Shakespeare Sigma 2200 CK 025 Vintage Ultralight Spinning Reel: Assembly Tip and Thoughts About Them 

I have one 025 , I bought it nearly 40 years ago. It still in good condition right now. Love it.

I had one of these reels in high school rigged up on a 5' Lamiglas ultralight rod with a Tennessee cork handle. Absolutely loved that combo for panfish. I quit using the reel when the bail spring broke.

Thx so much for the review! Back in 1985 the 2200 series was an affordable reel and i got the 025 and 030 to match the glass Wonderspin rods. Cannot remember what i payed for them.. but 30 years later I still use them and I just love them. The best drag you could want. It is so delicate. Few years later i bought the 2400/035 with drag adjuster on the rear.. but that just was'nt near the 2200. Last week i bought 2 2200/035 reels for €50 and i am all excited about it! I will never need another reel.. ever!

Fabulous reels these Shakespeare Sigma 2200 series - I have the 040 the 060 and the massive 080. They lack some of the bells and whistles of modern reels but are basically stunningly good. The drags in particular are superb.

I have a sigma 025 in pristine condition. It is matched with a Shakespeare 2 PC 6 ft super ultra light liberty stick made in 1976. Fantastic ul combo

I’ll take a vintage reel over the more modern reels any day. I’m particularly fond of the blue Ohmori Shakespeare 2400 series. They all have two ball bearings, metal case, and aluminum spool, etc. there were four reels in this series: w400, 2410, 2430, and 2450. That 2400 model would truly amaze you. Also, I will not have a reel with no AR override. Thanks for sharing this Sigma. I would love to have one. - Chris

Thank you for the video. Now the anti reverse on my reel 035 is silent again!

I bought one at a Pawn Shop for $5 (along with a $20 Penn Fierce), but it doesn’t have the original handle so I haven’t used it yet. Thanks for your videos on cleaning & assembling these reels plus showing the great craftsmanship & parts they used to give a lifetime of enjoyment in use!

I have one of these. That's an amazing reel and it sitll works perfectly although my grandpa bought it 35 years ago. Love the thing you can do with the handle

Long time! I hope to get my second 025 reel these days! Call me an old foggie, however, but these reels are works of art!

I had a later updated model with the whisker titan body, a combination of graphite and titanium if I remember correctly. This generation of reels were always well regarded, particularly for their smooth drag control.

Enjoying your channel! You know your stuff. Been very helpful as I resurrect some of the same vintage reels you have. Much appreciated. I bought 2 of these Sigmas new in the 80s. They are indeed workhorses. Their beauty lies in their simple functional design; No unneeded bells and whistles. I did not like the 025 due to its poor ipt, opting for the 030. Still UL but a much better fishing tool. It’s way overdue for a lubing. Thanks for the reminder on the AR parts line up. Regards, Paul

My favourite reels are all the older all metal types, Daiwa BG first generation, Ryobi GX and SX series and Shakespeare 2200 ambidex blue series ect. On some models you can remove the nylon or plastic bushes and replace them with stainless steel bearings and upgrade the nylon or felt drag washers to carbontex. I guess you know this anyway but like you point out these old school spinners were built to last a lifetime with regular servicing. Another advantage of the older reels is that they can often hold twice as much line as stated on the spool due to modern mono line being much thinner, for example I have a Ryobi GX60 that originally held 190 yards of 30lb mono, but I can now spool it up with around 325 yards of modern 30lb mono due to the diameter of modern line being much thinner. .Anyhow thumbs up man, great videos.

At the beginning of your video the explanation on how to time the pinion gear with the main drive through the wholes is amazing! I might have assembled incorrectly the main drive and since there is marine grease in there it might muzzle the sound but it is not correctly set, I will do that tomorrow! My question is, does this apply to the 040 too?

I collect old ugly stiks and sigma reels , love the 2200ck , buy every one I can find even just for parts

I got myself a used Shakespeare Sigma 2200-030 CK and it is a beauty! I had it greased with marine lube, albeit, it returned “tighter”so there is a little effort when turning the handle. Despite the fact that the vendor claimed that the reel was ready to go, the grease inside was dry. I filled it with 4# monofilament. Now the next question would have to be what kind of rod does it deserve. I found a Sigma Powerrod SP30 rated from 4-12#. It has an odd double butt handle and the color of the top of the rod is different. It doesn’t seem we’ll taken care of. Any suggestions?

Hi friend; I really enjoy your videos and the deep presentations you give on them. Just as you, I truly enjoy fishing with vintage fishing equipment especially when it comes to reels. I'm looking at a slightly bigger reel (sigma e 040 2200 ck) but I'm stuck between it and one other reel you have displayed in previous video, the Abu Garcia Cardinal C3; which do you favor between those two? Keep up the great work.

I can also find out of the Silent Non-Reverse Cam from where? thank you

Do you know of a fishing magazine that may have covered these reels in the pre-internet past? I once found an article by collector via google that had all the reels and made a review of each but not any more! That was when I purchased the 035’s! I believe that I am going to purchase an 030 and I just found out that my and my son’s 035’s were Korean made! When I purchased my 025 I found a golden 025 spool which I bought. However, I believe that it was made for a more modern 025 as the drag adjustment knob skips a thread at the bottom of the adjustment. It seems the whole where the adjustment screw nests is smaller than the seat of the adjustment screw, therefore, it is forced to nest without seating completely! This doesn’t happen with my golden and black 035 reels. Can you help me find the correct for the golden reel drag adjustment screw #1 in the parts explosion?

Thanks for the great video. Are parts still available for them and a diagram? Thanks!

Got my 2200ck 25 the other day , you really don't realise just how tiny these are until U get one in hand 😂

Thanks for the explanation on the old 2200 reels! Why isn’t the 025 listed on the original documentation of the Series 2200? Is it a different breed? I want to get one complete with box and documentation to fish local species, however, they are pretty expensive right now! I currently own two 035’s and an 040 that I purchased when I was a kid. My 035 with the golden reel sometimes sticks the bail. I mated the 040 to a Fenwick rod, a pleasure to use! The rod that probably would be better suited to an 050 that I wanted to buy instead but I couldn’t! Now I would like to know if a Shakespeare Sigma rod SP-2260-2L will be correct for this 025 reel?

For some one thats needs a sigma i ghot 3 of them sigma 030 oldscool