I've heard of lost pets finding their way back home, but I have never heard of lost fly reels coming back home.

I've mentioned previously in other posts that my fly fishing journey started back in the summer of 1981 (I was 11 at the time) when my favorite uncle gave me a Berkley 510 fly reel. I stuck it on a cheep South Bend rod, and for the next 8 years they were the only fly rod and reel I owned. Anyway, that rod and reel was stolen out of my truck in 1989 either while I was at work or out hiking the Long Trail.....not sure exactly when/where it walked away, it was just gone the next time I went to use it. I didn't care about the rod, it was less then ideal anyway, but the reel was a gift that meant a lot to me. I spent the next 28 years looking for a replacement for it, with little or no luck.

This year I started building my vintage bamboo and glass rod collections as well as adding to my vintage reel collection and was able to find not only 4 Berkley 510's on ebay, but also 3 identical Walker 77's and an LM Dickson 280. Together these 8 reels became my favorites to balance my heavy old bamboo rods. All of these reels saw use over the summer, except one old 510 that kept dropping it's spool. Something that is easy to fix and I was used to dealing with on my original reel. I just figured I'd fix it over the winter. Well last Saturday was absurdly cold, snowy and nasty so I decided to skip doing anything outdoors and stay inside and tinker with rods and reels all day. I went to work on that old 510 first and spent an hour cleaning decades worth of grease and dirt out of the inner workings........I was down right shocked what I found inside! My name and childhood phone number scratched into the back of the spool.......right where I put it back in 1982 when I took the rod to summer camp.

I had bought this reel on ebay early in the summer this year from a tackle shop in Maine that had taken it in trade. Getting this reel back after 28 years was definitely worth the $20. I paid for it!

That is one amazing story. Thanks for sharing.

Pretty dang amazing!!!!

Bob

I've been re-accumulating my equivalent childhood fishing gear, but never could I imagine something as cool as that!

Incredible. I once taped a torn bill with red banana tape in an odd way during my lunch break while working in Manhattan. I got the same mutilated bill back with my change after dinner at Juniors in Brooklyn a month later. So, I believe in such things happening. It's so odd. It's going to mean even more in your case. I'm assuming your reel is now a keeper! It's nice to hear you're reunited!

WoW...Congrats
Wish I could find my Ross San Miguel and my Tibor Everglades that both had my name engraved on them that were stolen out of my truck back in the late 90’s

Life sure is a neat little ride. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks guys I thought every one would get a kick out of this. A cool side note to this, is that this reel lived on my favorite Mohawk Rainbow for a few weeks until I found reels in better shape. The funny thing is that for as many times as the spool fell out of the reel I never paid enough attention to notice the writing under all the crud.

I spent so many years looking for just simply another 510, I never dreamed mine would finds it's way back home. I never did tell my uncle that gave me this reel that I had "lost" it, and I no longer have the opportunity to tell him I found it again. But I do find it interesting that I got it back just a few weeks after dedicating my last book to him (Teaching Kids to Fly Fish). Kinda freaky actually!

Great story. I've gotta think that the reel finding it's way home is a reward for "paying it forward" in the writing of your book.

Amazing story. Thank you for sharing!

Just too cool! Congrats

That's out of this world. What luck

A wonderful ending, thanks for sharing.
Enjoy Enjoy the wonderful Reel.
Happy Holidays to you and yours
Ray