Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Overlooked Tackle Part 1: A.F. Geisinger of Milwaukee, WI

Overlooked Tackle Part 1:
The Fishing Tackle of A.F. Geisinger

We often overlook the fishing tackle invented, manufactured, and sold by small tackle operators who specialize in terminal tackle, i.e. those items that do not neatly fit into any particular category. Snelled hook holders, landing nets, gaff hooks, and any number of other tackle items are easy to ignore in our quest to learn about Creek Chub, Meisselbach, and E.W. Edwards. So I'm starting a semi-regular series on overlooked fishing tackle that concentrates on those items we often miss in the bottom of the tackle box.

A good example is Wisconsin's inventive tackle man Arthur F. Geisinger. On 23 September 1930, the Milwaukee native received a patent for a nifty collapsible pole and rod holder.


This nifty contraption was manufactured and sold by him for at least the next fifteen years, and although not common they are also not rare. Here's a picture of a nice one:


Not long after, the inventive Geisinger invented another nifty miscellaneous tackle item, this time a really neat pair of fish pliers, often found in a neat yellow-and-black checkerboard box. This seem to show up more often than the Geisinger Rod Holder.


These two items from the same inventive mind are illustrative of an entirely virgin area of collecting. So...what neat miscellaneous items do YOU have in your collection?

-- Dr. Todd

1 comment:

Ian Colls said...

Hi - Long time reader - 1st time comment! Not quite overlooked tackle but as of 3 months ago a MUST buy for me and somthing that I had never thought of until I saw it in a local shop. This a tackle store I bought after I had my garage broken into last year, with the loss of my Daiwa tournament and (birthday prezzie)Boss Seatbox I was gutted. Lucky the insurance paid up Fishing Tackle Storage And Fishing Rod Stores

I hope that link works (not very good at html) if not a company called asgard make them if you need to google.