Ran into Bill Franke, who makes the One Foot for Pflueger Reels among other products, at the Langs Dealer Show last Saturday and it was great talking to him and he looks just great too. He had some rod tubes he’s making there and we spoke about some new things he’ll be bringing out and one of them is metal plates for the Pflueger Reel just like the older ones. I told him we had a converstaion back a bout 18 or so months ago on Clarks Board about a 75th Anniversary Pflueger with sculptured pillars, agate line guard and available in either LHW or RHW. He seemed to be interested in the idea and I told I would post a query and if it generated enough initial interest we would survey the various boards much like Cortland did on FAOL with their silk line survey which led to the release of their new Sylk Line. I envision a 1492 and/or 1494 size reel made from machined parts, with or without a spool. I see it with the metal plate, either an agate or metal circular line guard, LH or RH and if I did my calculations right it will be swapable including the line guard. Upgrades would include different offerings that Bill makes but the PFoot would be standard for ease of use. For right now it is in the gathering of information stage and Bill and I will speak about it once we have some data and I’ll report back here. If you have any interest in this type of reel you should speak up and state what you’d like or not like it to have, thanks…
As a collector of vintage Pflueger fly reels, it would be great to have a 75th anniversary edition Medalist. Hardy just released their anniversary edition of the Bougle, so why not a Pflueger.
I would like to see:
anodized frame and spool finish, preferably black or very dark grey
Nickle silver trim on perforated spool with hollow spindle
Nickel silver sculpted pillars (removable)
Nickle silver spindle cap with “Pflueger Medalist 75 Years Made in USA” engraved on it
A nickel silver rim agate stripping guide, reversible
P-foot reel foot, nickel silver
Three sizes, 1492, 1494 and 1495, all LHW/RHW capable. These three sizes would cover line sizes from 1wt-8wt
Nickel silver drag button; same drag system
Plastic composite handle to match color of the stripping agate
Nickel silver screws
Soft velour reel bag, black, with the words “Pflueger Medalist 75 Years” stitched on it in silver.
Black soft case, material to be determined, words “Pflueger Medalist 75 Years” in silver on cover
Black and silver shipping box to match original Medalist box design
This would be a beautiful reel and a fitting tribute to the original Pflueger company and all the anglers who have ever fished a Medalist.
Thank you for letting me add my inputs. If I can help in any way, contact me.
I have a #1494 Medalist that was purchased new back about 1950, and is occasionally fished yet to this day, and still performs like it did new!
Now, I see the reel is still sold (in the Cabelas cataloge), albeit made in the “land of rice & everything nice”, for the sum of $23.99 ~
The question I would have, since Shakespeare bought out Pflueger and is having the Medialist still being offered today, would you not maybe be running aground with them on patent rights and such? … Just asking.
Dale,
We discussed that and Bill has been making Pflueger parts for a good many years and we’ve considered several options in the short conversation we had and logistically they would never be Pfluegers since they would not be a sanctioned item but that’s not to say I won’t try to contact Shakespeare and see what they think as well. For right now we’re testing the waters to see if the public would accept something of this as a viable reel, it certainly would be more robust and with full metal components, i.e. drag assembly etc. and as close to a true vintage Pflueger as one could get at far less the price. We want to dignify the 75 years of Pflueger not sully it.
I have about a half dozen 1494’s and 1495’s in service and three of them sport Bill’s metal ratchet, one a pfoot, and one a counter balance. Nice items and Bill’s a great guy too.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he buys a silly looking hat…
Thanks for the input so far folks. I will monitor this until the end of May when I’ll copy all the postings and combine them with those from other boards. We’re already seeing a pattern and appreciate the input.
I’ve emailed Bill with all the comments taken from the various forums I posted the question on. I’ve not heard from him yet but he and his wife generally take 6 weeks on the Miramich June-July at their cabin so I’m not surprised. I will report back once he and I have had the chance to discuss what plan of action might be next, thanks for all the input.
My first Pflueger, a 1495 1/2 is still going tho it was bought in the 50s and has been droped too many times to mention. I use it on a 6 wgt for which it is a little heavy. I did lighten it up a bit by enlarging the holes in the spool and the frame. I think that I removed quite a bit of fat and would suggest that anyone puting this reel back into production consider doing the same on the new model. There is a lot more I can remove. I modified my 1498 as well and she’s still going strong too.