March 2009

There are many subdivisions within vintage fishing tackle: old fishing reels , old bamboo rods, old fishing creels old books, old baits, lures, flies, fly tying equipments, prints, drawings, fishing boat equipment...a whole lot of possibilities and real fun (anyone longing for a spree at a flea-market or garage sale here?)

Besides going outside and visit local markets and craft fairs, one of the the best way to discover what there is out there for collecting is the Internet; eBay certainly , but other auctions houses and individual professionals are very well indicated:

The one company that I like the most - but unfortunately fishing items sales have been put on hold - is Bonhams (Worldwide presence; check the link to see the world record sale for a vintage fishing creel).

Then there are of course other interesting expert people and smaller companies like Udo Hildebrandt (Germany), Bob Summers (USA), Jeff Wagner (USA), Rick D. Sorensen (West Slope, USA) and a few british professionals....

And then there is the Lang's Auction website and online bidding, The catalogues are worth purchasing and recentyl they have gone "green" in the sense that the catalogues will be in digital form only and that the auctions will be held online. I must say that I am not a fan of this kind of "green" evolution. As a matter of fact, the use of printing paper has gone up since the widespread use of computers. Just imagine how many more people will print at home these catalogues...

In my "news" pages you can start knowing the key worldwide players in the world of collecting old fishing stuff. Just have a look at my google calendar. The listing in that calendar is of course not complete, but part of the fun of collecting vintage fishing tackle is to gradually build up knowledge on his own.

In my humble opinion, old fishing reels have the most appeal to collectors and the most followers (second is perhaps old fishing lures and baits).

I have seen people building up knowledge about fishing reels to such an extent to become real experts for one brand or period. Even to the point to self publish a book about their favourite brand (e.g. Hardy, Abu Garcia, Mitchell,...). And guess what! Those books usually sold out in a short time...and became a collection piece on its own!

Why? Because the information in them is invaluable in order to date an item and estimate the rarity and so its value.

And this brings us to what is essential to know about a certain field. No matter what one decides which vintage fishing tackle will collect, soon or later you need to research the manufacturing history of that products with all details which go with it.
And if this information is lost or nobody knows it, then all the better: you can start writing it down...and eventually write a book about it one day!

But for those who are at the first stage and need to start building up their knowledge, here are some fishing tackle books that you can read...

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