I’m selling a part of my 40+ year tackle collection over the coming months. Over 10,000 reels and 15,000 lures and need to thin the herd. Bookmark me because I’ll be listing 30-50 reels every week, so check out my other auctions! So much rare stuff. I am listing reels Monday-Thursday so if you see reels you like that end later in the week, I’ll wait to send an invoice until the Thursday reels have ended to save you shipping costs. First two month put nearly 400 reels into new homes! Thanks to everyone. I truly appreciate it.
DESCRIPTION:
This is a super tough hard rubber surf casting reel made by the Enterprise Manufacturing Company of Akron, Ohio, makers of Pflueger fishing tackle (see below for brief history of Montague reels). It’s marked “Otter” Surf Casting on the front plate, which makes it a product of the Harry J. Frost Company of New York City, a firm that was founded in 1901 by one of the true characters of the New York tackle trade. Frost had a number of trade names, including Otter and Senate, and this is a very cool hard rubber saltwater reel. These early Pflueger saltwater reels are tough to find. Dates from the 1910s when Frost was at its height and Pflueger was selling a lot of trade reels. Works fine but needs a cleaning. Some deep scratches to the hard rubber. See high res images. A great addition to your collection!
SHIPPING:
Domestic shipping will be $8 via USPS first class mail in the domestic USA. Combined domestic lots will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail. International shipping only through eBay’s international shipping program.
NOTES:
I’ve collected lures and reels for 40 years and I love them and their history, and really just want these to have happy homes. If there’s any issues I’ll fix them for you.
Inventory Code: D166
BRIEF HISTORY:
I’ve always been fascinated by the fishing reels of the Enterprise Manufacturing Company of Akron, Ohio — makers of Pflueger fishing tackle. My first book was a history of Pflueger and 20+ years later I’m still learning about the company and their reels. Founded in 1881 (forget the 1864 date the firm used as a founding date — that was the date of the founding of the American Fish Hook Company which they purchased in 1899) by Ernest F. Pflueger, the firm applied a luminous paint designed for horse tack to fishing lures and the rest, as they say, is history.
They did not get into the reel business until 1900 but when they did, they bought an existing reel factory — and like the hook factory they purchased right before — had it disassembled and shipped to Akron on a train, where they commenced manufacturing reels until the 1960s. Early Pflueger reels are mysterious and exciting to collect; after 1914 and the use of the Bulldog logo they make more sense.
Eventually the firm made four different lines of reels; those marked Pflueger were the top line and included iconic reels like the Akron and Supreme; their second line was called 4 Brothers (after E.F.’s sons Ernest A., Joseph, Charles and George) which sold a slightly discounted line of reels like the Elinor and Victor; the Portage line which sold lower quality reels like the Eureka and Seminole; and unmarked Pflueger reels intended for the discount trade. Portage was a trade name originated in 1906 when Earnest A Pflueger left the firm to found his own company just down the street in Akron, a factory replete with state of the art fishing reel manufacturing equipment. This family rift was healed in 1914 when E.A. Brought his new company (and reel making equipment) back into the Enterprise Manufacturing fold.
In 1928 the firm claimed to manufacture 50,000 different pieces of fishing tackle. That might overwhelm you, but help is here. Intrepid reel historians like the great Robert A. Miller, Dr. Todd E.A. Larson, Craig Barber and others have written volumes on Pflueger reels and Enterprise Manufacturing Co. History. These reels are endlessly fascinating. If you have a passing interest in Pflueger, grab Miller’s three books that cover the complete line of Pflueger baitcasters, and join the the Old Reel Collector’s Association; their bi-monthly publication The Reel News is the heart of reel collecting and their digital library of 20,000+ pages of fishing tackle catalogs is free to all members. I believe they have a full set of Pflueger catalogs, and over a hundred research articles on Pflueger reels of all kinds.