Thursday Review: The Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc.

Thursday Review: The Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc.

I'm often asked if there is a good web site for information on outboard motors. Perhaps the best site I can think of for information on outboards of all stripes is the Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc. home page. The AOMC is the largest club in the world dedicated to preserving and restoring old outboard motors.


The web page is "minimalist" but has some things of interest, including featured articles, sections on local chapters, and a really good "Frequently Asked Questions" section.

The best part of the site, however, is the "Free Classifieds" link, which in actuality leads to an active and interesting forum on outboard motors. On this board, non-members can ask questions and hopefully get some answers to their queries, as well as buy and sell parts and full motors.

The club itself is well worth joining even if you have only a passing interest in outboard motors. You can join the AOMC by Clicking Here.

-- Dr. Todd

A 5000 Year Old Field Find

A 5000 Year Old Field Find

Noted rodmaker Jeff Hatton shared with me his nearly 5000 year old "field find" which now serves as part of his collection of historic fishing tackle.


At the bottom of the above pic is a ca. 2800 B.C. year Egyptian mummified fish! Keep in mind that this original mummy likely dates from the Early Dynastic Period and appears coterminous with the building of the first great pyramids. It was part of a university museum and now resides in Hatton's burgeoning historical display.

By the way, the top piece is an Ushabti of Hat Mehit ca. 2200 B.C. Hat Mehit was the fish goddess of the Ancient Egyptians known as the "Chief of Fish." In Egyptian mythology, Hat Mehit was the wife of the God Osirus and the mother of Horus, and later was identified as a form of the famed Goddess Isis. An Ushabti is a funerary figure placed in tombs.

Not too often you get to see five thousand year old fishing collectables!

-- Dr. Todd

Voices from the Part: The Computer Reel (1981)

Last week we profiled electric reels; here is a 1980s take on the electric reel, melding the computer with the fishing reel to create a true automatic reel. Made by the Miya Epoch company of Torrance, California, very close to where the Electric Reel Company of America (ERCOA) was located. Was there a connection between them? The blurb is from the May 1981 Popular Mechanics. At $1495 in 1981, I wonder if anyone color collected them?




-- Dr. Todd

News of the Week: 22 March 2010

A death blow for the bluefin tuna?...a man who is crazy for lure making...British families are fishing more...120 hours in a bass angler's life...tournament fishing is changing...top fishing brands of 2009...Skeet Reese makes the cover of Parade...how to take an outdoors photo...fishing captain adopts to new economic realities...a tackle box gun?...kayak record for tuna...obsessing over fly tying...a rogue chinook...it must be THE NEWS OF THE WEEK!

The Big Lead: The Times reports on the (potential) death blow to the Bluefin Tuna.

Jeff Murray is crazy about making his own fishing lures.


In Britain, families are turing to fishing for a day's entertainment.


From news at 10 to the fishing lake in just 120 hours.


Why the Northeast Saltwater Fishing Show is a lure for hoops fans, too.

More sad stories from the tournament fishing trail.

The top fishing brands from 2009.

Skeet Reese revels in the cover of Parade Magazine.


Original Parade article is here.

Leon Archer's got the offshore blues.

How to make an outdoors photo publishable .

Gear Up helps less fortunate to fish.

The secret of Halbut revealed.


The great lure of the great trout.

Fishing captain adapts to new economy by cutting costs, prices.

They are still ice fishing on Otter Tail Lake, Minnesota.

The new lure of the Orvis store.



A 91-year old angler lands a BIG fish. On 3-pound test.

Former tackle shop owner Jim Corey passes away.

A special tackle shop gets some positive press.


Thoughts on a new tackle box gun...

Kayak angler lands a new record tuna (for a kayak).


John Merwin stocks up on hand-poured worms.

The obsession known as fly tying.

Finishing With a Flourish: An angler's rogue chinook is a great prize.



-- Dr. Todd

1000 Words

1000 Words

Last week we featured a neat photographic ad from Bristol Horton. Lest we think they were the only company to utilize photographic ads, let's gaze at this wonderful collage of photos by the South Bend Bait Company, ironically published in the same edition of the magazine as the earlier Bristol ad. South Bend was an innovative advertiser and these pictures are just lovely. A classy ad.



-- Dr. Todd

Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett

Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett

The Dickens Convertible Liar
 
A few weeks ago we took a look at an advertisement for theHanson's Irresistible Bait and showed the following photo plate from Dixie Carrol's 1919 book Fishing Tackle & Kits. On this same plate in the upper right hand corner is shown today's bait, the Dickens Convertible Liar.
 

The following write up on the bait appeared in the book also.
 
 

Today's ad from the September 1918 issue of National Sportsman features this lure rigged both ways as an underwater and a surface wiggler.



-- Bill Sonnett

The Friday Funhouse

The Friday Funhouse

Video of the Week

A nice vintage newsreel video of roaming through Michigan.



Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them

There are some incredible baits this week, not the least of which is this F.A. Pardee underwater minnow.


This is a nifty Heddon 101 in a downward leaping bass box.


Early Tarpon Seamaster reels are works of art.


A Talbot from Nevada, MO is a terrific find.


This Ambassadeur 5000A is a wonderful early reel.


UNDERWATER MINNOW CONTEST: Who do you like best?

First up: the Pflueger underwater minnow.


Heddon 150s in Deluxe Red Scale? I'll take two, please.


Or finally, the Shakespeare Fancy Underwater Minnow?


This is a super rare Arbogast Jitterbug.


A Cortland 6-Pack of Cuttyhunk has got some saltwater collectors in a tizzy.


This William Mills & Son fly reel is a reel classic.


Prepare to be stormed by these Wiggle Warts.


How about the Heddon Artistic Minnow in the box with buoy?


SHAZAM !



Can anyone tell me about this MOP spoon hook?


The Callmac Bug is staring at you...


Granger made some very cool rods, including this Aristocrat.


It isn't just the British who are crazy about this Allcock's Geen patent minnow.


Ah, the Creek Chub Gar. An all-time Top 20 lure.


Holy moly, this Heddon Runtie in Black Shore is a rare little beastie.


The Walton Speed Bait is a great oddball lure.


A Heddon Lucky 13 in Crackleback is a nice find.



The Super Cargem #55 Italian spinning reels is a really rare reel.



As always, be good to each other, and yourself. And don't watch too much basketball!

-- Dr. Todd

Thursday Review: March 2010 NFLCC Gazette

Thursday Review: March 2010 NFLCC Gazette

The mailman brought a very welcome gift today in the form of the latest edition of The NFLCC Gazette (Vol. 32, No. 122 -- March 2010).

This was an interesting issue as it featured some of my favorite writers. The cover story is a great tale by Dr. Harold Smith, author of the esteemed Creek Chub book. "Dewey Hunt and the Hunt Lure Co. " details the history behind this fascinating Tennessee manufacturer from Watertown. I've been to Watertown and it does indeed feel like entering the 1950s all over again (in a good way).

Colby Sorrells gives us a great story in "Dynamite: Still Catching Fish," the story of the Dyna-Tackle Company of Dallas, TX. These little baits have always perplexed me a bit, as there are a lot of them that look similar, so this should go a long way towards ending speculation about them.

As an aside, Dr. Smith and Colby's articles are models of what I love to see in the Gazette: well-written and researched articles on obscure or mysterious small bait companies.

Fred Sweeney gives us Part IV in his research series on the Production Years for Creek Chub's Original Series and their Catalog Codes.

The recent Olympics got many of us thinking of Canada, and Patrick Daradick's "80th Anniversary of Lucky Strike Baits" gives us a nice retrospective of this popular Canadian company.

Noted Michigan author and columnist for Woods & Waters Terry McBurney gives us a detailed look at the new Millsite Tackle Book by Steve Lumpkin. "A must read-must have" is his take but read the whole thing for a model of how to do a book review properly. Kudos to Terry.

Gregg Stockey, author of his own book Guests at the Buck Falls Club, gives us a neat little article entitled "Three Lures Left Behind."

By the way, Colby Sorrells has announced that the NFLCC will be "recreating" the first bass tournament to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Smilin' Bill Jamison dusting Ans. B. Decker in 1910. Information can be found in Colby's article "Anniversary of the First Fishing Tournament."

Phil Dawson gives us a great piece entitled "American Fishing Line Dryers and Winders" which is an overview of a very easy to overlook collectable. Being the first article (at least I know of) on the subject, Phil is very much breaking new ground here, and it's fantastic. Great collection and great article.

Finally, my own contribution is "12 Questions With Dave Hoover," which details a conversation I had with Dave about all things tackle and collecting. I had not met Dave before but of course was very familiar with him through his sales lists and tackle boxes. What a good guy!

A really good issue that had everything I like to see in it. The NFLCC Gazette is edited by Jim Fleming. Anyone interested in joining the NFLCC can learn more by clicking here.

-- Dr. Todd

Colorado's ReeLever for Automatic Fly Reels

Colorado's ReeLever for Automatic Fly Reels

Searching old fishing magazines is like panning for gold; many times what appears like a rich vein produces next to nothing of use, while other times an unlikely source reveals real nuggets. For this reason I like to chase obscure magazines and journals. Purchasing them is like buying a lottery ticket, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

In this case, I could not have been happier with a small circulation West Coast magazines called The Western Sportsman. One issue in particular--April 1955--revealed a host of fascinating information. Perhaps the most interesting was a reel gizmo I'd never seen before, patented by Richard .C. Tuttle of Salida, Colorado on 02 August 1955 (#2,714,272).


The magazine wrote up the new development as follows:

Something Really New

Brother R.C. Tuttle, over Salida, Colorado way has hit on something so new that he's still blinking his eyes over the sparkle.

He is putting out an item for fly fishermen consisting of a quickly detachable lever which clamps to the rod handle, adjusts to fit the brake lever of any automatic reel, and gives the fisherman "trigger finger" control of his reel.


In providing index finger control, Tuttle not only relieved the awkward little finger of a job it should never have been required to perform, but also made possible a much firmer, more natural grip, farther forward on the rod handle. It also developed that the position of the ReeLever over the brake lever of the reel served as a "trigger guard" to prevent accidental release of the reel.

To the angler who has hooked his finger, broken his rod tip, or stripped his line of flies through accidental release of an automatic reel, this feature is fully as important as the fore-finger control.

For full dope on the ReeLever, write Tuttle Tackle Company, Box 431, Salida, Colorado.

The same magazine ran a nifty pictorial advertisement for the ReeLever:


I'd often wondered why people used automatics, but this idea is quite clever. The problem would be getting it to fit the myriad of different automatic fly reels that were being sold at the time.

Has anyone ever seen one of these before?

-- Dr. Todd

Voices from the Past: William P. Osborn (1921)

I follow eBay closer than I probably should, and about a year ago I began to notice one gentleman making small glass minnow tubes and selling them for a reasonable price.


Now, I'd made a few of these back in the day and utilized the time-honored method of putting a few Lightning Bugs inside so I could fish them at night. And believe it or not they caught fish. But I didn't realize until recently that it was a very, very old idea. So old, in fact, that in 1921 Forest & Stream featured this very idea in their "how-to" pages. Here is the article they ran in its entirety.

WILLIAM P. OSBORN, '24, of the New York State College of Forestry, has some advanced and entirely original ideas in making nature supply the office performed by artificial contrivances in the way of fish hooks. Izaak Walton probably never dreamed that the battery in the tale of a firefly would lure the wily bass at night with its intermittant illumination. But the imagination of William P. Osborn, who has adopted forestry as his chosen profession, reaches into unexplored fields, beyond which the fisherman's fancy, as active as it may be, has never soared.

By imprisoning fire-flies in a small glass phial and rigging the phial with an ingenious arrangement of hooks the black bass has been found to exhibit fatal and unwonted attraction for the phosphoric scintillations emitted by the jocund fire-fly held within the glass bottle. According to Mr. Osborn's statement, he has seriously disappointed many a sturdy bass who with visions of delight and great rapacity swallowed hook, line and sinker whenever in the night time the inventor has invaded the waters of bass territory with his lure.

Mr. Osborn states: "The lure for night fishing which I contrived last summer is effective yet simple in construction. An ordinary tubular pill bottle is fitted with a harness of gut to which are fastened three pronged hooks, two on the sides and one at the end. The bottle is then equipped with a swivel similar to a wooden minnow. Before using, four or five good sizes fire flies are placed in the bottle and the the bottle is corked tight.


"This lure has been used with good success in trolling and casting from shore. Bass fall for it and I should think the pickerel would also. The only drawback is that new fire flies have to be placed in the bottle every fifteen or twenty minutes. To overcome this, I substituted some Radiolite luminous buttons, sticking them to the insides of the bottle with the luminous side next to the glass. This makes a permanent bait."

A neat idea and something all of us could make in less than an hour!

-- Dr. Todd