Antique Fishing Reels 2nd Edition by Steve Vernon 

Do you have any reels made by William Rodgers? Edwin Judge? Paul Berner? Do you have any Alt reels (not something concocted by politicians in Washington, D.C.) Any reels made by the Anchor Fishing Reel Company? Yankee Fishing Reel Company? Spring Reel Company? All of the above were making reels in the U.S. before 1920, some for decades, and odds are that you’ve never heard of most of them. Antique Fishing Reels introduces these and other makers, some of whom probably made some of those “mystery” reels in your collection. Over a hundred early northeastern makers are included in the book.

But the book is more than a list of reelmakers. As the revised edition of an important collectors’ reference book published in 1985, it includes more than twice as many U.S. reel patents as the first edition as it traces the development of various reel features. It provides biographical information on almost all of the inventors, who came from all walks of life. The inventors responsible for most of the major advances in reel design during the 19th century were “amateurs”—they didn’t earn their livelihoods designing fishing tackle. Over 1000 illustrations will help you identify and date some of your acquisitions and will help to explain how these old gadgets worked. This encyclopedic, hard-cover, 8.5″ x 11″ book is the most comprehensive reference available on old American reels.

The book is available from the store of the Old Reel Collectors Association, Inc. (ORCA):

To Order Online Visit: Antique Fishing Reels 2nd Edition ORCA Store

Mail: ORCA Store, 160 Shoreline Walk, Alpharetta, GA 30022-7638

Phone: 770-521-1877

Price: $120 + $4.50 U.S. postage via media mail

ORCA, a non-profit educational corporation, receives a portion of the proceeds.