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Did I dream it???

S

Steve Lewis

Senior Member
The Fox Bob James centrepin - there WAS a variant with a solid back wasn't there? I know there's the Youngs BJ reel with the solid back (which I've got), but I'm sure there was a solid backed Fox one as well. Wasn't there?

The internet tells me no, but I seem to remember playing about with one in a tackle shop...
 
I cannot remember Fox producing a centrepin reel. There's not much chance of them using someone's name on their tackle who wasn't a 'consultant' with them also, it was probably Dave Kelbrick who was the last to have his name on their tackle.
 
I had one of these "Bob James" Arnold ones, didn't like it to be honest and the back nut kept coming off, so I sold it.
 

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The open backed one no doubt, AKA the "Stratos" with Bob's name on the (partial) back plate. Notorious for collecting every bit of dust and dirt within a ten mile radius to the point of becoming unusable, ergo it pops up on eBay on a fairly regular basis.

Perhaps it is the Arnold Kingpin I'm thinking of...
 
he Bob James Signature Centrepin was born, a reel that combines the latest engineering techniques, top quality materials and know-how from one of the UK’s best anglers to offer unrivalled performance.

There are only 1,000 of these reels in production, so make sure you get hold of a piece of history.

The reel works with two high quality, low friction bearings that produce super smooth performance. You can blow on the spool and watch it rotate indefinitely such is the amazing engineering! This means that when fishing the centrepin on a running water you can literally let the power of the water pull line from the reel, improving your rig presentation and ultimately leading to more fish in your net!

The handles are removable, it has an adjustable drag, quick release spool and a special no bump knot line fixing. It has a five inch lightweight, machined spool.

Key features include:
• 2 high quality, low friction bearings
• Removable handles
• Adjustable drag
• Quick release spool
• Lightweight machined aluminium backplate
• Lightweight machined aluminium 5” spool
• Fully vented spool and backplate
• Special no bump knot line fixing
• Gold laser etched graphics
• Neoprene storage pouch
• Individually numbered
• Fox authenticity certificate, signed and numbered by Bob James
 
I've seen two distinct variants of the Fox Bob James "Stratos" centrepin. I have a bog standard one. A mate picked up serial number 0001 fairly recently. It is a slightly different colour and the ratchet mechanism is better quality (machined metal parts rather than pressed metal). Neither look to be brown like the one shown in the photo above. Both have the 2/3rds open back. I've not seen a closed back version.
 
Chris Jones said:
I've seen two distinct variants of the Fox Bob James "Stratos" centrepin. I have a bog standard one. A mate picked up serial number 0001 fairly recently. It is a slightly different colour and the ratchet mechanism is better quality (machined metal parts rather than pressed metal). Neither look to be brown like the one shown in the photo above. Both have the 2/3rds open back. I've not seen a closed back version.
Click to expand...

I think I'm conflating it with the aforementioned Kingpin.
 
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