Ocean City fly reels

[Mike Love]

Hi Im new ! Just getting back into collecting after 26 years off ! Gave my collection to Centennial Classic Sales 256 Nashua Court Grand Junction Colorado 81503 to sale for me back in the 90s . Good people ! He Had a Quarterly Newsletter for classic Tackle Collectors and Fly Fishermen . Called (THE CLASSIC CHRONICLE ) Thats where he sold my stuff ! Some of you might have bought some of it ? All the collection that did not sale i got back Box all it up Bought a new house move ! Can work on my old cars any more ! So i got into one of the old boxs this year ! Man the BUG bite me ! Anyway just to start out i want to put a Ocean City Fly reel Collection to gether ! From the start of Ocean City Fly reels 1924 ? Wanita To Just before the war a1942 ? Have some But need a lot more ! Plus i think it might be a lot easer on my pockit ? Cant go to flea market ' yard sales ' eastate sales for the same reason i cant work on my old cars ! So let me know of site other than EBAY 'ESTY . I can find vintage Reels ! And if YOU have any for sale ! Man this has given me new life ! Love It ! Think Good Thoughts ! Dont feed the Negative ! Be Happy ! Straight Ahead ! Mike

[Jason]

That shoud keep you busy. Im not sure how many different models they made and then they made a bunch or reels for other companies. Keep us posted on how it goes. I'll look and see if I have any that you might need.

Check out theantiqueangler.com I see a couple on there now.

[Mike Love]

Thanks Jason ! I will check out that site ! Straight Ahead ! Mike

[kyreels]

Love the passion. Good luck on your collection. It takes some time to build a good collection, but it is all fun along the way. We will keep an eye out also.

[Mike Love]

Thanks Matt ! Think Good Thoughts ! Dont Feed the Negative ! Straight Ahead ! Mike

[Mike Love]

That shoud keep you busy. Im not sure how many different models they made and then they made a bunch or reels for other companies. Keep us posted on how it goes. I'll look and see if I have any that you might need.

Check out theantiqueangler.com I see a couple on there now.

Thanks Jason on the site tip ! Got a RARE Ocean City Fly Reel 1920s? From David ! Mike

[Jason]

I thought you would like that.

[Jjosefso]

I’ve been looking for a early caliper check 1937-1939 OC Plymouth 76 with agate line guard for about 3 years now. I finally scored a 77 in the X-pert Deluxe version on Etsy. So, try Etsy.com (too bad the search function is awful).

If you have an extra agate 76 lying around, I have a some other Ocean City reels to trade and cash lying around.

I hate the competition, but it’s better to see someone else who shares my interest!

Jim

[Mike Love]

Thanks Jiosefso I Just started dont have much . But i did get two Sturdibilt Wanita from Etsy ! Im glade im not the only fool ! out there Ha Ha ! A lot of the early Ocean City fly reels are unmarked ! But i found if you take them a part in side there is a mark ! And it is the same mark on all the Ocean City fly reels ! That i have found Mark or Unmark ! Right Now dont have anything for you for trade . But if you have some reels for sale let me know ! Think Good Thoughts ! Dont Feed The Negative ! Straight Ahead Mike

[Mike Love]

Hi Jim Thanks for letting me know that you might help me ! Tryed to get in touch with you but didnt work ? Im new to the site so trying to fine my way ! But if you have some reels for sale let me know ! Or anyone else ! Thanks Straight Ahead ! Mike

[Jjosefso]

I just put together a big post on Ocean City Fly Reels, focusing on the Plymouth, on the Classic Fly Rod Forum:

http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/vie ... p?t=150424

Actually, I bet I could cut and paste that post here…

[Jjosefso]

My first vintage fly reel was an Ocean City Plymouth #77. It was in what might have been my first post to the Classic Fly Rod Forum in 2008:

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/ef41 ... 1d6e9.pjpg

Later my taste moved to earlier American reels, especially the Heddon Imperial 125, which made me search for an agate one. However, as 125A reels soared past $300, I began to search for other American reels with agate line guards. For instance, I found a Shakespeare Russell 1892 from about 1930. And then I found this page that showed that the first version of the Ocean City Plymouth #77 looked very different and had an agate line guard: https://wanderswithtrout.wordpress.com/ ... -fly-reel/

My interest was piqued.

That was about 3 years ago, and since then, I’ve been searching for my own agate line guard Ocean City #77. That took the last 3 years, and this is my report on what I’ve learned about the evolution of Ocean City Reels, especially the Plymouth.

First, here are my Plymouth #77 and #76 with agate line guards, branded as the X-pert (sold by Sears). (I’d still like to find a mintyish version of the #76 and #77 with the Ocean City badge. You might note that it looks exactly like the X-pert, except it usually has the amber grasp and an arbor screw without the slot. PM me if you’d like to part with yours.)







Here, you can see that it was called the X-Pert De Luxe, and the 3” (#76) version sold for $2.69. The 3.5” (#77) sold for $3.29. That’s a bargain, since Ocean City sold them for $4.50 and $5.00.



This reel was introduced by Ocean City in 1937.



“Zephaloy” is the same aluminum Ocean City had been using for years, and the Plymouth is just a Viscoy Creek with an agate rather than chromium line guard, just as the Brandy Brook is the Viscoy Creek without the line guard. Anyone could see this from the 1937 catalog:



Ocean City had been making them since 1934:



Ocean City continued to make the Plymouth #77 and 76 from 1937 to 1940 (but no fly reels appear in the 1938 catalog we have):




Here are my X-perts are again, along with a minty Ocean City Viscoy Creek and an X-pert-branded Viscoy Creek:





Then, in 1941, Ocean City redesigned their line of fly reels, moving from the caliper check to “The New Silent Drag Fly Reels”. The redesign included the Plymouth. In addition to the silent drag, the 1941, sadly, lacks the agate line guard. This version of the Plymouth doesn’t appear in Wanders with Trout’s “Evolution of the Pre-War Ocean City Fly Reel”. I found one early on in my fruitless search for an agate version. It was an absolutely terrible picture on eBay, but I bought it hoping it was the elusive agate #77. When it turned up, a version I hadn’t heard of, I put more energy into the deep dive you see documented here. I have never come across another. Here it is:





And here it is in the 1941 catalog, along with the page for the Viscoy Creek and the Brandy Brook:





As an aside, here’s an example of that Coulee Salmon reel pictured in the catalog with the Plymouth, which is owned by my buddy Doug. I haven’t seen another:



Here are ads that illustrate the changes so far:

1938 (which is evidence that Ocean CIty made fly reels despire their absence from the catalog that year)




1940




1941



Then, in 1942, Ocean City bought Vom Hofe, and while the Plymouth is mentioned as an Ocean City fly reel model on the first page, it doesn’t appear in the catalog along with the Viscoy Creek and the Brandy Brook. Perhaps Ocean City realized that it was silly to market the Plymouth as a their premier fly reel when, first, its only difference from the Viscoy Creek was a (dubiously) adjustable drag, and second, when they were marketing a truly premium fly reel in several models of the Vom Hofe.







World War II put an end to Ocean CIty’s pretensions with Vom Hofe. They wouldn’t put out another catalog until 1948 (when Ocean City bought Montague).



They did, however, advertise the Viscoy Creek again starting in 1945.




And 1946



These Viscoy Creek reels are, with the exception of the Wanita, the pre-war reels most frequently seen today. Perhaps they were just more popular in 1941 and 1942. Or, perhaps Ocean City had enough pre-war production to continue marketing them, and maybe that was the first reel they started making as soon as the war ended. Even though the badge only says “Viscoy”, we know it was still the “Viscoy Creek” because that’s how it appears in the above ads, the 1941 and 1942 catalog copy, and this boxed version in my collection (pictured with the caliper check version [again, circa 1934-1940] for comparison):



That brings us up to the redesign of the Plymouth that first appears in this ad from 1947. It has the silent check of the pre-war Plymouth but a closed (non-ported) face, and it appears in red and blue in addition to green:



And 1948



Here it is in the first post-war catalogs in 1948 and 1949:




I’m not a big fan of this model, so I only have this rather beaten example of the #76:





Then, in 1950, Ocean City redesigned the Plymouth again, the model we saw at the beginning of our story. It would be basically unchanged from 1950 to at least 1970. This includes the era after Ocean City was acquired by True Temper in 1958. Sometime around 1966, the Plymouth appears in black rather than the usual tan as the #76D and #77D.

1950 Catalog




1958 True Temper/ Ocean City Catalog cover



1963 True Temper/ Ocean CIty catalog



1967 Tru Temper catalog




1970 Tru Temper catalog






All of this is summarized, along with other info I’ve pulled together from catalogs available on ORCA and this page on ORCA:
https://www.orcaonline.org/ocean-city-f ... ing-reels/

in the following tables:







Please add your corrections to my history and pictures of your own Ocean City fly reels to this thread!!!

[Farace]

Please add your corrections to my history and pictures of your own Ocean City fly reels to this thread!!!

Jim, I read your post with interest. I have some questions.

1) I have the following Model 35:




The button on the back engages the click. When the click is off, the spool still doesn’t freewheel. Is this what is referred to in the catalog as “Duo Drag” (and therefore this reel can be dated between 1950 and 1956)?

2) In your chart, the ’48-’49 model 35 is listed as 60 yard capacity. The ’49 catalog says the reel is 25 yards capacity. I assume this is an error in the catalog?

3) In your chart, both models 35 and 36 for ’50-’56 are listed as 100 yards capacity. Should model 35 be listed in the chart at 60 yards?

4) Finally, in the 1950 through 1970 catalogs, the model 76 reel looks surprisingly similar to the made-in-Japan Taico 420 I picked up in an antique shop yesterday, especially in the 1967 catalog image. Was there any connection between the companies, or did Taico just blatantly copy the look of the model 76? Here is the Taico for comparison:




Thanks!