Vintage Hardy Longstone Reel c/w Case

R.Law

Active Member
Unfished Hardy Longstone Reel c/w original Case, circa 1970's

I've had this Reel tucked away for some time and have decided to part with it, never been lined.

$275 plus shipping (if required) Local pick up always possible, I'm in Tsawwassen.

If interested, send me a P/M with name and cell
 

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Beautiful reel. I’m not sure I could bring myself to use it. lol

It’s amazing the beating you can lay on these reels. I have a couple that have been to hell and back. They just keep singing along and ask almost nothing for maintenance.
 
Beautiful reel. I’m not sure I could bring myself to use it. lol

It’s amazing the beating you can lay on these reels. I have a couple that have been to hell and back. They just keep singing along and ask almost nothing for maintenance.


Up to a point on the maintenance side......they need a bit more TLC then you might think.....I’ve used them for many decades both for steelhead (loaded with fly line) and for salmon (braid and mono) in the salt chuck .... Even rinsed with fresh water, when fishing them in the chuck, salt get’s trapped in the coils of line when retrieving when going deep, say off a downrigger. I had a handle break off (at a really inopportune moment) due to the flange on the inside of the spool oxidizing and losing its grip.......

I sent it in to a professional reel guy—-instead of replacing the handle (he couldn’t because the oxidation had widened out the hole too much) he glued a counter-balance weight where the handle had been to reduce wobble. I got a 65 # spring on that reel ....during the fight, I lost the retaining screw of the drag adjustment knob plus the counter balance fell off

I retired the reel from active duty after that fish

FWIW——If you look closely, you can see there’s a coating on the drag knob—-I wrapped waxed thread tightly around it, then mixed sand and ground-up bits of cork in epoxy and covered the thread with it...that was a big help to assist in adjusting the knob once your fingers get slathered with fish slime or herring scuzz when fishing bait
 

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"Sharphooks",which rod do you run with the Longstones?


I’m embarrased to tell you I fished it on a 10 1/2” Shimano that cost $ 65 off the rack, full retail price. My normal day to day rod is a Sage 3106—-I use that for C&R.. Once I make the decision to start keeping what I catch (like at the tail-end of a trip) , out came that Shimano....it has zero back-bone—-noodle rod compared to the Sage....it was putting handi-caps on....wrong tool for the job when I hooked that big fish, though....tip of the rod was just about touching the cork butt a few times....btw...I had to change the reel seat to accept the longer Hardy Longstone reel foot...in the second picture showing the rear face of the Longstone, you can see the modifiaction I did to the seat (an extra set of “rings”) —-keep that in mind when considering a rod if you don’t want to grind the foot.

It’s hard to beat those Sages, though. I have a 4120B I’d sell if you’re interested. It’s a stick, has a special reel seat to accept the Hardy Longstone foot, and it sure is fun to have all that leverage and line control! But the 3106 might be a better match for the day to day stuff .....though my recommendation—-if your dance floor square footage is going to be limited, you might think about a 9 foot rod, especially if you fish alone like I do....just remember that most off-the-rack rods will not fit the older Longstone reel feet, and grinding them to fit is too brutal to do to an old Hardy

You can see that every rod I build has a specially modified reel seat to accept the older Hardy reel feet, including that Shimano
 

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I don't think anyone should be embarrassed about using a Shimano rod or reel.For many years my favourite rod was a Convergence with a Shimano 4000 reel.I've used the 2000 and 4000 reels for over 30 years and have honestly never had one fail or taken for repair and rarely even opened them to oil them,their bullet proof as far as I'm concerned.I no longer have any Islander MR3's because the bearings would constantly go on them,proving that how much you pay for a rod or reel has nothing to do with how long it will last.I assume that I won't have to alter the reel seat if I mount the Longstone on a Hardy rod,like the 10-10.
 
Based on the pictures that I found on the net, it seems some had slip rings on the cork and some had the screw-type fasteners you’d find on modern rods.

If you find the more modern seat doesn’t fit the Longstone foot, an easy way to modify is take a dremel and sand down the cork grip at the top of the seat....that will sometimes allow the fastener ring to pull back far enough to get the seat into the hood

You can see what I’m referring to on the seat of the Sage 4120B.....I had to do that to accept the reel feet of my two Hardy Eddystones, the Longstone’s bigger brother....best reels I ever used for salmon but unfortunately, they’re really HEAVY....too bad....fantastic drag system and a really loud clicker....no need to scream out “fish on” when you’re shoulder to shoulder in a fleet...AA293C99-5A32-49DA-9370-A244E05B1E69.jpeg
 
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