Langley Shorty Casting Reel

This Vintage Langley Shorty Casting Reel in Correct Box with correct Papers & Wrench is a great complete combo. This Circa late 1950’s antique reel is a Model 505, and features Langleys, anti-inertia spool. This bait caster has a Narrow Spool and is a level wind bait-caster in a shell shaped housing. This version is in the tough to find aluminum finish as most will agree the majority are found in a black finish. The reel comes in it’s nice condition correctly marked box for the “Shorty. Very nice combo with smooth level retrieving and no mechanical issues.

We have a nice Langley Shorty Combo in on Consignment, Click below to view.

Langley Shorty Reel in Box

From ORCA: LANGLEY CORP (San Diego, California) The Langley Corporation was incorporated in 1939 to make dental equipment. The outbreak of WW II transformed the company into an aircraft parts manufacturer under the guidance of Henry Mandolf., a renowned aircraft designer and inventor. When WWII ended, Mandolf transformed the company into a national producer of fishing equipment with reels made of lightweight aluminum. Langley’s line of fishing tackle produced between 1946 and 1962 grew to 15 models of bait casting reels, 10 models of fly reels, 9 models of spinning reels, 5 models of spin casting reels, 59 models of fishing rods, a couple of lures and the famous De Liar scale. Improvements were always being made in each line as time went on, providing collectors numerous versions of Langley products to collect.

Langley’s flagship baitcasting reel, the Streamlite, weighed just 5 ounces and incorporated a perforated spool arbor to reduce backlashes. Other early reels included the narrow spool Lurecast and the freespool Target for tournament casters. All of these reels were made of anodized aluminum and became very popular. They had many features invented and patented by Henry Mandolf, a master at economizing in the production process. The Gearbox Control reels, introduced in 1948, used a Mandolf invention to allow the gears to be cleaned and lubricated without completely disassembling the reel.

After the Korean War, Langley introduced a very successful line of spinning reels, from ultralites to a large surf-casting model, the Spinator. New management took the company more and more into aircraft and aerospace work, with the tackle business waning in popularity. In fact, in 1962 Zebco Corporation, then a division of Brunswick Corp. purchased the tackle part of Langley Corp. specifically to produce Langley’s line of spinning reels, which they did into the early 1970s.

There is something for every collector in the fishing tackle Langley produced, some are common and some are quite rare, but all are colorful and built with precision.