Zebco Prostaff Spincast Fishing Reel

Ever since I was a young kid and enthusiastic fisherman I remember owning a zebco reel. Simple, functional and dependable. This Prostaff Spincast Reel works like a dream. Smooth, well made and rugged at the same time. Its Zebco with "class". Still waiting to catch the big one and really put it to the test, but so far its great. Well, perhaps the drag adjustment could be a bit better graduated from "light to firm", but other than that, I'm a happy camper.....

Can't use this because it is huge! I didn't realize how big this is but this is the size of a softball. It's for big cats or other large fish where I wouldn't use this style of reel anyway. Could be a great product but not what I was looking for.

I purchased my first Zebco 888 in the early 1990s. I eventually bought and used four of them. I do most of my fishing from the shore of the Missouri river in North Dakota and the conditions are pretty rugged. First of all, the water is dirty -- they don't call the Missouri the "Big Muddy" for nothing -- and the dirt sticks to your line as you crank it into the reel. This fine dirt can wreak havoc with pick-up pins and any other part that comes into contact with the line (ceramic pick-up pins are a must). Additionally, the end of the line (hooks and/or weight) is constantly getting snagged on the river bottom. Many times it takes a lot of pressure to either tear the line free (I use 20lb. mono) or pull the hooks and weight free. The Missouri has some pretty large catfish and northern pike which will test the best of reels.I was more or less satisfied with the original 888s I bought, but they were pretty well worn out after 20 years of use. Consequently, I decided it was time to buy some new reels. After checking the various models from different manufacturers I bought four of the redesigned 888s from Amazon. The reel is a mixed bag of good and bad.Many of the weaknesses/flaws in the original 888 have been changed in the new design:*The weak plastic back body was prone to cracking -- the new back body seems to be made of a more durable plastic (time will tell)*The gear box would fall out when the front cover was off -- this is no longer the case*The threads on the cover were made of plastic instead of metal and prone to cracking -- the new cover is all metalHowever, there are also what I consider to be major faults with the new design:*The quality control could be better -- I had to repair a reel right out of the box because is was assembled incorrectly*The construction could be better -- a clutch on one reel failed after a couple of days use and I had to take it apart and modify it to make it work again*The gear drive assembly is made of cheap formed metal -- The earlier design incorporated machined steel gearsOverall, I still think the 888 is the best spincasting reel for the money, and for the type of fishing I use it for. It cranks in pretty fast yet has a lot of power when struggling with a 25lb. northern. Zebco does need to increase the quality of the reel -- and the quality control at their factories -- to make this reel a more worthwhile purchase. Even if they had to raise the price by $10 or $20 it would be well worth it in my opinion. Thanks for reading.

I bought this to try for bowfishing, the mount would not fit the rod mount that I bought for my bow. So, I tried putting it on my fishing pole mount, it did not fit my fishing pole either. I then decided to grind the base so that it would fit the base mount on both poles. After altering it to fit, I tried putting on my bow fishing line, which it would not accept. What a waste, you would think that if you order a fishing reel, it would at lest fit a mount on a fishing pole.

extremely heavy and bulky reel

Its a Nice reel, but its HEAVY compared to a 33. It is designed for larger freshwater fish, which is what I wanted. I would have preferred a smaller foot print but I cant say its cheap, or flimsy in any way. Casts really smooth, reels smooth. The line that its spooled with has some memory but I don't buy reels and use the stock line anyhow.I purchased it for my 12 year old son, who has used a 33 for 5 years now and wanted something that he can catch Tiger muskies on, but not have to deal with an underspin or a baitcaster yet. I am sure he will get MANY years out of the reel.

In " Archery Fishing " with a " Slingbow - Trackless Crossbow " of our type , like the new trackless target/hunting/fishing crossbows in the new revised paperback & ebook , " How To Make A Slingbow " by J K Haverington ( sold at Amazon & Amazon Kindle ) , we are finding these " Zebco 888 - Prostaff " fishing reels to be very great and strong - ( sold at Amazon ) , especially with these new trackless crossbows in archery fishing !! And using the " archery fishing reel mounts " ( at Amazon and Cajun Archerys ) and the " archery fishing arrows biscuit/rest " ( at Amazon , from Carolina Archery , etc. ) . CAROLINA ARCHERY PRODUCTS FISHING BISCUIT  fishing arrows rest " . How to make a Slingbow How to make a Slingbow Zebco Prostaff Spincast Fishing Reel

works ok , nothing special

Haven't used the reel, but was very satisfied when I opened the Box. This is a heavy duty reel and should be great once I start using it.

This was ordered as a gift for my Mother, upon opening it I was shocked how big it was. It feels like it is solidly build and is a very sharp looking reel. However since my Mother is a smaller lady I ordered her a Zebco 33 instead. I am keeping this reel as the price is very good and who knows I may wanna use a close faced reel one day

Great reel, a lot bigger than I thought, but you can tell the quality is great for the price

Replaced my old zebco 888's. Great reels and they are hard to find.

Good quality all metal . Big powerful reel & make long cast . I like it !