Dedicated to preserving/restoring old fishing tackle and creating modern artifacts
This site is a bit of show and tell about two areas near and dear to my heart: Collecting old fishing tackle and creating fishing-related items from wood. As to collecting....well....I collect everything and probably too much of it...or at least that's what my wife tells me. I started out collecting wooden lures and managed to start several collections of Creek Chub and Heddon lures, along with a goodly supply of miscellaneous baits as they came swimming by. I then expanded into reels, with major concentration on big saltwater reels and pre-levelwind freshwater reels, again with a liberal sprinkling of about anything else that caught my eye. Of late, I have spent more effort on fly reels, as my collecting made a big turn in that direction when I obtained the Mary Kefover Kelly rod, reel and book collection. After vowing to "thin out" and get rid of all fly rods, I now find myself surrounded by over 100, including everything from Montagues to Leonards.....and I love 'em all!
Woodworking has been my primary hobby for the past 40 years, with emphasis on restorations but also on creation of wooden fishing reels and other fishing artifacts, made from exotic hardwoods. A major portion of my time of late has been in the restoration of old fly rods....repairing troubled finishes and re-wrapping the guides and ferrules as close to original as possible. This has proven to be a rewarding way to blend the two hobbies and bring back some classic tackle from the dead. I also have created assorted useable fishing tackle, including lures, rods, tackle boxes and display boxes for lures and reels. In the following pages, I'll show some of my collection and assorted projects carried out over the past several years. I hope you enjoy looking them over as much as I have enjoyed collecting and creating them.
Woodworking has been my primary hobby for the past 40 years, with emphasis on restorations but also on creation of wooden fishing reels and other fishing artifacts, made from exotic hardwoods. A major portion of my time of late has been in the restoration of old fly rods....repairing troubled finishes and re-wrapping the guides and ferrules as close to original as possible. This has proven to be a rewarding way to blend the two hobbies and bring back some classic tackle from the dead. I also have created assorted useable fishing tackle, including lures, rods, tackle boxes and display boxes for lures and reels. In the following pages, I'll show some of my collection and assorted projects carried out over the past several years. I hope you enjoy looking them over as much as I have enjoyed collecting and creating them.