First off I'd like to say thank you to our forum friend in South Africa.(AC49) I sent him on a local treasure hunt for a few wide 49a reels. These aren't easy to come by in SA as many are led to believe. Many days were spent searching and he finally cornered a few. Most are well used, but any 49a is better than none.
None have the "A" on the headplate and according to our South African friend, those are very seldom found. Most the 49a that went to South Africa were all labeled as a 49.
So, after paying for the reels, plus a small finders fee for each reel he found, then a truckload for shipping.... I'm now offering a few of these reels to the Ohana. Not making money, just passing on a rare opportunity.
The cool part is a wide 49 can be legitimately rebuilt as stock configuration using donor 49 sideplates w/rings and jigmaster seat and posts
I am not asking full price and do not want to devalue the reels by posting my Ohana price. I have a few with boxes and a few without, and also have a couple "spools only" if you'd like to build your own 49A. The box pictured is the roughest of the boxes I was sent.
If interested, please send pm
Thanks, Ted
EDIT: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, I AM TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT. I WILL FIGURE OUT REMAINING INVENTORY AFTER CHRISTMAS AND GO FROM THERE
PM sent Ted
PM sent Dominick
5 are sold, but still have a few more.
Ted
Ted,
Just a question since I'm a noob.
Wouldn't this wide 149 be very similar in size and line capacity to a 114?
If so, then why? The guts on the 114 are much stronger right?
Chad, it's not about fishing, it's about collecting. The 49A was marketed only in S Africa and they're not easy to come by here.
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 06:04:03 PM
Chad, it's not about fishing, it's about collecting.
Ditto
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 06:04:03 PM
Chad, it's not about fishing, it's about collecting. The 49A was marketed only in S Africa and they're not easy to come by here.
Sid,
I totally understand that part of it and wanting to have a unique reel!
My question is in regards to why Penn would make the wide 149 when whey already make the 114?
Also backreel function.
Quote from: xjchad on December 19, 2018, 06:08:46 PM
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 06:04:03 PM
Chad, it's not about fishing, it's about collecting. The 49A was marketed only in S Africa and they're not easy to come by here.
Sid,
I totally understand that part of it and wanting to have a unique reel!
My question is in regards to why Penn would make the wide 149 when whey already make the 114?
Oh, that.... it's historical - the 49 (not 149) came out in the 40's. The 114h didn't show up until the 60's. Pretty sure the 114 is geared slower than the other two. Maybe the correct question is, "why did it take Penn 20-30 years to make the 114h?" The answer might lie in the fact that fishing line evolved a lot from the 40's to the 60's,
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 06:19:55 PM
Pretty sure the 114 is geared slower than the other two.
Yep...the 114 was 2:1 gearing while the 49 was a little over 3:1. 8)
I read somewhere that they were using 149's for shore fishing for tuna or something and like it for the high speed retrieve but it didn't have enough line capacity. They made the wider spool just for South Africa and that fishery. Pretty sure all the other parts are used on other reels only the spool had to be made. I can't find a link on here, pretty sure it's here somewhere
49 3.5:1
114h 2.8:1
114 2:1
Ted, how does the width of the 49A compare to the 114HLW or WEX? I think this has been discussed here somewhere else as well.
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 07:30:20 PM
49 3.5:1
114h 2.8:1
114 2:1
Ted, how does the width of the 49A compare to the 114HLW or WEX? I think this has been discussed here somewhere else as well.
The 49A uses a jigmaster 500 seat and posts
cool reels.
I have a book written by a local newspaper reporter in South Africa. He was there to see it all.
The book timeline starts in mid 1940's at a time when Cape Town wasn't know for its tuna fishery
Here are first few pages, just to give an idea of this unique fishery
and one more page...click on the pic to enlarge
Thanks for posting that Ted - fascinating!
Cheers, Justin
.....and continue reading, it just gets better. Also mention of using a penn 49.
Ted, what book is this?
....imagine fishing on solid rock shore with huge jagged boulders and kelp and then a "ledge" where it suddenly dropped off....then imagine a huge tuna grabbing your lure and spooling you in 1.5 seconds, ripping rod and reel from your hands and watch helplessly as it gets smashed into bits and dragged away. It isn't folklore, it was actually fairly common back then, as many anglers came unprepaired
Quote from: sdlehr on December 19, 2018, 09:38:33 PM
Ted, what book is this?
Title of the book is "big game fishing in South Africa" published in 1959
Thank you Ted!
That is the kind of stuff I love to read!
Ah crap....I'm hooked....
Pretty cool stuff! Thanks for sharing!
Now I gotta find a copy of it so I can finish...
I just reread all those pages, amazing stuff!
Neat that you guys found some to bring over. :)
Ted,
What is the author's name?
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Game-Fishing-South-Africa/dp/B001OZMUF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545934253&sr=8-1&keywords=big+game+fishing+in+south+africa
Quote from: sdlehr on December 27, 2018, 06:11:19 PM
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Game-Fishing-South-Africa/dp/B001OZMUF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545934253&sr=8-1&keywords=big+game+fishing+in+south+africa
Thanks Sid!
Anyone know when the 49A first appeared? pre-1950? post?
The book only goes up to 1959.
The same author (Charles Horne) wrote a 2nd book that is a continuation of the first book. Title is "Game Fishing Transformed"
Ted
Quote from: Maxed Out on December 27, 2018, 07:21:10 PM
The book only goes up to 1959.
The same author (Charles Horne) wrote a 2nd book that is a continuation of the first book. Title is "Game Fishing Transformed"
Ted
Thanks Ted!
Quote from: sdlehr on December 27, 2018, 06:16:08 PM
Anyone know when the 49A first appeared? pre-1950? post?
Sid, check Mike's Chronological History at page 179. According to Mike it is hard to pin down but he says "sometime in the early 1950s." Dominick
Thanks, Dominick. That's what I thought, but I'm at work and the book is at home. I'm told that there are some 49As with non-numbered parts, so that puts the release to at least as far back as 1950(~ish, maybe 49 parts didn't disappear from the bins as quickly as the other parts used for multiple reels and the non-numbered parts lasted into '51 or '52).
Quote from: sdlehr on December 27, 2018, 06:16:08 PM
Anyone know when the 49A first appeared? pre-1950? post?
Quote from: Dominick on December 27, 2018, 08:08:24 PM
Sid, check Mike's Chronological History at page 179. According to Mike it is hard to pin down but he says "sometime in the early 1950s." Dominick
Quote from: Maxed Out on December 19, 2018, 07:39:39 PM
The 49A uses a jigmaster 500 seat and posts
Then the 49A couldn't have appeared in the early 50's, as the Jigmaster didn't appear until 1958-59, and I doubt the 500A preceded the 500 (maybe that isn't right?).
D'oh, they started with a Squidder stand, not a Jigmaster stand - I should've gone directly to where Dominick told me to look - I didn't - I thought he meant the chapter in the green book on the Mariner reels - and it didn't have the same information.... mystery solved....
Quote from: sdlehr on December 28, 2018, 05:49:57 PM
D'oh, they started with a Squidder stand, not a Jigmaster stand - I should've gone directly to where Dominick told me to look - I didn't - I thought he meant the chapter in the green book on the Mariner reels - and it didn't have the same information.... mystery solved....
And you thought I was just another pretty face... ::) Dominick
The long beach 67 also has the same stand and was around before the 49a..... I just used jigmaster as a reference because more people are familiar with that reel.
Dominick, you very wise grasshopper.
Chapter 13 in The Penn Collector's Companion and Price Guide is devoted to the South African big game from shore fishery.
Proud to finally own one. Thanks to Ted have one in my collection. The spool was in amazing shape.
Very nice. You are now the proud owner of a piece of south African shore fishing folklore !!
The wide 49 is built like a mini 14/0 without the harness lugs. No wonder it did the job it was designed to do
Ted
Ted,
The 49A arrived today and I am smiling, the old girl is already on the top shelf with the box next to the Bean 249! Thanks again for the 9/0 unnumbered handle nut..Still looking for the correct handle.
Strangest thing though, it looks like the postal inspectors opened the big box up then filled the 49A box with a couple of jars of home canned salmon just like you'd catch out there on the left coast.......imagine that!!
Tight Lines,
Bob
;)
Well Bob, I don't like leaving unused space in a flat rate box..... By the way, it's albacore but you can call it anything you wish !!
Thanks to AC49 for hooking us up with reels from South Africa !!
Albie, got it, haven't taken it for a test drive yet so the pink threw me off. Nice surprise! ;D
Some years ago there were aftermarket aluminium spools available for the 49a, sold by a Johannesburg tackle store
Quote from: CapeFish on January 23, 2019, 08:06:02 AM
Some years ago there were aftermarket aluminium spools available for the 49a, sold by a Johannesburg tackle store
I've been wondering about that...being that most fishermen aren't too crazy about a plastic spool. By the way, why do they call it a plastic spool? Why not a "fancier" moniker like the other plastic parts get? Bakelite, Catalin, Delrin, Graphite, all sound stronger than just plain plastic! :D
At any rate...this "plaster"(my uncle's term for plastic) spool is a lot heavier construction than most plastic spools. It's a chunk! I doubt they broke any while fishing. I have one of these I bought from Ted, but haven't had time to gussy it up yet. I've been working on a Long Beach project. Stay tuned for my 49A. 8)
Bob, DON"T EAT that albacore... IMMEDIATELY package it back up. Those jars have been found to have a strain of "Toogoodtobetrue."
PM me and I'll send you my, I mean, the address so they can properly be disposed of.
Thank you,
OCD, I mean CDC Dom ;)
Quote from: mo65 on January 23, 2019, 03:12:51 PM
I've been wondering about that...being that most fishermen aren't too crazy about a plastic spool. By the way, why do they call it a plastic spool? Why not a "fancier" moniker like the other plastic parts get? Bakelite, Catalin, Delrin, Graphite, all sound stronger than just plain plastic! :D
At any rate...this "plaster"(my uncle's term for plastic) spool is a lot heavier construction than most plastic spools. It's a chunk! I doubt they broke any while fishing. I have one of these I bought from Ted, but haven't had time to gussy it up yet. I've been working on a Long Beach project. Stay tuned for my 49A. 8)
Hi MO those 49A spools are not plastic but reinforced fiberglass and they were made by Penn U.S.A. for the purpose of shore-based tuna fishing in the 1950's from the Cape Point area, specifically Rooikrantz in Cape Town South Africa. Penn certainly knew what they were doing and because of them, we can still see their longevity up till today.
Enjoy the "gussy" and post them pics !! :)
Cheers AC49
Quote from: AC49 on January 23, 2019, 07:43:26 PM
Hi MO those 49A spools are not plastic but reinforced fiberglass and they were made by Penn U.S.A. for the purpose of shore-based tuna fishing in the 1950's from the Cape Point area, specifically Rooikrantz in Cape Town South Africa. Penn certainly knew what they were doing and because of them, we can still see their longevity up till today.
I've seen various references to this, some claiming the targeted fish to be tuna, some yellowtail. Cor's video didn't look like those were tuna at all. They looked like yellowtail sanapper. In my part of the world yellowtail are snapper, not tuna. Are we talking about the same fish? Is there a "yellow'tail'" tuna I don't know about?
Quote from: sdlehr on January 23, 2019, 09:51:40 PM
Quote from: AC49 on January 23, 2019, 07:43:26 PM
Hi MO those 49A spools are not plastic but reinforced fiberglass and they were made by Penn U.S.A. for the purpose of shore-based tuna fishing in the 1950's from the Cape Point area, specifically Rooikrantz in Cape Town South Africa. Penn certainly knew what they were doing and because of them, we can still see their longevity up till today.
I've seen various references to this, some claiming the targeted fish to be tuna, some yellowtail. Cor's video didn't look like those were tuna at all. They looked like yellowtail sanapper. In my part of the world yellowtail are snapper, not tuna. Are we talking about the same fish? Is there a "yellow'tail'" tuna I don't know about?
Hi Sid on page 2 of this discussion Ted made reference to the book I sent him by Charles Horne who was a very respected newspaper angling correspondent & author based here in Cape Town during the early years.
Here are some excerpts from the book ... with references to yellowtail, blue-fin tunny and yellow-fin tunny .....
December 28th 1945
Geared multiplying reels with white metal spinners at Rooikrantz.
Large Yellowtail shoals seen.
Alf Boshoff catches 16kg blue-fin tunny.
21 tunny caught that day – biggest 23kg.
May 6th 1956
Jack Wheeler "2 sets of equipment is the answer. 1 standard trolling gear. Other a heavy glass-fibre rod, reel holding 400m of 20,45kg nylon, 2m trace, spinner with 9/0 hook."
Spotter saw tunny approaching at 11h30.
60m out his spinner was struck.
200m run, back to 65m from rocks then unstoppable 300m run, less than 30m on spool.
1 hour after the strike and still making runs of 150m
After 2 hours a yellow-fin tunny of 71kg (5kg heavier than Wheeler) was landed.
It remains heaviest ever landed from the rocks in False Bay.
Quote from: mo65 on January 23, 2019, 03:12:51 PM
Quote from: CapeFish on January 23, 2019, 08:06:02 AM
Some years ago there were aftermarket aluminium spools available for the 49a, sold by a Johannesburg tackle store
I've been wondering about that...being that most fishermen aren't too crazy about a plastic spool. By the way, why do they call it a plastic spool? Why not a "fancier" moniker like the other plastic parts get? Bakelite, Catalin, Delrin, Graphite, all sound stronger than just plain plastic! :D
At any rate...this "plaster"(my uncle's term for plastic) spool is a lot heavier construction than most plastic spools. It's a chunk! I doubt they broke any while fishing. I have one of these I bought from Ted, but haven't had time to gussy it up yet. I've been working on a Long Beach project. Stay tuned for my 49A. 8)
I see it is actually fiberglass. A friend of mine's popped
OMG Dom, Not Toogoodtobetrueitus, I just have to step up and take the hit for the sake of all humanity and gobble this bad bad evil stuff up. Thank God you warned me!!!!! ;D
I'd like to extend my thanks to AC49 for ferreting out these 49A's, I too have read about and seen the video of the wild fishery you folks have down there, but never thought I'd get an "A" to display on my shelf. Great finds
Thanks Again,
Bob
I believe yellowtail are in the jack family Sid, We have them here too. They catch yellowfin tuna too. The body shape of the yellowtail here is very different than there,ours are long and lean, they look much fatter down there. I saw a picture on another board of a fella holding a yellowtail about 100lbs that he caught from shore, they said it was a record,it was huge!
Thanks for clearing up the confusion on the Yellow"fish" caught at Rooikrantz. I guess all accounts are correct.
I took my 49A apart last night for it's pre-shelving clean up. This reel was in good shape over all, but the sand I felt while backing out the screws tells me she was definitely fished. The previous owner took good care of his reel...all moving parts were lubed well. The drags revealed a hard puller had been hooked a few times for sure. The leather discs were thin enough to read the paper through! :D The metal discs were polished mirror smooth from use. There was appreciable wear to the gear sleeve too, but everything was smooth and fully functional. I never replaced anything on the reel, not even the drags. I left her completely original...other than removing a little sand, dried grease, and African dust.
Thanks again to AC49 and Ted for hooking us up with these awesome tools of the trade, and for schooling us on their history. 8)
Hi MO glad you like .... but why remove the "African dust" :o .... took me forever to pack it in ;) ;)
Cheers
AC49
Very cool Mo!
I love that you kept it original! Such a neat piece!!
Mo,
That is a beauty !
That will look great on any shelf !!
Col
Oh wow thats a pretty one!
Thanks fellas! The 49A is such a cool reel...they would have made a killer reel for many fishing styles here stateside...makes me wonder why they weren't offered here. 8)
Where is the 49 tutorial? I don't deal with these funky dogs :)
You can find one on youtube, a guy from NJ Dennis, second chance tackle, worked fine for me. Got 2 dog springs in there, be careful.