Reel News

January 2017 Issue of The Reel News

The January 2017 issue of The Reel News has been shipped and should be making its way to your door! You’ll find it brimming with great articles, research and photos of old reels of every description. Gayles? Check. Meisselbach Tournament Reels? Check. A reel made from an ancient copper coin? Huh? Well, yes. Check. So check it out and if you have not already joined, get a copy of this great publication by joining ORCA at orcaonline.org.

November 2016 Issue of The Reel News

What’s in the November issue of the Reel News?

Simple answer: A boatload of great articles, history and photos!

This issue features:
— The Marhoff Story, about “the world’s greatest reel,” written by Eric F. Jeska and heavily illustrated;
— A new member spotlight on Tim Gelinas, entrepreneur and reelmaker;
— Alan Hines’ essay on his long-time affection for the Johnson Citation reel;
— The trade reels of Phantom Products Co., by “Reels of the Trade” expert Dr. Todd E. A. Larson;
— Another installment “On the Auction Block,” with reports on some very cool reels sold at auction (anyone for a super-rare Pflueger Medalist #1592?);
— Bob Miller casts a line with another excellent “River Reflections” essay;
— The Best of Reel Talk, featuring an ongoing discussion between John Elder and Ed Pritchard, called “J.A. Coxe and his reels, Part 1”;
— and Jim Schottenham uncovered a great piece, published in 1895 in the Courier Journal newspaper in Louisville, headline “A Talk with the Veteran Maker, B.F. Meek.” Wow!
Oh, and the dues form for 2017 is the blue sheet in the middle of the magazine, along with a form for nominating ORCA officers.
So sit down, open it up and enjoy!
— Richard Lodge, Editor

September 2016 Issue of Reel News

This 40 page gem of a magazine features interesting stories about:

2 failed Rockford Illinois reel manufacturers that made The America Reel and the Hastings reel

An unusual Allison reel

The illusive Sylvanus Meek

A female championship caster and her jacket

A mystery reel, and

What every collector should do to document their collector and prepare his heirs for its eventual sale.

Ideas for Hosting a Regional Meeting in Your Area

By Betty Bar

On Thursday December 10, 2015, six ORCA members met in Frankfort at the Kentucky History Center to view some of the most historic antique reels in American angling history.  Manufactured from the mid 1800s and known broadly as “Kentucky Reels”, these reels were arguably the most finely crafted fishing implements ever made and some of the most sought after collectibles in the fishing tackle collecting hobby.

The ORCA group was treated to a tour of the Kentucky Historical Society’s extensive archives, with emphasis on the reel parts, equipment and tools used by the Meeks, Milam and Gayles. Every part has been separated, counted and placed in bags with an item number.

Kentucky reels from L to R: #00 BC Milam, #0 BC Milam, #1 BC Milam, #1 Meek & Meek, #1 Meek & Milam

A famous photograph of BC Milam in the shop on Main Street shows tools in the background. A very high resolution image was used to identify and display every tool on and above the workbench.

 Bill Bright, curator, with the lathe cutting tool seen above the workbench in the photo of BC Milam

The collection also includes a number of reels, lures and rods. After the 90 minute tour we convened on the first level in a large classroom for lunch and a discussion. Members brought some of their reels for us to admire. There were some super nice examples on the table! We all had fun. We plan to meet at least once a year.

Unidentified reels from donors in the museum’s collection.

You may not have the likes of a Kentucky History Center where you are but you will find it’s a lot of fun to get together with reel collectors in your area!

List Your eBay Items to Benefit ORCA as a…

You can designate a portion of your sales at eBay as a donation to ORCA.

ORCA has registered with eBay as a qualified non-profit organization to receive donations via eBay listings (auctions, etc.). This was done through the help of member Dave Lucas, and now under the direction of Scott Truex, who also runs the ORCA eBay site and  our donated reels, ORCA memberships and the ORCA Restoration and reel history books.

If you want to sell to benefit ORCA, start your listing through the “eBay for Charity” page. This will provide the option of selecting ORCA as a charity. The regular “sell your item” page will not offer the option to benefit a charity. Ebay’s “Selling to benefit non-profit organizations” says that “not all listing forms support selling for charity” so it’s best to start at “eBay for Charity”.

Under “Start selling for charity”, 1. start by searching for and selecting “Old Reel Collectors Association” as the designated non-profit for your listing, 2. designate how much of the sale you want to donate and 3. create your listing. When you create your listing, it will be exactly like the normal process except that you will see that ORCA has been selected as your benefit charity in the “Choose a Format and Price” section.

Fishing Reels of South Bend by Jim Madden –…

Dr. Todd Larson brings us good news!

YES I AM EXCITED! I love South Bend reels as they are the largest trade reel program in history, and dang, if this isn’t the coolest book ever! So many thanks to Jim for allowing us to produce this, and of course, royalties go to ORCA.

Jim Madden has been researching and writing about South Bend fishing reels for over a quarter of a century. Here for the first time, the complete collection of his writings on South Bend reels from ORCA’s Reel News magazine are available in one volume. Published over the course of over fifteen years as part of his on-going “South Bend Bits” column, in these detailed articles Madden writes on everything from South Bend’s first reels to their fly reels to saltwater reels to oddities like left handed reels and popular South Bend “go-withs.” Includes all of Jim Madden’s (over thirty) articles published in The Reel News, as well as an appendix containing popular South Bend reel postings the author made on ORCA’s Reel Talk on-line forum. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the South Bend Bait Company and in their Shakespeare-made South Bend fishing reels!

The books are available in the usual Whitefish Press high quality softcover for $29.95 (on special now for $24.95). In addition, there were only 50 limited edition hard cover copies printed and only a few left so get yours today for $79.95 (on special for $74.95).

You can purchase your hard and/or softcover copies at the ORCA Store