Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thursday Review: ORCA's Reel News (May 2009)

Thursday Review: ORCA's Reel News (May 2009)

Another outstanding issue of The Reel News has dropped and it's, as always, an excellent one.


We lead off with Part 2 of the much-anticipated and much loved survey of the Los Angeles Big Game reels of Joseph A. Coxe, by Dr. John Elder. Wow. This stuff is so good it's almost scary. In just two issues Elder has pretty much doubled what we know about Coxe. It is really outstanding stuff, showing the internal workings of the reels as well as some historical background.

My own contribution this issue was a survey of "Brooklure" fishing reels sold by Spiegel Inc. of Chicago. These reels are among the most undervalued out there, which is odd because they are certainly more scarce than other trade houses. My hope is this article will spur a few collectors to gather Spiegel Brooklure reels.

Charlie Tannes has "A Reel Dilemma" and needs our help identifying and researching his FR-333 Thunderbird casting reel. Ed Slane profiles fellow ORCA collector Tom Greene in "Reels and Friendship in the Back Room."

Regular columnists were out in force. Jim Schottenham gives us the always anticipated "The Auction Report," which is a constant reminder that no matter how carefully you watch eBay, something always escapes you. Ben Wright gives us "Shakespeare's Unique Drive Gear System" in his Spinning Lines column.

Stu Lawson pretty much blew every Pflueger collector's minds with his "Pflueger Advertising: The Missing Years" which profiles three Pflueger and E.A. Pflueger ads I had not seen before (no small feat, I might add). Unreal. Bob Miller's excellent Pflueger Pfacts column "Interocean: Forty Years of Glory (With a Couple of Minor Interruptions)" details this often overlooked reel.

Col. Milton Lorenz gives us "The Silstar Series Reels" in his neat Reel Fix column, an absolute bedrock staple of the magazine. Finally, Alan Baracco returns with his Langley Revolutions column. "The Spinator and Spindrift" details these two popular models of spinning reels.

The Reel News is deftly edited by Richard K. Lodge. If you're not a member of ORCA (and wow, if you're not, I thought I KNEW you, man) you can join up by Clicking Here.

-- Dr. Todd

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