Airex Adventures

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:56 am

A few shots of out trip last week to the Coosa River near Montgomery, Alabama.

Fish were caught using the either an itty-bitty Meisselbach 373 on a modern 6-6 graphite St. Croix Imperial rod, or a vintage glass 7-6 Beans Pack Rod (LL Bean via Wright-McGill) and a vintage Martin 65 reel. (I "lied"by accident in a previous post not recalling I'd used the Meis on the St Croix, not the Martin reel).

Light tackle + decent fish = fun on the 4th! All fish were catch & release excepting some unfortunate baitfish sacrificed to the cats, and a couple of big bulls filleted by my brother-in-law.

PS: I'm the old guy with the bullhead cats- I cropped out my gray hair (except the chin whiskers)- but kept my gut covered- thanks for the photo tips Bulldog and Brian! My daughter's sweetie is the young fellow with the carp, he's quite the natural fisherman.

Many yellow sunfish and bream types kept the youngest kids- and the oldsters, too- thrilled with fishing all week long.

Paul M · Post by **Paul M** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:08 am

Your pictures remind me that I love catching sunfish on a flyrod. I recall one day having a riot using a small deerhair frog. A vintage fly reel would have added to the fun, I am sure.

PM

Ron Mc · Post by **Ron Mc** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:27 am

fun fishing.
Glad the reel worked out for you.

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:29 pm

It's been said a million times before but, ounce for ounce, sunfish and their brethren are TOO much fun on light tackle.

And to Ron Mc: You bet!

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:41 pm

Fish were caught using the either an itty-bitty Meisselbach 373

I don't want to get picky, and I haven't quite said this a million times, but this is a reel collector site. That reel is not a Meisselbach - it is an Airex. It was made by Airex at least 15 years after A. F. Meisselbach Mfg. Corp was out of the reel business.

When I visited General Industries (the owners of Meisselbach) I asked them about the use of the name Meisselbach by Airex, and they didn't even know the reel existed. They never gave Airex permission to use the name Meisselbach. At that time (in the 1990s) it didn't matter to them because Airex was no longer in business, and GI was no longer making Meisselbach reels. The reel is not included in any of my Meisselbach books because it is not a Meisselbach reel.

While I'm on the subject, and for those of you who have not read any of my books or articles on the subject, Meisselbach-Catucci reels are also not Meisselbach reels. They were two separate corporations in different manufacturing facilities. In fact M-C did not start in the reel business until the Newark, NJ Meisselbach factory was closed and reel manufacturing moved to Elyria, Ohio.

Nice fish, and it looks like lots of fun.

Ron Mc · Post by **Ron Mc** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:56 pm

Hi Phil, yes, we had the discussion on fiberglassflyrodders and I linked to the discussion we had here before.
thanks,
Ron Mc

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:53 pm

I'm well aware of the name theft by Airex and posted to that discussion recently on the other forum.

Airex reels were sold by the many thousands for a number of years with the moniker "Meisselbach" on them. Call it an "Airex reel" or an "Ablette 373" or "that fake Meisselbach made by the model train company folks," it's fine with me.

Because of the reel's inscription and it's very wide circulation I'll call mine a Meisselbach for now, having absolutely no confusion whatsoever about the name's origins or the reel's relative value...

Thanks for posting!

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:35 am

I'll call mine a Meisselbach for now, having absolutely no confusion whatsoever about the name's origins or the reel's relative value...

I assumed you knew the proper identification, but there are probably others reading your post who do not know the history of the Ablette. I have probably received 50 emails over the years as to why this reel is not in my Meisselbach books because people on message boards and in eBay sales identify the reel as a Meisselbach, and not as an Airex.

I don't care what you call it on the fly fishing website - call it a duck if you want, but this is a reel collectors website. We are not supposed to add to the confusion, we are supposed to be the final word on reels.

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:12 am

Point taken, thanks.

I understand and appreciate the educative value of this forum. But please- the name Meisselbach is a permanent identifier on these particular Airex models and will, for better or for worse, always be used in some association with them.

I used it as an identifier myself- owning four Airexes marked "Meisselbach" and no other Airex reels. I hope this discussion has furthered the distinction and I appreciate your comments.

PS- I guess I could have called the topic "Airex Antics" but it didn't have the alliterative quality that my topic heading did

Post by **Brian F.** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:43 pm

I have moved this post to the Fish Tales forum as it seems to fit in better here.

Jerry J in OK · Post by **Jerry J in OK** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:00 pm

It don't say Pflueger or 4 Brothers so whatever the reel is called is fine with me but I DID learn something and for that I am grateful...That is one of the main reasons I read this forum and belong to ORCA------------THE EDUCATION.

Thanks Phil and everyone!

Jerry

Paul M · Post by **Paul M** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:21 pm

All you folks amaze me with your knowledge of the details. Thanks!

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:26 pm

Thanks Much Brian- I'm learning!

Ron Mc · Post by **Ron Mc** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:56 am

so now we have Brian railroading the Airex/Lionel thread... jester

middlemac · Post by **middlemac** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:37 pm

After a bit of consideration I vote to rename this thread "Airex Adventures." If a moderator is on board with that, I'm happy to oblige! I appreciate everything I'm learning as we go along,

Post by **Brian F.** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:09 pm

You should be able to do that at anytime by editing the thread title in your original post.

Airex Adventures

Airex Adventures

Sunfish= fun