Lang's Week Part I

Once again, it's Lang's Week here at Fishing for History! The auction catalogs are out--and they are worth every penny, as I stated last week. Here is a copy of the Lang's ebay catalog on-line, all 2297 items.

 With the greatest fishing tackle auction in the world set for Friday and Saturday, we thought we'd return to a very popular feature from the fall auction: surveying knowledgeable collectors and asking them to pick out the items of note, interest, or historical relevance that caught their eye. They had two provisos--not to choose an item they were going to bid on (duh), and not to worry about choosing the most expensive item.

The panel of experts picked some fascinating choices, and then explained why. As always they are divided up by individuals. We'll run the first group today and the second tomorrow. You'll have to wait until Thursday to see my choices, and then Friday and Saturday I hope to do some "live" blogging.

Dean Smith is as his name implies, a dean among collectors. With 30 years of collecting knowledge behind him, he has pretty much seen it all. Here are his choices:

#1228: Unmarked 1874 German Silver Click Reel. I'm a sucker for reels with inscriptions and this one, dated 1874, is a beauty. My pal, Tony Flynn, owned this reel some 20 years ago...so I've seen it and know it's a nice reel.

1247: Scarce Conroy, Bissett & Malleson German Reel. Conroy, Bisset & Malleson reels are pretty rare ...and finding a small one in such nice shape, well, that's as good as it gets.

1427: RARE Patent Model Stuart Marked Reel and Rod: This one may be a one-of-a-kind and is worthy of centerpiece status in the best of collections.


1434: RARE Fasoldt NY Brass Ball Handle Reel. Just look at it...reels don't get much cooler.

1596: Ultra Rare 6' Edwards "Quadrate" Fly Rod. I'm not a rod guy ...but if I was, a 6' Edwards Quad would do the trick!

91: Ernest Schwiebert Original Art for Trout Fishing. I like most all of the Schwiebert sketches, but this one, of Thaddeaus Norris is something special. A sketch of the father of fly fishing by a master of fly fishing.

1884: Rare Early Fishing Tintype in Case. For me, the best item in the whole dang auction is this diminutive and wonderful tintype of some old time anglers and their gear. Please don't bid on it. Thank you.


Jack Bright, Michigan State booster, contributor to this blog, and one of the most informed collectors around, sent us this neat list of choices:

If, IF I had the extra bucks, etc., three things I'd go for

1. 1203: RARE Leonard Marbleized Trout Fly Reel.

2. 304: Original Lee Wulff Painting 1958 Atlantic Salmon


3. 369: Shakespeare President II Model 7590 Fly Reel.


The newly engaged Robin Sayler's collecting knowledge belies his age; don't let the fact he is an undergraduate at Michigan Technological University fool you. He knows his stuff, particularly Pflueger reels.

1352: G.W. Gayle & Son No.3 Kentucky Casting Reel. I always like these. Kentucky style reels are my favorite and this one is
one of the best looking in my opinion.

1364: Rare Worth Enterprise Mfg German Silver Reel. The Worth is not a particularly rare reel but they don't show up in this
style very often. This is an early and hard to find version.


1205A: RARE Julius Vom Hofe Perforated Rim Trout Reel. I don't know very much about Vom Hofe reels but this one is great looking. I think it is one of the best looking fly reels I've seen. I could probably make room for it in my collection if it didn't cost as much as my car.

1399: Pflueger Buckeye Casting Reel in Rare Box. Just like the worth mentioned above, the Buckeye is a common reel but the box this one comes in is hard to find. They don't show up with labels this crisp.


1405: Four Vintage Casting Reels. I'm a hoarder of parts reels and here's a chance to get some hard to find parts. There's a couple nice reels in there and whether you need some of the parts to fix a reel you have, or you have the parts to fix one of these it would be worth it. They should stay relativly cheap.

Robert A. Miller needs no introduction to collectors. ORCA's Pflueger Pfacts columnist for the past ten years, he is the author of a number of seminal works on Pflueger reels, including the forthcoming history of the Pflueger Akron and Summit reels. Here are his choices:

Several items that caught my attention:

1) 1364: Rare Worth Enterprise Mfg German Silver Reel. A first Enterprise (Not  E.A. Pflueger) Worth in beautiful condition. Only sold for one year (late 1913 to late 1914). Probably tougher than E.A.'s Worth. His has WORTH in block italics. Enterprise's WORTH is in script.

2) 1399: Pflueger Buckeye Casting Reel in Rare Box. Box tougher than reel!

3) 1344: Early Kopf Freespool Raised Pillar Casting Reel. Any Kopf reel is a find!


More picks from top collectors tomorrow!

-- Dr. Todd