Ocean City Big Game Reels

Its only fitting to start off the Big Game reel section with the “Orlando”, Ocean City’s 1st big game reel. The first reel in the pictures below has the correct handle knob, the 2nd reel shown has a replaced handle grasp that is an orange Penn knob replacement.  The ad is from a 1932 Ocean City catalog. This is a well built sturdy reel.
Reel pictures are courtesy of Bud Chaddock and John Elder.

This Orlando – with the only known box that we are aware of , sold on eBay June of 2014 , for $855.00. A nice addition to someones collection. Pics below.

 The next Big Game reel to come along was the Long Key. Here is the model No 110 and its a 450 YD reel. The ad is from 1935. The Long Key also came in 2 larger sizes, 500 and 600 Yds.

The Long Key No 115 is a 500YD reel. The reel shown below is with its original scarce picture box from about 1935. The ad is from a 1932 catalog.

 The Long Key No 140 was a 600 YD reel and had a neat “Vom Hofe” Style foot. It was the largest of the Long Key reels. The first is a 600 YD 1938 version. The 2nd reel is a 1940 version. The 3rd reel is missing its handle grasp but has good pictures of the foot and construction. Lastly the ad picture is from a 1940 OC catalog.

These are big game reels,  the No.120 is a 10/0 size reel,  the No.121 is a 12/0 size and the No.162 is a 14/0 size reel.  First is a No.120 in 10/0 size and a No.121 in 12/0 size.  The Balboa and Panama reels all have a 5 1/2″ plate the differences are 10/0 – 3″ wide spool, 12/0 -4″ wide spool, 14/0 – 5 1/2″ wide spool.  Also check out the Panama reels below,  they are very similar,  yet the Panama does not have the extra drag and oil storage features like the Balboa’s do.  Ads are from a 1935 and a 1940 Ocean City catalogs.
Pictures are courtesy of Bud Chaddock,  John Elder, Ray Hodges and Ed Miller.

No.141 is a 10/0 size reel,  the No.142 is a 12/0 reel and the No.153 is a 14/0 size reel.  The vintage yardage  for the 10/0 is that it held 600 yd. of No.24 line,  the 12/0 held 750 yd. of No.24 line and the 14/0 held 900 yd. of No.24 line.  The same yardage refers to the Balboa’s also.  The Balboa and the Panama reels all have the same plate width of 5 1/2″.  The difference in spool widths is the 10/0  is 3″ wide,  the 12/0 is 4″ wide and the 14/0 is 5″ wide.  The 12/0 reel pictured below has a custom designed crank knob on it,  the reel should have the original torpedo shaped knob.  12/0 pictures are courtesy of Ray Hodges.  Ad pictures are from a 1941 Ocean City catalog.   Last pictures show the No.153 in 14/0 size.

The number 600 series were produced to fill every need of the saltwater big game fisherman. They had the standard reel seat to use with the anglers choice of rod. They were well built solid reels and were priced for the common man. Before this time Big Game reels were very expensive hand made machines and the average person could not afford one. Now it was possible to buy one with all the features you needed to land that large fish at a reasonable price. They became available in 1949 with the No.603 and No.605 introduced in 1951 as light tackle reels.
The No.6051 and No.6061 came out in 1956 and  just had a higher gear ratio then their respective counterparts, the No.605 and No.606.
Some of the pictures are courtesy of Mike Stone ,Ray Hodges, John Taylor and Jeff Johnson.

Below is the smallest of the 600 series of reels. The 3/0 No.603 is a miniature version of its counterparts.

Below the 4/0 No.604 in the box with instructions.

Below a pair of Ocean City Big Game 5/0 reels – The No.605 and No.6051. The No.6051 has the oversized handle that is an angler upgrade. I’ve seen this on many No.6051 reels. The narrow spool and 3.2 to 1 gear ratio would be great for pulling up rock cod , grouper and the like off the bottom and a longer handle would have been a nice addition.

Below is the 6/0  No.606 – The No.6061 looks just like this but has a higher 2 3/4 to 1 gear ratio instead of the standard 2 to 1 found on the other Big Game reel models.

Below is a very nice and ready to fish 9/0 No.609 big game reel.  Click on the pics to enlarge.

This later version 9/0 No.609A with the True Temper name produced after 1959 was found new in the box with the wrench and instructions (not shown). When True Temper bought Ocean City in the late 1950s they continued Big Game reel production with a few differences as seen in the reel below. Most noticeably the head badge is now a cheap sticker now instead of the neat colorful metal badge Ocean City used. Also the handle knob is now different. Its a solid larger plastic handle and is very comfortable to use. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Below is the 10/0 No.610 in its original box.

Below a new in the box 12/0 No.612 big game reel. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Below a nice 14/0 No.614 big game reel. Pictures courtesy of John Taylor. Click on the pic to enlarge.

Now the 16/0 No.616 in excellent condition, pics also courtesy of ORCA member John Taylor. Click on pics to enlarge.

Ocean City offered a fighting handle for their big game reels and is found in the 1951 catalog. It could be purchased as an add on for the 600 or 800 series reels in 10/0 to 16/0. They are quite rare and I’ve only seen 2 myself. ORCA members John Taylor and Mike Cass have been kind enough to provide pictures of there reels, Mikes is on a 612 shown first, then Johns is on a 816.

                                                        Now John’s handle from his No.816

These Ocean City Big Game reels were first introduced in 1948 and were made to catch the larger ocean fish like Tuna and Sailfish. The catalog states it was made in 7 seven sizes for sport fisherman in every class. It was available from a small 4/0 reel to a monster 16/0 reel. The catalog also states it was a combined effort of Ocean City and Vom Hofe engineers. Ocean City bought out Vom Hofe before WWII and I’m sure were working together on the cradles development throughout the duration of the war. Ocean City started selling reels again in 1946 but I haven’t seen any magazine ads for the cradles before the 1948 catalog was introduced. Pics below are courtesy of Mike Stone,  John Elder, Ray Hodges , John Taylor and Butch Carey.

 Ocean City No.809 cradle with Montague #7012 Hollow Glass Montague rod 1952 to 1956. Pics courtesy of John Taylor. Click on the pics to enlarge.

 This amazing cradle reel set is owned by Orca member John Taylor. He has a complete set of Ocean City cradles which is not an easy thing to accomplish – even if money was no object. They are just hard to find and it would take years to do it . Size 16/0 to 4/0 and all with rod tips – very impressive!

The Cradle reels became available in 1948 and are great reels. The reels pictured below are owned by Earl Keim. Earl provided these pictures of his matching set of 6/0 cradle reels in the original box with bamboo rod tips and canvas rod cases. They are in very good condition and hard to find with the lightweight rod No 709 tips.

 Orca member John Taylor bought earls set of 806 cradle reels. This is the guarantee card and ferrule adapters that came with it. Ocean City sent 3 adapters for use with different size rod tips. This is the only combo I’ve seen with these still intact – very cool!

This beautiful rod and reel combo is owned by John Taylor. It has the original Montague “hollow glass” rod # 7039 and probably dates from 1952 – 56. John found this exact rod in the 1952 Montague rod catalog. I really like the green guide wraps.

 This was the largest reel ever offered by the company and was designated a 16/0. The example I have seen weighs in at 15 lbs. (with line) and the side plates are 7 inches in diameter with about a 6 1/2 inch width excluding the handle. It was built for the biggest fish and carried a large price tag in the 1950’s – $125 to $150 for the cradle and reel, and another $75 for the rod. It was available roughly from 1948 to 1956.

The example shown below is courtesy of John Warnish of New York state. Thank you John for sharing your reel and family history along with pictures. It belonged to his grandfather, George Warnish, and has caught many large Tuna including a few record fish. This example is shown with the original bag (bag is marked No.814) – it may have come that way or got mixed up, John’s grandfather owned lot of fishing equipment and always bought the best. It was said he paid something like $1200 for a camera in the 1950’s for a special vacation – a ton of money back then. The rod is a No.725 Ocean City Big Game bamboo rod in perfect beautiful condition. Why so nice you ask? It was stored all this time in the original rod sock and shipping box. After the pics of the reel/rod, you will see pics of John’s grandfather George, dad Charles and uncle Russell. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Below – Warnish family photos of the large record Tuna caught with their Ocean City No.816 off Wedgeport, Nova Scotia.

John Wanish’s Grandfather George in 1950 with his large Tuna using an Ocean City No.816 cradle rod with No. 725 rod tip. This fish weighed 471 lbs.

John Wanish’s Dad & Grandfather in 1951 with a large Tuna using the No 816 cradle reel and No 725 Big Game rod. John’s Dad Charles is to the right of the fish and his Grandfather George is next to him. This fish weighed in at 525 lbs.

In Sept of 1953, John’s Uncle, Russell Wanish – far right, was a part of another record Tuna fish catch. Although it appears on this trip they used a Penn 16/0 supplied by the boat’s captain.
The Penn 16/0 shown below is actually a rare model Penn reel in itself. Its an early 5 o’clock handle reel with the throw off lever behind the 2 top posts. Thanks to ORCA member John Taylor for taking the time to blow up the photo and examine the reel more carefully.

This is the original ad from the Cortland Standard newspaper, Sept. 10th 1953, documenting the prize catch of 694 lbs.

The 816 Cradle reel pictured below appears to be an early version with a lighter cast frame then the reel above. Also note the unplated brass spool. Thanks to John Taylor for pointing this out. Pictures are courtesy of the ORCA reel talk page.