Crappie Pro 230

[Jp Elim]

One of my first purchases, when I started collecting Johnson reels was 2 Crappie Pro 230's at a pawn shop. I'm sitting here watching it rain, and the corn and beans growing, so I thought I'd post some pic's of this reel, since its never been done. I've fished with this reel and it cast really well and gave me no problems. Although I caught no fish.  6-14 lb. line. Came from factory with 6 lb. line. Part of the tangle free bunch of reels. Kind of cheap, well made reels. You could win big money using this reel when it first came out, at the Crappiethons. A nice reel to look at.                                     P.S. After posting this, I noticed several Crappie Pro 230's that may have had a darker green front cover. Possibly made in the later years ? If you have one, feel free to post it too. The later catalogs we have are all blk/white so it's hard to tell.                           
       P.S.Again. Bought one of the darker green Crappie Pro version's.  Basically the same reel as the 230, except for darker green cover and silver drag knob.  For some reason Johnson made these for a few years. Posted a few pics of it at bottom since I'd mentioned it.

[409davidb]

Glad to see I'm not alone in my affection for these reels JP! I've actually been planning to do a write up and post pics of my Crappie Pro's and Crappie busters for a while now. I've just been overwhelmingly busy. Thanks for posting some pic's! I'll get to mine eventually. Lol.

[Skip Smith]

I've had one of those CP 230's for years.  Nice l'il reel! Will probably let it go in favor of a very similar Spirit 111 given to me by my brother.

[TIMMY]

the crappie pro is 1 of 2 graphite johnson reels i love. the other 1 is the 525 force. as i recall, the crappie pro 230 that i bought new back in 1988 along with a CM 15 came spooled from the factory with 8lbs test line. i have 3 or 4 of them now and think its time to get one out again to use.

[409davidb]

Skip, i would have to politely argue the fact that both would be worthy to stay in service. Save a few bucks to get a rod for the 111 and take them both to double your chances. Lol.


Tim, I've had the chance to use the crappie pro's several times and it performed amazingly with all of the light jigs I threw. My only grip is that I broke the foot off a couple of them without any reasonable explanation. I thought maybe I had overlooked a super glue sell off I picked from EBay and surely it wouldn't happen again with a solid reel. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that you have to make sure your reel foot sits flat across the rod seat front to back or the front paw will snap off with a gentle tap of the rod but on the deck of your boat! On all my new rods, the front foot has a contoured gap approximately 1/16" of an inch between the reel and seat. The back half of the reel sits flat. When the front hold down clamp is tightened up, it not only pushes the reel back, but also down. This puts stress on the front foot that allows it to snap like a piece of chalk if bumped just the right way.

[Skip Smith]

LOL!  David, you make a good point for keeping both the 230 and the 111.  However, due to advancing years, I really need to be downsizing.  Makes for some difficult decisions.

[Jp Elim]

Boy, that's good to know David. I have mostly vintage rods and a few new ones. I will have to watch for that. Bought a 130b reel, reasonable on EBay. The guy never sent it. Claimed he dropped it and broke the foot. I was kind of suspicious but I can see how it could happen. Wonder why the newer rods have the contoured gap ?

[409davidb]

Sorry for the delayed response. Crazy busy lately! Skip, Skip, Skip, your never to old for extra rods(or reels for that mater)! Hahaha! JP, I'm sure the newer type rod seat/hold down clamps are like that because it's cheaper and covers a wider range of reel variations. I took a few minutes to get some pic's of rods i use to better show my findings. The top Ugly Stick, Berkley Cherrywood, and Wally Marshall Signature Series all had a Graphite reel foot break for me while fishing. Notice the rod I have the Crappie Pro on now. It's a Zebco. One of the few rods I currently have with a seat suited for the foot. I looked and it still has a very small gap compared to the others,  but also has a long flat going forward in the seat. Did the butt bump on the ground test and the reel didn't pop off so hopefully it holds up. I plan to make some shims sometime this year so I can put these reels on the rods I prefer without issue. I'll get pic's of my old Crappie Pro rod when I find the time and post it as well to show how they were flat across the seat for the reel. The reels that broke are this, on old Ugly Sick-545 Sabra, Berkley Cherrywood, Lew's Signature Series- Crappie Pro's.

[Jp Elim]

Thanks for posting that. I see where the problem is. Some sort of perfect fitting shim sounds good.

[Skip Smith]

David, I suppose you're right about having back-ups and extras, but 38 rods and 100+ reels seems a bit over the top.  LOL!

[409davidb]

Well Skip, I can't argue that! Lol.

[Baron2]

Skip, i would have to politely argue the fact that both would be worthy to stay in service. Save a few bucks to get a rod for the 111 and take them both to double your chances. Lol.


Tim, I've had the chance to use the crappie pro's several times and it performed amazingly with all of the light jigs I threw. My only grip is that I broke the foot off a couple of them without any reasonable explanation. I thought maybe I had overlooked a super glue sell off I picked from EBay and surely it wouldn't happen again with a solid reel. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that you have to make sure your reel foot sits flat across the rod seat front to back or the front paw will snap off with a gentle tap of the rod but on the deck of your boat! On all my new rods, the front foot has a contoured gap approximately 1/16" of an inch between the reel and seat. The back half of the reel sits flat. When the front hold down clamp is tightened up, it not only pushes the reel back, but also down. This puts stress on the front foot that allows it to snap like a piece of chalk if bumped just the right way.

Are you saying that the newer Rods are not correct fitting for the old reels? Shallowing I stick with older Rods where the front part of the reel foot lies flat?

[Jp Elim]

The foot needs to lay flat, especially on the all graphite models. A shim will solve the problem on some rods. On the all metal reels it shouldn't be a problem, I wouldn't think.  Although I've seen cast metal break too. David had the problem and wrote about it. Maybe he will chime in ?

[Baron2]

Okay, just the Graphite reels have the problem. You may want to mold some shims up using epoxy.