A Good Boy

[The Great Maudu]

Santa must have thought I was a good boy last year. How nice to great reels gifted and then to top it off Mike C's other book. ( Btw... If you don't have this one yet you will love the stories and the photos. ) I created my own version of an Amszon Wish List and got what I wanted. Merry Christmas my fishing friends :-)

[Maxed Out]

Very nice.

  You will see many familiar AT names that Mike made mention of.

   As Mike has mentioned before, the price guide is made to compliment his other penn publication "the chronological history of penn reels" first 25 years. Another must have for any penn enthusiast.

[The Great Maudu]

Yes sir, I saw many names Mike mentioned. Some I know, some I don't know yet, and many I'll never know. I have heard quite a bit about Max Doubt though ... all good, all good.
There is something I would like to bring up. In the new book Mike states he has never seen a box for a 49A Mariner. He also elaborates on the history of this reel. I have such a reel. I would like to have the reel discussed by this forum so I, and anyone else, can learn something. I also have a 49A box. My first question would be can it be determined when the reel I have was built? My reel has a Penn 49 plate stamp, not 49A. (I'll post pics shortly)

[Maxed Out]

Mike can fill you in, but there are 49A boxes, it is rarer to find a reel stamped 49A....and boxes are more common down south where most those reels went.

  There are a few threads about the 49A here on AT in the last year or so.   Aiala also just scored a boxed 49A.

[The Great Maudu]

Thanks for that info. The reel I have came out of Texas where it resided for many years on a shelf. What I hope to discover is were reels wearing plain 49 plates made as prototypes, made up to use up existing stock or what??? Aiala seems to score some nice reels :-)

[Dominick]

Good Boy Maudu.  All good things come to those that wait and publish wish lists.  Dominick

[Aiala]

Aiala seems to score some nice reels.

Well, Mr. Maudu, even I can get super-lucky once in a while... 2015's top two:





I guess hyper-vigilance actually does pay off... once in a while. Meantime, I hope everyone had a bodacious Christmas and got/ate everything they wanted!   

~A~

[Penn Chronology]

Glad to see everyone had a great holiday.

At the time of the writing of the article on South Africa, Penn 49A boxes were basically a mystery. Actually, I knew nothing about the reel until someone I knew in Texas told me that a Tackle Shop in Alaska had a wide Penn 49 that a Ex-Pat, South African customer had brought in for repair and never returned to get the reel back. I contacted the Alaskan Tackle shop owner, he sold me the reel
which I still own today.

That reel set me off on an adventure of online contacts in South African, Texas, Alaska and California that enabled me to put a history about the reel together and write the article in the Green book, originally printed in the Reel News magazine in 2013, published by ORCA.. Today, I have seen many boxed 49A reels; but, no boxed 49A reels with marked 49A head plates in the box. I believe when Penn started to mark the blue, metal cornered box, they stopped marking the reel. That is just my opinion.