pretty tough to find specs on the Ocean City reels, but Otto Henze worked for them before he founded Penn Reels, and you'll find a lot of mechanical similarities between them and the Penns. They are great, tough reels but hard to find parts for. They started in Philly, just like Penn, but in their final few years, were acquired by True-Temper Corp. That's the best I can do for now.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

thanks bud, yea i like the set up, and it seems very castable, i have it spooled up with 1/4# spool of 20# mono and it didnt even fill it it holds alot apparently. i have it set up on a Black magic rod rated to 50# so it should be a good bull red, jack, snapper, small shark, rod...........thanks for the help tho i really appreciate it

Tight lines and God bless bud :beer:


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

That reel is well worth more than what you paid for it in that condition. You got a great deal there.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

yea all it needed was a little greese on the handle and that was all she wrote, like i said i have it on a black beauty custom, its a 7' rod and its pretty stiff so it matches pretty well but i wonder how it would perform as a lead loncher on a long rod?


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

I would stick with the 7 footer, great boat boat set up.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

yea, i was kinda thinkin that too, this thing obviously holds several hundred yards of 20# mono, (bein that i spooled it with a 1/4# spool and it maybe filled it 2/3 of the way up) so i figured id keep it as a king/spanish mac/red/small shark/wutever rig for the boat or the pier, whichever i happen to have access to at the time


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

maybe just try to get new carbon washers for it. and itd be good to go.
for almost anything in the water


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

wuts special about the carbon washers? dont know much about em


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Carbon washers are great for some reels, but I doubt you'd be able to find them for that one. Your best bet would be to get some Penn HT100 drags and, if necessary, modify them to fit. If you can get me a measurement (diameter of drag washer and diameter of center hole in millimeters), I can tell you which one will come closest, if not a perfect fit. That along with a pic would be even better. Depends if the metal washers are "keyed" (have two little "nipples" on them) or not.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

actually i just opened that puppy up and scoped it all out apparently the guy i got it from had already done the job for me, because it had a brand new carbon washer in there, re greased everything and put it back together, and its as smooth as ever :beer:


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## Al Kai (Jan 8, 2007)

Catfish713 said:


> actually i just opened that puppy up and scoped it all out apparently the guy i got it from had already done the job for me, because it had a brand new carbon washer in there, re greased everything and put it back together, and its as smooth as ever :beer:


Sweet!


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Catfish713 said:


> actually i just opened that puppy up and scoped it all out apparently the guy i got it from had already done the job for me, because it had a brand new carbon washer in there, re greased everything and put it back together, and its as smooth as ever :beer:


Great news. Apparently, it probably had the same dimensions as either a Penn 3/0 or 4/0 for the main gear and he used the HT100's. Are the metal drag washers brass or steel?


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

there is actually only one, it looks like brass, but im not positive, the drag is very smooth but just like iv noticed with my older PENNs (not my 6/0) that i have the drag is kinda touchy, a little too far one way or the other and its either too tight or too loose


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Catfish713 said:


> there is actually only one, it looks like brass, but im not positive, the drag is very smooth but just like iv noticed with my older PENNs (not my 6/0) that i have the drag is kinda touchy, a little too far one way or the other and its either too tight or too loose


OK...there should be three "fiber" drag washers and three metal ones...is there enough room for them inside the gear? The top metal washer should stick out and the top metal one about "half"...bottom should be fiber, then metal, then fiber, then metal, then fiber then metal. Cal's or Shimano drag grease should smooth everything out.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

this one is set up kinda wierd, i opened it and inspected everything but it looks like everything is in place, it looks like thats how its supposed to be, ill try to get a picture up soon, so y'all can see what im dealing with here, its different from any other reel iv ever broken down but everything seems to be in perfect orded, so ill try to get a photo up asap


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

I have one my grandfather left to me. It was spooled with braided dacron when I got it. The thing is bullet proof, but I won't try to cast it(lol). great boat reel and will take a "flip" off the pier. The drag is sweet but you need to stay on top of it with a big fish. I don't use it much but I have to much to fish with anyway. Gonna have to sell.........eventually, lol.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

im not sure i would say that about the casting, even with the 7' er i have it on it can fling a 3oz egg weight a pretty good little ways, atleast out past the wash so its no distance heaver but it works for a little extra distance, and yea you see wut i mean about the drag, its a bit touchy but it works well


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

ok, i still aint had time to pull it appart again and take a picture, but i did do some size comparrison with some reels that i knew the exact line capacity and as far as i can tell is its basically the Ocean City version of the PENN 309 level wind (without the level wind function) if my guestimate is correct then the reel can take about 350yards of 30# line and i did a little test with the drag and if i crank it down i can actually lift a 20# weight with it no problem without any slippage its pretty beastly if you ask me


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Catfish713 said:


> ok, i still aint had time to pull it appart again and take a picture, but i did do some size comparrison with some reels that i knew the exact line capacity and as far as i can tell is its basically the Ocean City version of the PENN 309 level wind (without the level wind function) if my guestimate is correct then the reel can take about 350yards of 30# line and i did a little test with the drag and if i crank it down i can actually lift a 20# weight with it no problem without any slippage its pretty beastly if you ask me


No doubt about it...it's a tough reel. After all, it was a forerunner to the Penns. You'll get great use out of it...and a decent price to boot!!!


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

yea, i can only imagine spooling this puppy with a base of mono and then fillin her up with braid, i prefer mono in general so i would love a few more of these reels if only they had some more line capacity, 350yds of 30# aint bad, but im lookin for just a bit more than that


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Catfish713 said:


> yea, i can only imagine spooling this puppy with a base of mono and then fillin her up with braid, i prefer mono in general so i would love a few more of these reels if only they had some more line capacity, 350yds of 30# aint bad, but im lookin for just a bit more than that


Why would you need more than that, unless you intend to use it for bigger fish than what you said you were targeting? Also, I thought you loaded it with 20 lb....which should be sufficient for your purposes.


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## Catfish713 (Nov 9, 2006)

yea, its pretty much good enough for what i want, (tarpon, bull reds, kings, stuff like that) cuz with the 20# it has a good 400+ yards on it, and i know 20 is good for some decent sized shark and such (i know some of the boys on here have brought in some good sized spinners and blacktips on 17#) i need a couple bigger reels tho too, say a PENN 6/0, or 6/0 special (i have 1 already, lookin for a few more) its just too bad you cant find any that size for the same price


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