PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

ORCA Online Forum - Feel free to talk or ask about ALL kinds of old tackle here, with an emphasis on old reels!
Post Reply
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

I would love to see pictures of any Stevens reels and my buddy John mentioned there was one at the Orca show... anyone get pix? thanks all
User avatar
1badf350
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 309
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 12:56 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, Md

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by 1badf350 »

A member here now has the Stevens 12/0 that my buddy used to own. Pics on the way



































-Chris R.
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

awesome thanks so much! Any other Orca members i'd love to see more Stevens reels. Thank you. Daniel z
User avatar
Ron Mc
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3384
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:49 am
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Ron Mc »

very nice - been waiting on those with bated breath.
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

I'm also CLOSE to getting a Stevens reel for my collection, hence my desire to learn and see more about these reels, how many are around. tnx
User avatar
1badf350
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 309
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 12:56 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, Md

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by 1badf350 »

From what I am told, there were only 15 Stevens reels ever made and most of them were 16/0. The only other 12/0 I know of that exists belongs to Ed P.
-Chris R.
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

cool. My goal is to see as many as known/in existence. yes- Ed P is the man with big game tackle, and i've seen the ones on his site... but would be great to have them all on one thread... I'll ask ED if OK that he or we add his photos here. thanks! daniel z
User avatar
RonG
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1468
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 8:49 pm
Location: Frostproof, FL
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by RonG »

Below are photos I took at Karl White's Museum of the big game reels.

Coxe Cradle Reel




Stevens and Unmarked Reels


User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

excellent. thanks guys. Also- would love to know more about if it's known if the Tycoon tip was on the Coxe cradle attributed to Zane Grey. As noted- Tim O'Brien and I have been looking for proof that Zane fished with Tycoon for a long time..... tnx
Nick in NY
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 351
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:59 pm

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Nick in NY »

Hey Dan, I personally have owned 2 and know of 3 more unmarked early versions not to mention the 12-0 has a serial number of what 54? Lets think about it....there's quite a few out there and definitely more than 15! Eds probably owned 15! Now 1 of a kinds a different story and there's the very 1st versions not so much the "unmarked" BUT BUT the very 1st with tulip like knobs and EARLY star drags! We'll speak soon. Tight Lines Nick
Wanted Ultra rare salt water reels including big game as well as unknown rare surf reels!
User avatar
1badf350
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 309
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 12:56 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, Md

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by 1badf350 »

Nick Is 54 the serial number? Were Stevens reels serialized? I was never sure, but I thought the 54 referred to a 54 thread line class.
-Chris R.
User avatar
john elder
Star Board Poster
Posts: 8541
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:44 pm

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by john elder »

I talked with Karl White today and asked him about the Coxe cradle/tycoon combo. He indicated that he bought it from a fellow that got it at auction..I believe he said in MA and he was told that it had belonged to Zane Grey. He said he would look for written provenance when he made it to the museum, which only shows a fraction of the collection. He thought the unmarked Big Game reel was a Kovalovsky, but I told him I didn't see any Kov indicators in the construction.
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
Nick in NY
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 351
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:59 pm

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Nick in NY »

Honestly I believe the #54 to be a serial number not recommended line but I maybe wrong...don't have any other explanation. I believe 1 of my Stevens was marked 28 and the earlier was not marked with a number BUT it did have tiny holes on the rear plate where a tag once existed. Tight lines Nick
Wanted Ultra rare salt water reels including big game as well as unknown rare surf reels!
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

Thanks all. I'm learning toward thinking the #54 may be linen line as well, as one of my Kovalovsky's states 54 thread, though may be just a coincidence ... also- Thanks John about asking on the ZG background.
User avatar
reeltackle
Super Board Poster
Posts: 900
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by reeltackle »

The Stevens reel was built at the Burley Machine Shop in Miami Florida by Capt. George Stevens from the mid 1930s up until the beginning of WWII. Initially offered in the massive 16/0 size, Stevens built his reels with Micarta side-plates in hopes that they would withstand the heat generated by the run of a giant bluefin tuna or blue marlin. Stevens sought to build a more affordable reel for anglers trying to catch the large bluefin tuna and marlin that had been found just 30 miles away in the waters around Bimini. Priced at $300.00, it was dubbed "The Poor Man's Fin-Nor", The drag turned out to be the reel's Achilles heel, as water had to be poured onto the reel to keep it from burning up when a powerful fish made its run.

The Stevens reel was produced in three sizes, the 16/0 size, the 14/0 size and the 12/0 size. Pictured here from left to right - Stevens 2nd model 16/0 reel - Stevens 12/0 reel - Stevens 1st model 16/0 reel.



The 1st model Stevens reel was not marked, had Micarta side-plates and would adapt a second handle





The 2nd model Stevens was marked and the side-plates were a more plastic like material that did not hold up very well. These reels came in red and green (port and starboard) as well as brown and it also adapted a second handle.





The 14/0 Stevens was identical to the 16/0 size reel only narrower as shown in this 1930s period glamour shot of the reels - far right.



The 12/0 Stevens reel was an entirely different animal.





Witnessing the success of Fin-Nor's debut, Capt. George M. Stevens designed his own reel for tuna fishing off Bimini and built them at the Burley Machine Shop in Miami Florida. Unlike the Fin-Nor reel, the Stevens reel had a modified star-style drag. Stevens also owned a radio repair shop and managed the Miami Chamber of Commerce Docks.

Capt. George M. Stevens (left) is seen here in the Burley Machine Shop in Miami where he produced reels bearing his own name, The Stevens Reel.



Tycoon Tackle founder, Frank O'Brien (left), out for a little fishing with the "Irish Navy" poses with a giant bluefin tuna taken in the waters off Bimini with a Tycoon Bimini King rod of his own design and a massive 16/0 Stevens reel.



Angler Kent Darling poses with his "apple-cored" bluefin tuna on the dock in Bimini in 1937. Tuna hooked in shallow water nearshore would run offshore into deeper water where sharks would detect their distress signals like a hungry man to the dinner bell. Darling holds his Tycoon rod and 16/0 Stevens reel.



F.L. Anderson brings one in whole with his Tycoon Bimini King rod and 16/0 Stevens reel in Bimini in August of 1937. Anderson's fish weighed in a 654 pounds.



Capt. George Stevens (on the left with reel) helps load a plane full of anglers and tackle leaving Miami for Bimini, where his boat, the SKYLARK, was already waiting. Capt. W.W. Howd (far left) of the fishing boat DAWN looks on. Looking from the window of the plane is the pilot., Capt. Edward Jones. On the right, charter captain George Fizell of the BEACHCOMBER hands a fishing rod and reel to the plane's operations manager S.C. Huffman.



The very first reel George Stevens built had a more conventional star style drag and it is the only Stevens reel I have seen configured this way.



Stevens reel for sale in the 1938 A&F catalog, notice the second handle -



Swing tag from a Stevens reel -



Did old Ernie own one? Who knows for sure, however, I have never seen him pictured with one.



The numbers stamped on the bottom were serial numbers. I believe Stevens started at 50 and the highest I have seen so far is 88, so, this would indicate that there were at least 38 reel made .... if in fact he did not skip around a bit. That number sounds high to me, but, who knows for sure.

For more info on big game reels visit my Facebook site - Men Fish & Tackle

https://www.facebook.com/AntiqueFishingReels
Last edited by reeltackle on Thu Sep 14, 2017 4:31 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Ed Pritchard
http://www.AntiqueFishingReels.com
ORCA Charter Member "First Paid Member"
Honorary Life Member

"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

THANK YOU ED! perfect... love it
User avatar
reeltackle
Super Board Poster
Posts: 900
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by reeltackle »

In regard to the big Coxe cradle reel with Tycoon rod tip.

Coxe cradle reels could be ordered through the Bronson Coxe catalog with Tycoon tips as they were working with Tycoon to supply the rods for the reels. Bronson Coxe's first catalog, catalog #37, offered two different Tycoon tips that you could buy with your reel. One tip was a solid hickory tip, perhaps the Martuna or the Royal Hickory and the other was a laminated tip, for sure the Bimini King. Some of the Tycoon rods that were sold through Coxe for the cradle reels were marked "for J. A. Coxe Reels". So Grey would not have had to order the rod through Tycoon and there would be no records of him ever buying one or having a relationship with Tycoon Tackle.

Did the rod and reel belong to Grey? If I had to guess, I would say no. No photos of Grey with a 14/0 or a 16/0 Coxe cradle have ever surfaced. The tackle room photos taken just prior to his death do not picture a Coxe cradle reel. The only photo of Grey with a Coxe cradle I have ever seen is this one of Grey with a 20/0 Coxe cradle.



The differences between the 14/0 - 16/0 cradles verses the 20/0 cradle is like night and day. The 20/0 is an amazing machine that is far superior to its smaller cousins. I have no doubt that Coxe made the 20/0 reel himself prior to his sale to Bronson and perhaps for a 6 month period after the sale of the company as the 20/0 cradle only appears in the catalog for the first half of their first year. I have only ever seen one 20/0 Coxe cradle reel and have never even heard of another. Coxe and Grey had a very close relationship and corresponded for many years about both reels and fishing, Grey purchased many reels from Coxe and had many reels special ordered. Coxe sold his 12/0 reel through the 1930 A & F catalog as the "Zane Grey" reel for $750.00. Both Grey and Coxe had been "removed" from the Tuna Club and perhaps this was part of the glue that bonded them together. The photo of Grey with the Coxe 20/0 cradle reel was taken by Joe Coxe himself in Los Angeles.

Ed Pritchard
http://www.AntiqueFishingReels.com
ORCA Charter Member "First Paid Member"
Honorary Life Member

"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

thanks you ed for all the info
Alan Baracco
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 1:52 pm
Location: Shingle Springs CA

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Alan Baracco »

Folks,

The 5 US Trademarks held by Tycoon Tackle, all registered i n 1938.

Thanks to Ed for such a treatise.








Alan Baracco
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 1:52 pm
Location: Shingle Springs CA

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Alan Baracco »

Folks,

Might as well throw in the Coxe/Bronson Trademark. It wasn't registered until Feb. of 1950 but claimed first use on August 1, 1935.

Alan

User avatar
Dan Z
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Location: DEL MAR, CA & THAILAND
Contact:

Re: PIX OF "STEVENS" REEL AT ORCA, OR ANY OTHER STEVENS REELS?

Post by Dan Z »

Thanks for the extra info- good stuff
Post Reply