Collecting the Reel Thing - Antique Fishing Tackle

Whoever cast the first fishing line into the water and brought out a shining flopping trout for dinner, must have known instantly the peculiar thrill of conquest, of equal battling equal, of awe, and of mystery. Within hours or days, that first angler must have wondered how to improve his chances of winning the next time. Did he use fine sinew, or woven grass, to make a line? Carve bone or shell into a sharpened hook? Did he sit for hours by the river bank, observing the fish leaping up to eat the flies on the surface?

It's beyond the scope of this article to trace the many hundreds of years of fishing history. We know that every indigenous people living near bodies of water eventually learned to catch fish in sufficient quantities to provide food for sustenance. Most used traps, nets or fished in groups with spears. The solitary fisherman aimed to feed his own family until very recently, when within the last few hundred years the art of angling became a leisure activity.

The "modern" sports fisherman (from the 16th century to the present) became more serious about his pursuit, recognizing that fish are crafty, subtle, unpredictable and persistent. While Tom Sawyer might have been satisfied with worms (which work quite well on your average perch, sunfish, porgie or bullhead), the true test of one's skill lies in the use of manmade lures and flies to catch trout, bass, or salmon. It is the ever-illusive perfect fly, the many hundreds of unique lures, and the accoutrements of fly fishing that are our topic.

According to the history page of Antique Fishing Lures, by Floyd Roberts, "In the late 1890's while waiting for a friend to go fishing, James Heddon carved his first frog lure from a piece of wood he picked up. He fastened hooks to his hand carved frog and later that day he tossed it into the water and caught a bass. This was the beginning of the first bass lure. It is said that he only carved frogs for himself and a few friends. These lures are extremely rare and only eight authentic hand carved James Heddon Frogs have been found. " Other firsts came around the same time: In the late 1800's William Shakespeare Jr. invented a reel that wound the line evenly on the spool. This reel led to the beginning of the Shakespeare Company in 1897.

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