Ocean City Fly Reels and Deep Water Trolling Reels

First ad is from a 1932 Ocean City catalog.  Next ad is from a 1935 OC catalog,  The reel pictured below is the No. 16 deep sea trolling reel and it was used primarily with either wire or linen line.

A 60 yd. trout reel,  heavy nickel plated finish,  weight was 2 1/4 oz. cost was 35 cents in 1940.

A 80 yd. single action reel,  black finished frame and spool is nickel plated.  First ad is from a 1935 Ocean City catalog,  next is an ad from the 1941 OC catalog,  the price stayed the same in five years.

The Ocean City No.45 is not an Ocean City reel but a product of Japan and the Olympic company. Japan was well know after the war to make exact copy of popular reels and sell them as their own. It looks like they were just using the Ocean City good name, most likely after Ocean City belonged to True Temper, to use on this model. Below are pictures of the No.45 and the last pic being an Olympic reel in box for comparison. I only included this reel on this site for those of you looking for information on this model.

Ad is from a 1963 True Temper catalog

Ad is from a 1963 True Temper catalog

Reel shown is the No.71 a 100 yd. size fly reel.  Description is from a 1935 Ocean City catalog.

Description is from a 1935 Ocean City catalog.

The Ocean City Plymouth fly reel was a good seller as seen by the numbers still found today. The No. 78 salmon sized fly reel however is a lot harder to find then its plentiful smaller brothers , the 76 and 77. The style changed rapidly and they can be found in many styles and colors as the pics show below. These are just some of the styles and colors available and more are certainly out there to be found. It would be a nice collection to put together. This first set of pics are of the No.76

Now some pics of the No.77 below.

The True Temper version of the No.77 D – pics provided from Chris brochu.

First ad picture is from a 1940 Ocean City catalog.  The later reels were not named Plymouth,  just numbered.
The cost in 1940 was $3.50 for the 76 and $4.00 for the 77 Plymouths.  The later ad is from a 1963 True Temper catalog. The yellow ad is from 1950.

  Descriptions are from a 1935 and the 1941 Ocean City catalogs.  Pictures of reel and box are
courtesy of Arne Soland.

  Information below provided by ORCA member Al Stover.

The first version of the Ocean City # 90 Automatic was introduced in the Ocean City 1950 Catalog, page 5. It touts it as “A revolutionary new fly reel designed for the angler who appreciates the finest in Automatic fly reels.

The second version was the Ocean City #90 (Model B) introduced in the Ocean City 1953 Catalog page 28. It is touted as “A revolutionary Combination automatic and single action fly reel, New control knob on spool permits adjustment for complete free stripping”

The only place you will see (Model B) is on the schematic. I don’t believe there was ever a schematic for the original version.

In comparison, the spool removal screw or button on the #90 is very low profile and only addresses it as “Easy one screw take apart”. There is no language addressing drag or free spooling on the #90.

It is believed  by me that the #90 came in a green and blue box along with an owner’s manual (no parts list or schematic)

It is also believed that the #90 (Model B) came in an Orange and blue box with owner’s manual and parts list schematic

Reel pics below courtesy of Al Stover

Reel pic below courtesy of Rick Heitman

The Wanita was the first fly reel sold by Ocean City and was a product acquired from Sturdibilt ( Ocean City was formed from the merger of Sturdibilt and M&H). The first Wanita was marked Sturdibilt Wanita and came in a plain blue box as seen below. There are at least 6 versions known as the Ocean City Wanita fly reel. The first reel shown is the Wanita No. 303 , it is the standard 60yd model , permanent click , one piece aluminum frame , has a red handle and has a perforated spool. It sold for only $1.00 in 1933. This version was sold from 1933 to 1938 and was the only Wanita available until 1939. In 1939 Ocean City added the Deluxe model and a larger line capacity reel. You could now order the No. 303 60YD , No. 304 100YD , No. 305 60YD “Deluxe” and the No. 306 100YD “Deluxe”. The only difference between the standard model and the “Deluxe” model is the addition of a Chromium plated round line guide. They were short lived and were only sold from 1939 to 1942 , when the war started and reel production ceased. They must have been a top seller as they are not hard to find today. If you look at the pics below , one of the pics shows an ad for the Wanita from 1946. It shows Ocean City was selling only the 305 and 306 post war but they changed the permanent click to the New silent drag. A lot of the 305’s and 306’s have been found with solid spools when that option has not been found in the catalogs we have. Ocean city changed the design a bit and in 1948 , they named the Wanita the No. 35 and No. 36. These were the “Deluxe” version with the round line guide but the design changed again. The spool was now solid with no more holes to assist in line drying, and the permanent click was replaced with the new permanent silent drag. In the 1950 catalog the Wanita No.35 and No.36 came with the New Duo-Drag, described as one of which is the removable click type and the other, a smooth silent drag – the coil spring which operates the silent drag may be easily removed if found desirable.  In the 1951 catalog it is still called the Duo-drag but described as an adjustable sliding click with a smooth silent drag , a little easier to understand. Some reels are totally unmarked so if you don’t have the original box it can be difficult  to tell what model you have. One thing we have learned is that the catalog pictures and descriptions may have been used for several years even though slight changes to the reels took place for whatever reason.  As you can see putting together a complete collection of these reels would be quite challenging.  Ad below is from a 1935 Ocean City catalog.

This is a high quality fly reel and should be considered rare in the original box. Probably sold from 1923 to ?. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Ocean City Wanita No.35 Fly Reel below with adjustable clicker, 60YD.  aluminum construction , Made from 1950 to —-
Pictures are courtesy of Arne Soland.

Ocean City Wanita No.36 Fly Reel below with adjustable clicker, 100YD ,  aluminum construction , Made from 1950 until —- .

Pictures are courtesy of Arne Soland.

Wanita No.306  Pictures are courtesy of Arne Soland

 

A 150 yd. reel finished in black, Tenite crank knob.  Ad picture is from a 1940 Ocean City catalog.  Cost was $4.50