Mr C Evans in 1946 was granted Patent 608-454 for his stationary spool reel. These light alloy and Bakelite reels are quite scarce and come in left and right hand wind in two slightly variant forms. Made by the Esher Manufacturing Company Ltd, 87 Snow Hill, Birmingham. I know this because it is embossed on […]
In the vintage tackle collecting game we see many side casting reels. Pre-1900, no spinning reels as we know them today existed, so drum reels were the order of the day. Casting with a drum-type reel can be a nightmare. I know this having been hit on the forehead with a high speed returning lead […]
In celebration of Prince Charles 70th birthday we thought we should showcase our own Monarch. This one is from the Ken P Morritt stable of die cast alloy reels. Surely every young angler in the UK owned one of the Intrepid range. This one from the early 1960s cost approx. 19 shillings. Built in the Intrepid […]
If there was ever a truly mad invention in the fishing reel game this is it. Mr J.G.A Kitchen designed a belt driven, free spool reel with a level wind device, getting his Patent application granted on January 30th1920. Patent 163,088 applies. In brief, it took two full pages to describe its function and form. […]
One of the most unusual brass reels for any collector is the Fishing Gazette Winch. It was designed by R B Marston, the editor of the Fishing Gazette magazine (est. 1877), an angler and serial tackle inventor. Marston was skilled in both game and coarse angling, inventing a Patent fly in 1899 with a celluloid […]
Can it be done? Yes! Vintage fishing reels can sell for hundreds or even thousands of pounds, but can you collect on a budget? A small budget? A really small budget? Yes! It’s a popular misconception that you need deep pockets to collect. The image here shows a collection of vintage reels dating from the 1920s […]
Hardy were experts in innovation, so when the customer who bought the Hardy Perfect reel asked for additional braking control they got it, in the form of a brass frame brake system. Hardy Auxiliary brakes were factory added to all types of drum reels, fly, spin, trolling and big game patterns. The one here is […]
This Hardy St George salmon reel is a low production reel dating from c. 1920-24. Available in ‘take it or leave it’ 4-1/4” diameter only. Somewhere between approximately only 80 – 100+ reels were produced in two patterns plus a variant or two along the way. The reel was priced around 15% more expensive than […]
No the Milward Brownie is not edible, it’s Mr S Brown’s Patent wood drum reel that started life in 1921 under Patent No 183277. An interesting little reel! It was side-mounted on the rod, perhaps copied from the USA pattern reels including Pflueger and Southbend, this style remained popular through the 1920-40’s period finally dying […]
One of the most elusive of all the threadline collectors reels is the Ainsco of Leeds reciprocating cam fishing reel. Patented in 1932 by J. Hindle of Leeds on Patent No 389622, it followed in the Yorkshire vain of Chippindale, Illingworth and other early spinning reel designs. The patent applies to a cam that operates […]