Loving all things Fin-Nor and having been immersed in the Florida Keys fishing scene back in the day I decided to try and pick up a few "Wedding Cake" fly reels that belonged to some of the Key's fishing legends that I have met along the way. The Fin-Nor "Wedding Cake" fly reel was the first fly reel made specifically to meet the needs of the salt water anglers targeting large tarpon and other salt water species found in South Florida and the Keys. Legendary men and the reels they used, here are a few reels that I believe fit that profile.
Known as Mr. Tarpon, Stu Apte, has caught more tarpon than any man living or otherwise. He has a tarpon taming style all his own and it is a beautiful thing to behold. Stu held several Tarpon world records on fly as well as records for other species of fish earning him a spot in the IGFA Hall of Fame. Stu was having a garage sale on Plantation Key back in the mid 80s and he invited me into his home to talk tackle. I have never seen so much quality tackle, old and new, in one house, we became instant friends.
Lefty Kerh was salt water fishing's greatest ambassador and is arguably the most famous salt water fly-fisherman who ever cast a fly. I met Lefty at a casting exhibition down on Plantation Key in the mid 1980s. Lefty was hitting floating corks with flies from about 50 feet away. After nailing 6 straight he took his rod apart and cast with just the tip hitting 6 for 6. Next he grabbed just the fly line and repeated the feat, you could hear a pin drop. While Lefty lived in Homestead his home was broken into and most of his tackle stolen. After this incident Lefty used a Dremel tool to engrave his signature into every reel he owned regardless of whether it had a name tag or not. No one could cast a fly like Lefty and no one took more time to help fellow anglers like myself along the road, his patience was infinite. Lefty is in the IGFA Hall of Fame and is considered a National Treasure among fly fishermen.
Flip Pallot was everyone's first choice as a flats guide back in the day. Flip hosted the first show on salt water fly fishing, The Salt Water Angler and then went on to host his famous TV show Walker Cay Chronicles. Flip also co-founded Hell's Bay Boatworks, a company that prides itself on making the highest quality cutting edge flats fishing skiffs. Flip is considered the complete outdoors-man and earned his place in the IGFA Hall of Fame fishing the Keys and the Everglades. I met Flip back in 1981 at his cool but short-lived fly fishing outfitters shop, Wind River Rendezvous, in a southern suburb of Miami.
Ted Williams fished Islamorada for many years and after retiring from baseball the "Splendid Splinter" bought a a house on the bay side of Upper Matacumbe Key. When I first started my business down in the Keys in the pre-computer era Ted’s personal secretary, Stacia Gerow, did some typing for me when I needed to send a formal letter. It was through Stacia I first met Ted ... I could tell a story or two. If you asked anyone who fished with him, guide or otherwise, who had the most beautiful cast they ever saw they would almost to a man say it was Ted. A natural athlete with 20/10 vision he could see fish that no one else could see and then he would cast a fly to the perfect spot every time. Ted worked on fly fishing as hard as he worked on baseball and it was this dedication to the sport that earned him his spot in the IGFA Hall of Fame.
ONE FOR THE ROAD -
The reel that started it all, the very first "Wedding Cake" fly reel. Gar Wood Jr. was friends with Charlie Dunn who owned Fin-Nor Reels which was part of Southern Tackle back in the early 1960s. Wood Jr. was tired of watching Dunn's Pflueger Medalist fly reels explode under the pressure of fighting a big tarpon. Wood Jr., a talented machinist, built this reel and gave it to Dunn as a gift in 1962. Dunn is pictured using the reel to catch a nice blackfin tuna in 1962, five years before the Wedding Cake" fly reel went into production in 1967. I acquired the reel from Charlie Dunn's daughter.
