I still recommend fishing reel repair and maintenance. I think it would be a great hobby for you, so long as your eye sight is ok. All you need is a table, a good light, some basic tools that you probably have already, cleaning supplies and proper lubricants. The tools and reels don't take up much room. You will find some great How-To sites on line that take you through the process step by step for most of the popular reels. I would think Florida would be a great place to pick up unwanted reels that can get you started.

I just picked up four reels at a yard sale that will give me something to do for six or seven evenings. I only paid $20 for the whole lot and I expect I'll invest no more than another $20 or $30 in parts. I may keep all four of them as they are all models I did not previously own, but it is nice to know that if need be I can quickly sell them, or give them as gifts to friends who fish or kids who are just getting into the hobby. I enjoy talking with other fishermen and I expect this hobby will keep me invovled with the community over the off season as well.

 

That does sound like a good hobby Bill. Are you working with any particular type of reel or are you into all of them (spin, bait cast, fly, spin cast,etc.)?

 

I'm into saltwater equipment. Mostly Penn and Shimano reels. I work on conventionals and spinning reels. I just picked up two Penn Jigmasters, a Penn Delmar and a Shimano 4500 Baitrunner. Each one has 50 to 100 parts, but only a few wear out and they are usually available on line. I spend most of my time carefully cleaning all the parts, removing corrosion, oiling the internals and polishing the chrome. I replace the drag washers and in some cases I add some performance mods Yup, even fishing reels can be modded.

 

It sounds like fun, but I don't know how much of a market there would be for it in this part of Florida. There's also the issue of exposure to solvents, fumes, aerosols, etc., that I've been strongly warned to avoid.
Then there's the fact that I totally suck at sales.

 

Well, you wouldn't be the first person that turned their fix-it-up-hobby into a collection.

 

Teach yourself programming. Write the next great killer app for the iPhone (a la "Angry Birds"). Make a gazillion dollars. Form a corporation to manage the software. Take the company public and make an additional 2 gazillion dollars on the ipo. Spend all of your time managing your investments.

 

If I had those kind of computer skills I would be more inclined to join an Internet oriented activist organization like Anonymous, than become some sort of software magnate. The realms of finance and economics have never been of much interest to me.
For better or worse, I'm still an old Yippie at heart, I guess.

 

I've been down that road, too.

 

In your spare time, which you will have plenty of, be sure to watch "American Pickers" on the History Channel. You will see how some "collections" get a bit out of hand. Thankfully, Dean, I don't think you will have enough space to collect as much as the guy they "picked" from on the show last night. Now, Bill on the other hand has a big house. I see fishing rods everywhere in his future.

 

I can't throw any stones in Bill's direction. You should see all the damned speakers and canes I have lying about.
I'm giving up the speaker stuff and selling them off for a smaller and more basic system, but I won't give up on my canes. In fact, I have my eye on two beauties right now that I'm hoping Santa might see fit to bring me for Xmas.

This one which I think is very fitting for me:

Silver cane

And this one, which I also like a great deal

Buffalo horn