Old, Weird, Historical, and Unusual Spinning Reels --

Started by foakes, August 26, 2017, 06:36:33 PM

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handi2

I still have some old Mitchell reels from the 304 up even though I sold most of my collection. A few old green Penn reels starting at the 716 Ultralight. Other old Japan and French reels up on the shelf where I can't reach them.

This last one is the Pflueger Pelican with a rear drag. Pretty common reel.
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

Midway Tommy

You've got some cool old reels, Keith! I don't know how anyone was ever able to cast with those Ashaway or Otco Slip or Surf Casters!  ::)

The "Pelican" and an "Otco Slip Caster" were two of my first flea market finds expanding my collection. 
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

handi2

Thanks Tommy,

At one time when I quit reel repair I sold all of my collection. $3,000.00 worth to one person and some others on eBay.

I had a collection of all the early Mitchell reels most NIB. I had some nice Mitchell tackle box reels. A Mitchell tackle box with lures, line, bobbers, hooks, sinkers, and the reel with a spare spool. 2 of the tackle box reels were the 440.

Also a collection of the green Penn reels. A 716 NIB sold for $189.00 on eBay years ago.

I now wish I had everything back!!

I did put some in a wrapped box for my grandson and it says "do not open until you are 21".
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

handi2

This is the old box showing the date that I last saw them.
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

foakes

Very nice, Keith --

Have all of the reels you show in the pics -- except the last one in the last (2) photos.

What is that one?  Seems interesting -- maybe French?

I have one Ashaway slip caster just like yours --  never could figure out how to use it.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

happyhooker

That Pelican hasta rank near the top for weirdness, as far as looks.  Kinda "scientific" looking, with all the buttons, bulges, etc.  Reminds me of the old Argus C3 camera, which was pretty average as a picture taker, but which sold like hotcakes because it looked like what people thought a camera should look like.

Frank

Midway Tommy

Quote from: foakes on September 24, 2017, 11:42:42 PM
Very nice, Keith --

Have all of the reels you show in the pics -- except the last one in the last (2) photos.

What is that one?  Seems interesting -- mayve French?

I have one Ashaway slip caster just like yours --  ever could figure out how to use it.

Best,

Fred

It's a RU, made in France, from the mid-late '50s & on through the '60s. Tough to tell from the photos exactly which model since the decals are missing. Most had sticker type decals that wore off easily. Looks to me like a RU Mer Super or a RU Pacific but there were a couple of others like the Star & Sport that looked similar. Most of the earlier ones had a rough, almost knurled type, band or ribbon around the rotor cup.. That reel is in nice condition, too bad the decal is missing.   
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

oc1

The slip cast sits on top of the rod like a spincast reel.  You hold the lever down like the button on a spincast.  I've never seen one but there's a video on You Tube.  Do you know if Ashaway manufactured the Slip Cast or was it a trade reel? That was the only reel they ever sold, right?  I sort of have a thing about Ashaway lines.

Keith, they're now asking almost twice that for a green 716 NIB .... not to rub salt in a wound or anything.
-steve

handi2

Some of the reels i sold still show up on my sold items at eBay. No pictures though. I still have a bunch of the old tackle magazines from back then. They are cool.

There are Ru Mer and and others in that box and some more on the shelf. Just old reels that tag along with me.
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

Midway Tommy

Steve,

Ashaway never manufactured any reels. They actually set up a separate corporation called Ashaway, Inc. of Westerly, RI for reel distribution and contracted with Ohio Tool Company, OTCO, to manufacture the reels. There were two models, the Slip-Cast Reel for fresh water and Surf Slip-Caster for salt water. The production contract allowed OTCO to also market the reels under the OTCO name. Production started in late '47 & hit the market in '48. The big sales pitch was that they could be used on your standard bait cast rod. OTCO had financial problems in the early '50s and a similar reel was marketed by Pyramid Manufacturing of Cleveland, Ohio in the mid '50s. It appears Pyramid took over OTCO and their manufacturing but the reel quickly lost favor and went out of production.       
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Tightlines667

Quote from: Midway Tommy on September 25, 2017, 05:08:27 PM
Steve,

Ashaway never manufactured any reels. They actually set up a separate corporation called Ashaway, Inc. of Westerly, RI for reel distribution and contracted with Ohio Tool Company, OTCO, to manufacture the reels. There were two models, the Slip-Cast Reel for fresh water and Surf Slip-Caster for salt water. The production contract allowed OTCO to also market the reels under the OTCO name. Production started in late '47 & hit the market in '48. The big sales pitch was that they could be used on your standard bait cast rod. OTCO had financial problems in the early '50s and a similar reel was marketed by Pyramid Manufacturing of Cleveland, Ohio in the mid '50s. It appears Pyramid took over OTCO and their manufacturing but the reel quickly lost favor and went out of production.       

Interesting.  I had never heard of Pyramid. 
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

foakes

Here is a nice old kit -- that was a gift from Keith.

Martin Bretton 804SR with a matched pack rod, case, instructions, etc..

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

happyhooker

That M. Bretton is a good-looking spinning reel.

Frank

philaroman

how do 2-speed spinners work -- is it 2 main gears?  somewhere, I have an old (60's/70's?) Japanese one which is the only 2-speed I ever had in my hands: in low-gear the spool is fixed/stationary & in high-gear, it rotates in the opposite direction to the rotor -- is that the norm for 2-speed spinners, or unusual?  ...otherwise, it's not really photo-worthy, IMO

happyhooker

In some previous posts under this topic:

1) Johnson Century with the "dial" drag.
2) Tommy's "Punch Button" reels.
3) The thought that a spincaster reel could be used under the rod like a spinning reel.

The Century was designed not only as a reel with right or left hand retrieve, but one that could be used under the rod as a spinning reel would.  That's why the A/R has a right and a left position.  But, the spool could be turned around so the line would peel off either clockwise or counterclockwise. Result: you could switch between regular spincast use above the reel and into below-the-reel mode without having to have a second spool or rewind your line.  You could always reel in the usual way without having to reel backwards.  Some of the spools were, I think, even marked "Front" and "Back" or something similar.  The bigger "Citation" model was similar.

Before the "Punch Button" reels, there were several models of under the rod closed face spinning (spincast?) reels that didn't have any kind of casting button (or visible bail) whatsoever, whether a punch button, typical spincast casting button or otherwise.  Some had the short reel leg like a typical spincaster, and some had a longer leg more like a spinning reel.  To cast, you caught the line in front of the reel with your forefinger (like you would with a spinning reel), then turned the crank handle back a tad to release the line for casting.  After casting, the angler just started reeling in the usual way & the line came in. With the short leg type of reel, you had to hold the rod completely by the foregrip ('cause the leg was too short to get your fingers around it).  Some of these reels even had an oscillation feature.  These types of reels also spawned the trigger-type under rod spincasters/spinners of later yore.

Frank