I have an old bamboo fly rod that my dad owned in the late 1940s and early 1950s when he lived in Wyoming. This is the rod I learned to cast with but it has not been used since the late 1960s. I want to hang it on the wall in my tying room and would like to put a reel on it. There are quite a few vintage reels listed on ebay but I don’t know what might be historically accurate for the time period.
Can anybody suggest a vintage fly reel that I could put on this rod from the late 40s/early 50s time period.
My suggestion would be the 1400 series from Pflueger. They were the workhorse of the 40’s and 50’s, and they are still really affordable. You may be looking for a Balin or something expensive but the Medalist is still a go to favorite of many. Here is a peek; http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ … hasJS=true sorry for the length of the link.
Out of curiousity do you know the make or model of the rod? The Pflueger is a good suggestion but the JW Young reels were also popular way back then and they can be picked up on E-bay for not a whole lot of money.
No disrespect intended to the venerable old Pflueger Medalist, but the Young’s just look a bit classier on a display rod in my opinion.
Ya mean like this?
I used to go to flea markets and antique stores and pick up old flyreels for $10-20. They were not Orvis or Hardy. Those go for in the thousands for the older ones. These are just ordinary trade reels manufactured in the 40’s thru 60’s. Next pick is a few more, next is the Willy aluminum reel on a South Bend on the fireplace, and last is my grandson playing with an old model spinning reel - don’t worry, I washed his hands off after he handled a non-fly reel. You can pick these up at antique stores quite easily if you keep your eyes peeled.
By the way, those lures there are F4 flatfish lures intended for a fly rod. Lazy Ike used to make a fly Ike too. This is for and earlier post on bait fishing. Fly rod lures were mentioned. I just keep them for show - wouldn’t think of using them - unless I were to tie on a couple of duck feathers and some hackle - hmmmm.
Bobinmich - that is exactly what I mean. I have a place to display the rod and want to put an old reel on it, just as you have in your picture.
Avalon - there are no markings on the rod. I am sure it was not very expensive at the time of purchase. But it has sentimental value and I don’t intend to cast it as I am not sure of the line weight it would take and more importantly I don’t want to damage it.
I have no idea what reel my dad had on it but I do recall he had an automatic reel which no longer exists.
If it’s an automatic reel you want they show up everywhere including eBay, it more than likely wore a South Bend auto or maybe a Perrine, about $15.00.
For a lower-cost reel you can’t go wrong with a Pflueger Medalist 1494. I you want to spend money, I’d guess an old Hardy would be the way to go.
If I were you I’d probably try to hunt down some old photographs of your dad with the rod and reel, if any exist. I’m sure someone here could help you identify the reel of you had a decent photograph.
