New Unidentified Big Game Reel---20/0

[m3040c]

This reel was posted on Facebook. The owner is hoping to find an info he can about it. Hopefully someone can help.

[Jay White]

Wow!Great reel, have no idea of the maker. If he is interested in selling, I am willing to offer a great price.

[Dr. Rob]

The address is still there, or Roumelia Lane anyway. No really big Google hits for the company or either of the two gentlemen. Same for Espacenet. Maybe someone else could look more thoroughly; I just had a quick look.

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[reeltackle]

I first saw this massive reel about 10 or 12 years ago and over the years lost track of its whereabouts. The current owner said he purchased it in an auction and he sent me photos of the reel about a year ago. I did not see the post on Facebook but here is an additional photo of the reel he sent me with its big metal case, did he post this photo of the reel with its case on Facebook too? I tried, for a couple of hours, to trace the makers through the city in England for the reel's owner but I could not find any additional information on the company or the people who made it. It is a monster!

[Stef Duma]

I certainly remember the reel when it was sold at auction, it was the black japanned box that made it stand out and the name. I remember 7 seas medication when I was young.

[m3040c]

Thanks for the reply's. The Facebook crew should be watching this post. I have linked the Facebook post to this post. All info and attempts at clarifying is greatly appreciated. This is a great mystery.

Here is the Facebook post:::

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1740350 ... 8694709286

[Nick in NY]

The same reel zold a couple.years ago in auction! I saw it in the catalog! Yes IT IS THE SAME REEL! No mystery I believe it sold for $18,000 l'll have to check again. When it was shown it was under a glass or plexiglass display case. Looks like a crazy cool reel! Timing was off so l didn't go after it.......

[john elder]

My timing is ALWAYS off when it gets to $18k, Nick!

7 Seas is a big deal in Bournemouth, England...they even have a festival with that name, so that may have influenced the naming.

maker looks to be "Lanes Engineering Works"....but googling that just gets you roadwork reports!

[Mike N]

I'm always up for some reel sleuthing. Let's start with Bournemouth's location on the English Channel:

[Mike N]

"For tunny & all big fish over lbs 500"

Tunny is the common English name for the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. Interestingly, it was also the British code name for the German World War II Lorenz cipher machine.

[Dr. Rob]

I like the drag star.

[m3040c]

I like the drag star.

Not so sure about the wheel. Sort of looks like it could remove fingers..

[reeltackle]

I like the drag star.

Agreed, it is quite unique. It looks like the "brass knuckles" of star drags.

[Mike N]

As another ORCA member messaged me, it would have seemed more British to have used "35 stones" rather than "lbs. 500."

Very tough reel to research. I've used up almost everything in my research bag of tricks only to go down a lot of dead ends.

[reeltackle]

I hit nothing but dead ends a year ago trying to research the history of this reel and its makers. I just gave it another half hour yesterday with no further progress. I hope someone else has some better luck. I imagine however that the reel was built for an angler who was testing his tunny fishing skills in Scarborough, a city way up on the northeastern English coast where sport fishing for tunny was once "the thing" to do in Great Britain.

The vast majority of the Tunny fishing that was done in England was centered around Scarborough which is located on the northeast coast of England, quite a distance from Bournemouth where the Super 7 reel was built. The Scarborough Tunny Club was formed in the 1930s and large bluefin tuna were caught there fairly regularly until the 1950s when, after their food sources had been depleted, they changed their migratory patterns. Tunny fishing attracted the high society folks and from what I have read there was quite a show put on there for many years.

There are a couple of great antiquarian books on the subject that peer back into a very interesting time in big game fishing history that we, as Americans, don't often hear much about. Both books are quite entertaining however there is a chapter in Mitchell-Henry's book that makes its high price tag completely worthwhile. In this chapter Mitchell-Henry proceeds to take Zane Grey, and his angling ethics, apart piece by little piece, I verbally said "Ouch" out-loud when reading it the first time. There was a deep divide between Grey and Mitchell-Henry about angling ethics and "the rules" and the two of them went back and forth quite publicly in magazine articles and in Mitchell-Henry's book calling each other out by name. Very well worth the read if you can find a copy.

Mitchell-Henry's book - Tunny Fishing at Home and Abroad

Fred Taylor's book - Tunny Fishing For Beginners. Both books are great sources of information.





There are also two contemporary books on the subject, both of which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject of "Tunny" fishing. Great reading and great vintage photos -

The Glory Days of the Giant Scarborough Tunny by the late Mark Ross

Tunny, the rise and fall of Britian's Biggest Fish by Chris Berry

[Stef Duma]

Anyone got the complete transcription of the reel details and I will look in a few data bases I know.

Regards

Stef

[reeltackle]

Speaking of giant Tunny ........... this was just reported in the Guernsey Press yesterday.

https://guernseypress.com/news/2017/08/ ... -guernsey/

Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel near the French coast, and is a self-governing British Crown dependency ...... and ..... just south of Bournemouth where the Super 7 reel was built. The article relates that giant bluefin tuna were spotted feeding just north of Guernsey in the channel, very close to Bournemouth and the fact that they have not seen them there in many years.

[reeltackle]

Stef

Anyone got the complete transcription of the reel details

The tag reads -

SPECIALLY DESIGNED
FOR TUNNY AND ALL BIG FISH
OF OVER LBS. 500
SEAS 7 SUPER
C. L. LANE R. BUTLER
SOLE MANUFACTURES & SUPPLIERS
LANES ENGINEERING WORKS
ROUMELIA LANE
BOURNEMOUTH
ENGLAND

[Paul M]

This is a video discussing the Tunny Club. Very interesting but no info on the subject reel. The relevant section runs from 6:50 through 18:50. Of course skip the ad as soon as you can LOL. Have fun figuring out the thick accents.

[Mike N]

Ed-- those are some great book covers. I've not seen anything like them

Paul- I watched the entire video. Thanks. I love fishing and shotguns and gun dogs, and most things British.

Mike N

[Jay White]

Great video Paul. I watched the whole thing also. I love all things tied to fishing and hunting. Thanks!!

[Paul M]

Thanks! I got the link from a Facebook collector contact in the UK. (If I could only get him to join the club!) He also gave me a UK fishing tackle museum contact to see if we can get anything on the company.

Paul M

[m3040c]

Whether we discover the origins of this reel or not, this post if fantastic!!!

[Paul M]

I contacted the main library in Bournemouth to see if they could find anything relevant but no luck. Here is the full response from the library:

Thank you for your enquiry.

I’m afraid this is a bit of a mystery. We have tried in all our Kelly’s directories from the 30’s to the 70’s, (although none were published during the war years.) under both the address and the commercial sections but there is no mention of ‘Lanes Engineering’. We have also tried our planning registers and a specific book which covers the area of Roumelia Lane – Boscombe Spa Estate. I also tried our old telephone directories for the area but the only engineering works that appeared was C W Lane Engineering in Gunville Road Tarrant Hinton in 1955.

It may be that it was a small company in Bournemouth maybe sometime during the war but I’m afraid we have no records for a Lane’s Engineering in that area.

Regards

Val O’Sullivan

[Dan Z]

WOW!!!!!!! i want it! (yes- that is my contribution this time, stating the obvious)
BEAUTIFUL! Daniel z