Heddon PAL reels

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leland99
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Heddon PAL reels

Post by leland99 »

I am thrilled to add these two Heddon Pal reels to my collection. One is a custom P41L Lightweight Special with tournament spool and custom ivory colored plastic side plates. The second is a Dowagiac P61. Many thanks to fine gentlemen John Savu and Rich Dickman for allowing me to add these to my collection. thanks, Bryce





Bryce Tawney
The Reel Packrat

Packing these reels into my nest hole: Talbot, Milam, Meek, Horton, Heddon, Wm Shakespeare Jr, and small diameter skeleton fly reels!
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john elder
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by john elder »

Fantastic! Thanks for posting!
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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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RonG
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by RonG »

I saw the reels at the Nationals show and was impressed with their designs. I had not seen these versions before.
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John Savu
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by John Savu »

You are very welcome ! Enjoy them. John
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Mike N
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by Mike N »

The custom side plates are the best. A few reel makers tried to copy Heddon for aesthetics but Heddon did it best. Great reels.

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wrong99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by wrong99 »

Are they both prototypes? Never heard of a P-61.
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leland99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by leland99 »

I don't know the background of the P61. I plan to try to find out more about the custom P41L, but it appears to be primarily P41L hardware components and tournament spool with custom made plastic (ivory color) side plates. There are no markings on either plastic side plate. I welcome comments and additional information about either of these two reels. Thanks, Bryce
Bryce Tawney
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Packing these reels into my nest hole: Talbot, Milam, Meek, Horton, Heddon, Wm Shakespeare Jr, and small diameter skeleton fly reels!
wrong99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by wrong99 »

Might want to contact Joan at the Heddon Museum to see if she has any info on the P-61. I'm guessing a prototype, as it obviously never went into production.
Mark
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leland99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by leland99 »

I inquired with the Heddon Museum and Joan responded that they have no cataloged record of a P61. Bryce
Bryce Tawney
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Packing these reels into my nest hole: Talbot, Milam, Meek, Horton, Heddon, Wm Shakespeare Jr, and small diameter skeleton fly reels!
wrong99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by wrong99 »

Certainly a rare prototype, I would think. What a find! The jury is still out on who made the cataloged P-51 for Heddon, so any info on this prototype should prove very difficult to find. Obviously produced by the same folks who supplied the P-51.
Mark
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kyreels
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by kyreels »

Neat P41L. First picture I have seen actually. Would love to add an example to my tournament collection. If there is an article or info on the P41L, please share. It is mentioned in all the P41 inserts, but don't think I have seen any other references.
Matt Wickham
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leland99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by leland99 »

kyreels wrote:Neat P41L. First picture I have seen actually. Would love to add an example to my tournament collection. If there is an article or info on the P41L, please share. It is mentioned in all the P41 inserts, but don't think I have seen any other references.
Matt,
Check out this thread from 2009 viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8784&hilit=p41L or search for it under Heddon Pal Reel made by Bronson.

Here are photos of my P41L (lightweight) and P41NL (narrow lightweight) w/box:



thanks, Bryce
Bryce Tawney
The Reel Packrat

Packing these reels into my nest hole: Talbot, Milam, Meek, Horton, Heddon, Wm Shakespeare Jr, and small diameter skeleton fly reels!
wrong99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by wrong99 »

There's a ton of info on these reels on our Bronson website (under Bronson Trade reels), including early prototypes and all the different varieties.
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Bill Sonnett
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by Bill Sonnett »

On the posted photo of the P41L. I have never seen this reel with the plastic arbor. All I have seen have a balsa arbor and gold anodized frame and levelwind hood. It is possible that this is a P41 with replaced gold anodized handle and outside ring. There were a bunch of these two parts show up at an NFLCC National about 20+ years ago that found their way onto P41's. An easy way to confirm that it actually is a P41L is to inspect the gears as they are different in the P41L. Could be that it is the last of the production and gold anodized trim parts had run out.
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
wrong99
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Re: Heddon PAL reels

Post by wrong99 »

+1 what Bill said.
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