I want to start my wife fshing for crappie and smaller fish and i figured most people start on Zebco so why  not? Then i started thinkin i might get us both a zebco rod and reel for when we fish together for crappie and other panfish for fun.

Does anyboy pull out the Zebco 404 every once in a while, or does the idea not even cross your mind?

........Just a thought   :-?

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

I break out the ole zebco 33 and zebco 11 every now and then just to bring back the memories lol.  

You sure don't need much to pan fish with. A small zebco would be great.

Zebco 33s are like roches, no matter what you do, they DON'T DIE.

    -gk

Zebco 33s are like roches, no matter what you do, they DON'T DIE.

-gk

Actually, the newer 33's are absolute crap. I picked up a pair of them for my oldest boys a couple Christmases ago as upgrade to their 202's. The 202's are nicer in every way for half the price.  > I was so disappointed in the performance of their 33's that I bought them both new spinning rigs instead. The 33's were put on the rod rack and will probably sit there until they rot...which may take a while since they're made almost entirely of plastic. Junk.

The 33 Platinum is much better than the "standard" 33, but if you're serious about a spincast reel for panfish, look into the Zebco Omega. It's their top of the line spincast reel, and is the only one in their lineup that I would consider using for serious fishing of any kind. However, given the choice, I'd opt for an ultralight spinning rig over a spincast rig for panfish anyday.

Only if I couldn't afford anything better would I buy a Zebco.

Got my son a 33 rod and reel combo for his first rod based on what everyone told me. To be honest it doesn't feel smooth and seems like its all plastic. If I could have paid $10 more for a much smoother feeling spincaster I would have.

Omega

8-)

Zebco 33s are like roches, no matter what you do, they DON'T DIE.

-gk

Actually, the newer 33's are absolute crap. I picked up a pair of them for my oldest boys a couple Christmases ago as upgrade to their 202's. The 202's are nicer in every way for half the price. > I was so disappointed in the performance of their 33's that I bought them both new spinning rigs instead. The 33's were put on the rod rack and will probably sit there until they rot...which may take a while since they're made almost entirely of plastic. Junk.

The 33 Platinum is much better than the "standard" 33, but if you're serious about a spincast reel for panfish, look into the Zebco Omega. It's their top of the line spincast reel, and is the only one in their lineup that I would consider using for serious fishing of any kind. However, given the choice, I'd opt for an ultralight spinning rig over a spincast rig for panfish anyday.

that's a buzzkill

    -gk

i liked my old 33, but a 1lb bass hit one day and stripped a gear in it. i finally replaced it this year, couldnt find the 33 platinum so got the regular one again, and its real rough. i think youre much better off getting a shakespeare tiger spincasting combo for like 17 bucks at walmart. ive brung in nice bass and catfish with it and a 24in striper. the reel has held up well over 4 years, only oil and greased it once. the rod it comes with is 6'6 MH so it may not be so fun for pan fishing though. it will hold line up to 20lb mono, i have 15lb on mine right now. i call it my good luck rod because ive caught some of my biggest fish and PBs on it and it seems to work well for almost all applications. the newer ones are different than my old one though, i dont care what more lucrative brands i have with me, if its a tough bite i will almost always go for this combo because of the luck ive had with it

I also have a zebco omega. Heads and shoulders above anything else in their line-up.

Get a Daiwa Goldcast.  Far superior to anything else in this arena.

In order to answer the OP, yes...And yes the new ones are not very good.