Loooking for info on this reel

[Jenx]

Hi. Long time lurker, first time poster.

I came across this old reel recently, and I am trying to find more info on it.

The side plate says:

SEA LAKE
LOS ANGELES CALIF USA
PATENT PENDING
STAINLESS STEEL

The fact that it is stainless steel and made in the US is what caught my attention. But I am finding little to no info about it online, except for one ad (below) that describes how it's "Two Reels in One."

Anybody here owned one of these? Would it make for a good fishing reel, or is it just a novelty piece? Sorry if this has been posted before, but a name like Sea Lake is brutal for doing searches.






Thanks.

[PacRat]

I've seen one of these before on eBay and if you search this site I believe there is info on it here. If I recall correctly; there were a lot of small shops that were producing military goods and after the war it was natural that a lot of them started producing fishing reels as they already possessed the knowledge and tooling for working with stainless and aluminum...it was just a natural fit. Many of these companies did not last long.
Good luck
Mike

[cbar45]

Hello,

I was in the same boat as you once, searching for info on this reel.

Not much came up, other than 1 or 2 posts on the ORCA forum which you've likely already read.

Interesting reel. Thanks for posting your photos, especially the last one of the internals.

[Jenx]

Thanks. For the feedback. I suspect I'm not going to find much info on this reel.

Maybe I will put some line on it and see how it fishes.

Cheers.

[oc1]

That's somethin'.  It is meant to be used as a fly reel in the narrow configuration.  Do any of the other known examples have both the narrow and wide spools, feet and cross bars ? 
-steve

[Penn Chronology]

I have bought and resold a couple of these. That piece of Ephemera telling about the narrow spool is great. I was not aware it was made with a convertible width feature. I remember this reel feeling very strong.

Have not seen one for a long while. Thanks for sharing!

[Protechs]

I have just acquired both the standard spool and the narrow spool versions . I'm looking for ANY INFORMATION on these reels.
Thanks
Ken
8/31/2021

[Wompus Cat]

Info is still scarce on these and a Few other Stainless concoctions of that era  .
Rolls Eng is another Reel quite similar to the SEA LAKE .
There are a few more and I have some of them with some more info I will post later
Ocean City made a SEA LAKE Branded Reel also in the Late 40's so it may have been  a Trademark problem which led to the Demise of the Pentagon companies Reel building and as was stated  Many Aircraft Companies were in California and other places during the War Years and at the end started dallying in other markets to keep alive.

[Brewcrafter]

Reviving this old thread since this showed up in a box of stuff I picked up today:

I will say - it's kinda sexy.  Looking at the brochure above I only appear to have the "wide spool" version but this was pretty much an "extra" in the whole deal anyway.  Unlike many of my reels, no intention of making this even a "1-time" user - but is pretty cool and tight.  And coincidentally, earlier when I hit the World Wide Information Resource the first thing that popped up was a reference to this AT Thread.  Any thoughts or input from wiser Ohana? - john

[Bill B]

I don't have much to offer except what Mike (PackRat) stated, there were a lot of start up machinists after WWII.  I have a Rolls Engineering reel from that Era and coincidentally the Los Angeles area.  John does yours have a solid spool or a 3 piece spool?  Bill

[Brewcrafter]

Hard to tell, it looks like a 3 piece but I don't want to take it apart and start another project...