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We've heard the maxims about legacy hunting and fishing equipment.

You know, "The 30-30 has killed more deer than any other caliber combined."

Or, "More fish have been caught with a Zebco 33 than every other reel combined."

In "Walk The Line," the Johnny Cash biopic, there's a scene in which Ray Cash, Johnny's father, holds forth about the Zebco 33 being the greatest fishing reel ever made. At that time in the late 1960s, it probably was. At that time, it certainly was the most popular reel.

The Zebco 33 is the prototype of the spincasting reel, which is essentially a closed-face spinning reel without a bail. Instead of opening a bail and pegging the line against the rod with your finger, a spincaster is push-button operated. Pressing the button engages a clutch that prevents the line from unraveling from the spool. When you release the button, the clutch disengages and allows the line to leave the spool.

Every sporting goods store sells spincasting rod-and-reel combos, but until recently, I haven't seen one in action for years. I was reacquainted with these relics when I fell in with people that are fiercely loyal to them. They like what they like, and they are proficient with it.

One such loyalist is Mike Waters of East End. He brought a half dozen of them on a recent trip to the Buffalo National River with his son Brayden Waters and his partner Caitlin Compton. Brayden loves to fish with any kind of gear, but he only had access to spincasting gear. When he saw my baitcasting reels, it was a revelation. For two days he badgered me to let him use my stuff. No way! There's a steep learning curve to using a baitcaster. One cast from a first-timer would render that rig useless for the rest of the trip.

Compton endures all of the indignities that a spincaster inflicts upon its users. More about that later. Her main concern is to catch more fish than Mike. She swears that she always does, and she delights in beating him at his own game.

Mike repeats all of the maxims. The spincaster has caught more fish than every other reel combined. And, he admits, he's set in his ways and doesn't want to learn how to use more modern gear.

Here's the downside of the spincaster. It twists line mercilessly. Early into our second day on the Buffalo, all of Waters' reels were out of commission. Their line was twisted and tangled. They all went down one by one.

This leads us to the second person in this treatise. I spent a couple of days with him on Lake Ouachita. Spincasting rigs are stacked in every corner of his houseboat. Every one of them was out of commission with twisted, tangled line. He was especially proud of his Zebco 303.

"This is what I use in Brazil," he crowed.

"For peacock bass?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yep!"

This is an accomplished peacock bass angler, but hearing that he did it with a cheap spincast rig astonished me. I would think that a fish as powerful as a peacock bass would tear the guts out of such a delicate reel. I'd like to fight a big striped bass with one just to see that happen, but apparently these reels are more durable than I thought.

To his delight, my disdain was conspicuous. He kept insisting that I ditch my gear and embrace stuff that I forsook when I was 10 years old.

"Yeah, I'll do that next time I go to a pawnshop," I said. "I'll pick up a dozen of them for $5."

That barb was unnecessarily harsh and prompted a rebuttal of epithets, but we both stood our ground.

Besides, the Zebco 33 has some favor among in professional fishing circles. Woo Daves used it to fish jigs during the 1989 Bassmaster Classic on the James River.

Here's another tidbit: Zebco is an acronym that stands for Zero Hour Bomb Company. The Tulsa-based organization originally made time bombs for use in the oil drilling business. With its patents soon to expire, the company was desperate to find a new source of income. Miraculously, a tinkerer named R.D. Hull paid a speculative call to the office with a prototype that consisted of fishing line wrapped around a coffee can.

Thus was born the first spincast reel. Zebco made three models before releasing its eventual flagship, the Model 33.

Back to the name. The company sent a new reel to President Dwight Eisenhower, who was an avid fisherman. A package from Zero Hour Bomb Company alarmed the president's security detail. They destroyed the package, only to find the remains of a fishing reel inside. That's when the name was shortened to Zebco.

Fortunately, refreshing line on a spincast reel is easy. You can do it the traditional way by unfurling all your line behind a moving boat. The line will untwist in the current.

A spincaster comes factory spooled with heavy test monofilament line. The peacock bass reel had a mono attached to braided backing line. This line was unsalvageable. I merely pushed the button and stripped off the mono down to the backing. I cut off the monofilament and, with a double uni knot, spliced in fresh mono. The test strength should be appropriate to the application. If it's a bream fishing rig or a crappie fishing rig, splice in no heavier than 6-pound test. For bass, 10- to 15-pound test is appropriate.

If there is no braided backing, strip off all of the monofilament and respool with fresh line. Use the same procedure as for respooling a spinning reel. Clip off the tag end with small scissors. Then, reel the monofilament off the spool as you would with a spinning reel. For longer life, unfurl it behind a boat frequently.

With frequent line maintenance and by lubing the few moving parts, your spincast reel will provide years of dependable service.