Ugly Betty

UGLY BETTY

This is a story from Jake Jordan, a long-time Mako client and noted big blue water fisherman.

Many years ago, a charter captain fishing out of North Carolina purchased a Mako 9550 reel. Most of his fishing charters consisted of chasing albacore tuna on fly off of the coast near Cape Lookout Shoal, ideal for the 9550.

One day, a client was fishing with this new Mako 9550. An albacore tuna had an aggressive take on his fly, and as the fisherman was not prepared, the albacore pulled the rod and reel right out of his hands – rod and reel sinking to the bottom of the ocean. It was not to be saved by the captain nor client.

The rod and reel sat on the seabed until a deep sea treasure diver exploring the area found the Mako reel 12 months later. The brand new Sage rod was gone, and the reel was covered with barnacles. It looked like a softball with a piece of green string (the line) hanging from it.

The treasure diver cleaned up the reel with a pressure washer and subsequently sold the reel to Jake Jordan, a local charter captain. Jake bought the reel from the diver, and sent it back to the Mako factory to check out.

Upon receipt and inspection of the reel, the only repair required was a new wooden handle. The only other wear on the reel was in the black dye in the anodized topcoat, but there was no corrosion to the reel at all. It was functioning perfectly.

To date, Jake has caught more than 2,000 sailfish, 1,000 tarpon, 1,000 albacore and 50 marlin on this 9550. It still is one of his day-to-day fly reels. He named it Ugly Betty.