How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

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WeeKilt
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How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by WeeKilt »

Several recent posts by Billy that really get to the core of our reel-related hobbies got me thinking about why one gets the passion for collecting old reels? Please feel free to opine about why you got hooked, and what it means to you? My answer is forthcoming via the next magazine issue courtesy of Betty Barr, but please do share why old reels interest you and how you got involved? I know we have posters here that aren't ORCA members and don't receive our FABULOUS magazines that are so thoughtfully produced. (This is a shameless direct ploy for those of you aren't members to join! It's so worth it, and easy via PayPal! hint hint :wink: )

I'm sure there are lots of great stories to be told, and the best ones we can glean and reprint in a future issue!

Tight lines,
Keith in Arden, NC
mrbiggfish
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by mrbiggfish »

I got hooked on collecting recently, because I had retired over a year ago with a disability. I can't really do a lot of the things I use to enjoy but still can fish sometimes. I was looking at reals on eBay one day and started researching some of reels that were posted as antique or vintage. I started reading about the history of some reels and most of the time I researched there was always a link to ORCA. So I joined and have been hooked on it since then. It's just amazing to me reading about how people years ago had the vision to create a reel from there love of fishing. And the people on ORCA have been nothing but great to me with answers to my questions. So that's pretty much how I became hook.
Thanks
Kevin
spadej1
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by spadej1 »

I got hooked recently. It started innocently looking for an old Mitchell spinning reel like the one someone had given me when I was a kid. I actually didn't like it at the time, because I believe it needed some repair and was for a lefty. I found one at a yard sale that I was looking over and then saw another in a bin full of reels. The guy said I could have that and the other one for $20. I figured it probably wasn't a bad deal and said ok. Then he gave me the whole bin plus another bin for a total of about 20 reels! Best yard sale deal of my life! Of course, really it was a curse because in inspecting and researching what I got in the bins lead me down the rabbit hole...
-James-
New to reel collecting so bear with me please. I like reel deals!
wrong99
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by wrong99 »

I've been fishing for over 60 years. I've been a collector of just about everything for over 60 years. Owned an antique furniture and collectibles business from the mid to late 70's. 1+1+1=ORCA.
Mark
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by Reeltyme »

I, like Mark, have been fishing for almost 60 years now. Owned an antique business in the northeast for about ten years with my wife. For some reason I kept the first rod and reel I ever owned. The rod was a regular fiberglass rod paired with a Mitchell 300. Caught many trout with that outfit. I progressed to bass and then to salmon. Each new species brought new and better rods and reels. I found myself always reaching for my older outfits whenever I went fishing. I found no need to buy a new one when the old ones were still catching fish just fine. I learned to really love my old reels. I fished for salmon with the same 2 identical outfits for 20+ years. As I got older (mid 40's) and a little more financially settled, I started adding a few older saltwater reels to my office for "atmosphere". Then one day while looking through eBay, I saw that someone had listed a Penn Senator 14/0 under the name of "Pen" Senator! With a very low starting bid. The usual search for "Penn" would not pick this reel up. I ended up buying the reel at a very low price. Well,,,, when I got the reel and admired this beautiful piece of equipment that I now owned, I was sunk! Now some 15 years later and 250 - 300 reels more, my wife says I have a problem,,(she smiles when she says it).
dbummee
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by dbummee »

My wife's aunt was breaking up house keeping at her old house and was moving into an assisted living home
where things were a bit easier for her. We were helping her move what she wanted to keep and get the stuff
she wanted other people to have to them. There was a bag of old bait casters sitting in a corner of one of her
rooms. I asked her where she wanted them to go. She said they weren't any good but if I wanted them, I could have them. Six hundred and fifty reels, about two hundred bottles and tins, a hundred or so bamboo
rods, flies, lures, magazines, and reference books later, here I am.

Tom DuRose
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Billy Pater
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by Billy Pater »

Back in the 1980's I was very big into cane rods, and salmon, trout and steelhead fly fishing-here in MI-also in MT. and Calgary (Bow River) -- My favorite rods were both the R.L. Winston graphite and also the Stoner-Merrick cane rods, also Gary Howells. I started fly fishing in MI in the 1970's- had a 3 pc. Payne 5 wt. and a Hardy Perfect reel (left to me by an uncle)- later as I started collecting using rods and reels- I got in Fin-Nor WC series, Billy Pate and Ross reels- I also had a Bogdan Large Trout- all my reels were set for LH wind-

As I aged, I found the pressure of drift boats and other anglers on the PM and AuSable rivers a bit much, and about 10 years ago, I sold all my fly fishing tackle to a Doctor, active in the area TU Chapter. Now I take the grandkids out fishing in the summer up at our place on Torch Lake, in NW Michigan- Zebco, Garcia-Mitchell and Wright& McGill spin rods- bait fishing, but we get some nice perch and walleyes-

I have high praises for FL- my wife and I just returned from a 3 week visit to Venice, and I fished Sharkey's Pier quite often, while she and her sister were doing craft shows- Nice thing is- no license needed to fish from a pier in FL- whether you are a resident or a non-resident. Caught a few "keeper" sheepshead, using shrimp for bait and snelled hooks- Garcia-Mitchell 300 and a Wright & McGill surf style rod- 25# test braided line and snelled hooks with pyramid sinker-

I have never seen so many pigeons as on that pier, along with the ever present seagulls- Think I'll get a custom T-shirt- lettered as this: "SHARKEY'S PIER-VENICE, FL. THE PIGEON-POOP CAPITAL OF THE SUNCOAST..

The only possibly "collectible" reel I have belonged to my late father, back in the Bristol steel baitcasting pre-WW2 days- it is a Shakespeare 1920 Wondereel--Model H6-- a baitcasting reel-nice "keepsake"-- But I do have a "mystery" reel- if anyone can ID it for me- I call it a "side-winder"--it is a Johnson Model 40-- Kelly green anodized aluminum-- LH wind and the line comes out of the side-single crank handle adjustable drag--

I found this website in the free issue of the Coastal Angler, down at Sharkey's Pier--
Last edited by Billy Pater on Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by Midway Tommy D »

But I do have a "mystery" reel- if anyone can ID it for me- I call it a "side-winder"--it is a Johnson Model 40-- Kelly green anodized aluminum-- LH wind and the line comes out of the side-single crank handle adjustable drag--
It's not a mystery reel any more, you IDed it. :)

Made by Denison-Johnson in the early 1950s in Mankato, MN.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
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john elder
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by john elder »

Nice story, Mr Billy Pater...if that really IS your name! :D Too bad you don't have all those rods and reels from paragraph 1!...all highly collectable and sought after by us folks in fly tackle collecting! But nice to hear you are able to do some fun fishing with the kids...more rewarding to watch them catch fish than to catch fish yourself!

I'm glad you found us and hope you stick around for the fun....so many interesting reels and as you have seen with the early Johnson reel, the hobby doesn't have to break the bank like a Brace of Bogdans!
ORCA member since 1999
Honorary Life Member

Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
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Billy Pater
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by Billy Pater »

Thanks gentlemen, for the ID of the Johnson reel-and the insight into the tackle I sold, put the funds into a college education trust for the grandkids. Have a lot of photos and memories from those halycon days spent fly fishing--Billy
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Billy Pater
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by Billy Pater »

I forgot to add- I have the original cardboard box with the parts order blank and schematic for this Johnson Model 40 reel. :bash:





Forgot to add- I have the original factory cardboard box with the parts order blank form for the Johnson Model 40 spinning reel--And for the Zebco fans- I found 2- a Zebco 404 and a Zebco "Johnny Quest" reel. And I found 3 other older reels in a tackle box I had forgotten about, apparently.(1) Martin Model 65 sa fly reel, set for LH wind, bronze anodized finish- (2) A Pflueger "Akron" baitcasting reel, and (3) A South Bend No. 300-A marked- level winding and anti-backlash. All in vg condition, and in working order.
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reelsmith.
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by reelsmith. »

My story, as it appeared in the December 1997 issue of the NFLCC Gazette ...







That was written a long time ago. Since then I've, among other things, started collecting reels again.

Here's a link to my modest collection: https://www.tackletreasures.com/favorite ... -fly-reels

Dean.
Wanted: Kosmic Items, Small Leather Fly Reel Cases, Early Fishing Related Bottles, Fly Reels and Pre-1900 Angling/Casting Medals.

http://www.tackletreasures.com/
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busterboy
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by busterboy »

I got a box of old reels from a good friend about 5 years ago. the box they were in appeared to have been the home to about 100 generations of mice. It smelled that way too!! The box spent 3 years in my garage airing out. Once I got the nerve to clean the reels up I found a Johnson Model 80 in its original box with the paperwork, an Ocean City 1500 with paperwork and a casting reel with only 60 stamped on the underside of the foot. I took some pictures to send to someone to see if they could ID the reel. When I looked at the pictures on my computer, I noticed some faint lettering on the top side of the foot. I was able to discover for myself tht it was a Hendryx multiplyer. That discovery sparked an interest in baitcasters. six months later I was looking for one on CL to use to teach myself how to use one since I've been a spin fisherman all of my adult life. I drove down to Toledo to look at an Ambassadeur I had IDed in the ad. I offered the seller $20.00 for the reel and the fiberglass rod it was on. After I cleaned it up for use, I took pictures and sent them to Fred Ribb for his opinion since I didn't know antything about Ambassadeur reels. I was puzzled because the tail plate had the word "Record" above the Ambassadeur name. Fred confirmed my "Record" 6000 was indeed a rare find. The rest is history. I am now the proud owner of almost 100 reels of various makes and models. Once I am able to get some pictures small enough to post here, I'll post them to show and tell.

Buster-boy
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WeeKilt
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by WeeKilt »

Thanks for all of the replies! Busterboy, you can post the pics as thumbnails and we can still enjoy the photos. Directions are posted here and it's easy to do. Let's see those!! :D

Tight lines, Keith
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Re: How did you get hooked on collecting reels?

Post by creekman »

My passion for collecting reels came about as I realized I could buy amazingly well maintained, preserved reels that were popular when I was growing up, in the 60's and 70's, and which usually at that time I could not afford. Most of my collection was bought on Ebay, with some notable exceptions. Most of my collection is of Zebco and Mitchell reels, with some Penn, Johnson, etc. thrown in, 30, 40, 50 years old. I'm kind of maxed out now with my collection, both space wise and financially!
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