ORCA Convention

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:14 am

Greetings everyone from Fife Washington.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Mt. Rainier is spectacular in the background. There was a good turnout of members from the NW, but also flying in were reel people from Texas, NY, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, California and probably others that I missed. There were lots of reels to be bought - one member reported that he is up over 60 purchases already, and that was only in 8 hours.

We are supposed to go fishing today, if desired, but things are a bit disorganized at the minute. Then later today there are seminars about reels and collecting, and our annual dinner.

Wish you were here,

Phil

Shimanoman · Post by **Shimanoman** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:49 am

Hi, Reel Geezer; Wish I were too! Regards- Shimanoman

Post by **john elder** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:38 am

Phil: Let us poor saps at our work desks live vicariously thru you! Show us some pics, pleeeez!
john

Ron Mc · Post by **Ron Mc** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 12:17 pm

I want pictures of the Ugly Reel Toss.

Harvey · Post by **Harvey** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:34 pm

Phil,
Quit rubbin' it in! The next best thing would be to post pictures as others have suggested. It sure would be nice to be there in person but a proxie report will have to do. Please let others know that there are others holding down the fort at home and wish everyone out there the best of luck in finding something of interest.
Harvey

Post by **Brian F.** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:24 pm

Aloha Guys,
Just got back from the antique tackle fishing tournament and had a great time fishing with seasoned bass fisherman Clay Hood. Not much fish but a completely different experience for me: beautiful scenery on American Lake, a bald eagle soaring overhead, light winds, nice and warm and just a comfortable trip. Not sure what kind of fish won the total weight but most we talked to were catching a few "rock bass" and small trout.

Room trading's been fun - very nice to meet everyone whom up until now I've only had contact with thru email and this site.

John E: One of the guys set out a little trap for me. He had a nice Pfl. Avalon settin' there in his room which I just couldn't pass up. Of course it has the required chunk missing from the laminated plate!

Sorry I don't have any pictures. Very much a learning experience (ie. learning about what I forgot to bring - cable to hook up camera to the laptop, the chinese reel for Jim Schottenham, and fishing gear!)

Just glad to have made one of these Conventions!

Post by **john elder** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 5:23 pm

So, is it that same "chunk" that was missing from yours and from Ron's? that's gotta be from hitting the deck from 5 ft up! I've just finished patching that other Montegue "blessing" from the auction you put me on awhile back...watch for handles!

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:55 am

Sorry that I haven't posted any photos yet, but I just don't have the time. I will do so after I return to Idaho. I fished with Bill Land, and I have a great photo of his rock bass.

We had some very interesting Seminars yesterday after the fishing contest, with noted salmon fisherman, historian, and collector Jim Lone giving us a history of salmon fishing techniques and tackle; yours truly discussing pivoting spinning reels; and our web site guru Paul Mortenson leading the discussion on how to search on eBay and other sites. It was very informative.

We dined in style for our annual club dinner with waiters in classy tux-like uniforms. Some of our members even put on their best T shirts for the affair. It was announced that next years Convention will be in the Houston Texas area, so you better start planning now so as not to miss a great time.

There was lots of room trading in the evening, with many wonderful reels to look at. Now I've got to go warm up my geezery arm to show these youngsters how to throw an ugly reel.

Harvey · Post by **Harvey** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:03 am

Keep up the good work! If Roger has T-Shirts for the
2004 show, someone get me a SMALL and I will gladly repay you for it and shipping. I WILL be in Houston whether you want me or not!
Thanks Phil for all you do for us.
harvey

mortepa · Post by **mortepa** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:38 pm

Hey everyone,
I have a lot of pictures from the whole convention, with exception of the fishing tournament. I went to the Seattle aquarium with my girl instead.

I have about 70 photos so far, but have to wait until I get home before I load them up. It takes for ever on this sloooow notebook I am using. Today Tom Harwood spoke about all the interesting local reels that he knows of. Very interesting! Yes, I snapped a few pics of the neater-looking one's. Also, Dick Streeter did a bit of comic relief with his oddities. Dick had us all laughing! I had the second best salmon meal ever, only mom's salmon and stuffing is better. Tom and crew grilled up some great salmon. I mean this was some serious good eating! About now all the tables are setup and ready to go for tomorrow. I'm hoping for a few nice Pflueger's to walk in tomorrow for the auction.

Hey Harvey, I hope to see you next year! I miss the folks that were at Dowagiac last year that couldn't make it this time. I hope to see you all next year too. On the bright side, a ton of Northeast folks showed up, along with new members joining too.

I will get those photos up as soon as I can too...
- Paul

mortepa · Post by **mortepa** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:06 pm

This year's reel toss winner!
Phil White won today's reel toss in a very flashy way...more to come on that!

Stu himself took a youthful form in tossing it like he was at a highschool track meet.

More to come. I just had to share these!

- Paul

Harvey · Post by **Harvey** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 7:34 am

Paul,
Great Pictures BUT! We wanted pictures of the Ugly Reel Toss, not the Ugly Reel TOSSER!

H

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:17 am

Careful there Harvey.

We had no T shirts this year, but did have a very nice freeby for all who showed up. I will have a gift for you in the mail shortly after we get home. (We will actually arrive back to our Idaho home around midnight tonight) but I'll get something in the mail for you on Monday.

Geezerdom reigns! No backlashes in the casting contest.

Reel Geezer · Post by **Reel Geezer** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:47 pm

Since Paul did not get any photos of the fishing contest, I thought I should post a couple up here. Most of my photos will appear in the next issue of The Reel News. This photo shows my fishing partner, Bill Land of Colorado, with a typical Colorado size fish. With the unique rules for this year's event, this monster counted. In the background you will note Jim Madden at the oars, and Allan Baracco manning the seine they pulled out of their tackle box. Needless to say they won the tournament. Not a single fish of theirs had a hook mark in it. American Lake was very picturesque as you can see. Mt. Rainier hovered to the east, but isn't in this photo.

This next photo shows Dick Streater with his string of fish. He was so proud of it that he brought it back to the park (also very nice, as you can see) the next day to show off to the crowd. I'm not sure where he found all those salt water species that he landed. I'm also not sure why they look like road kill.

Post by **Brian F.** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:00 am

Some of the very few photos that I took at the National:

Jim Weigner and Paul Mortenson with some "orphans" from the "Orphan Reel Collection" section of Tom Harwood's wierd reel display. The one Paul is holding looks like it was made up of two pie tins, a door knob and a wood dowel.
A few of the reels that I came home with: a Pflueger Avalon, Meisselbach Neptune, tiny Pennell surf reel, and something I've always wanted, a Meek Horton #3. Thank you to Arne, Dave E., Stu, and Henry!Those that weren't able to attend missed a display of one of the most bizzare collection of reels likely ever assembled by Tom Harwood, our National host. He certainly lived up to the name "Wierd Reel Collector" (other members mentioned to me they were not sure which way that name was to be taken).Hiding in Tom's "Orphan Reel Collection" was one of Laurie Bingham's Hypnarowski reels. Tom asked Jim Schottenham and I to go over and pay a visit with the orphans and Jim recognized it right away. Needless to say, the Hypnarowski felt much like the newly adopted orphan that now deserved a place among the other reels that "had a place" (and maybe a label). Tom, I will not accept responsibility for Laurie's actions once she sees this and begins to reunite the Hypnarowski orphan with it's sibblings!Thank you to Tom, Andy Foster, Roger Schulz, Harvey Musselman, Phil and everyone else that helped to make it such a great National experience for me! Most of all, thanks to all the members that I got to meet and for the warm welcome. It was a tiring trip to and from but well worth all the effort and I'm very glad I made it. Aloha and Mahalo!

Jim Madden · Post by **Jim Madden** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 8:28 pm

Now that I'm over my jet lag, I can finally reflect on the Nationals a bit. Even though I stumbled in at 3:00 AM Wednesday (my time), Alan Baracco was good enough to wake up and put up with my reel rantings for an hour or two over a couple of brews. The accomodations were great and even my tardiness at the room trading didn't keep me from adding a few reels. Honestly, though, it was the good friends that made it memorable. To Alan, Robyn, Phil, Dwight, Arne, Jim S, Jerry, Harvey M, Paul, Brain, Tom, Bill, Clay, Andy and so many others who were willing to share their knowledge and experience, you have my thanks for the memories. The well-represented casting contest (although we had to break the lock to the park), the fishing on beautiful American lake (although Phil has sour grapes because he was outfished by a couple of out-of-staters), and Tom's special recipe salmon (although he had to borrow the bastings from Alan's stash) all contibuted to the enjoyment. The Northwest seminars were awesome, and it was great to see the locals share the reel history of their area. Most of it was entirely new to me. The show as always was a bit anti-climactic, but there were some browsers from the public and some good reels and lures came off the street. I got an uncataloged Heddon Chugger and a special order Creek Chub Darter in an auction that had some beautiful bamboo rods as well as reels and lures. Since Dwight, Jim S, and I were stuck along with me till Sunday, we rented a car and had drinks at the top of the needle before taking a quick look at Pike's Market. It seemed like we were looking Mount Rainier eye to eye. I just wish the show would have been better represented by the heartland and the East. It was worth the travel hassles, believe me. Thanks go to Tom and his crew for the planning and to God for the mountain and eagles. Bring on Houston! Jim Madden

ORCA Convention

ORCA Convention

ORCA Convention

Having a good time

Day two coming up

Fishing Contest

National

The Great Northwest