You can occasionally find treasures at tag sales, but luck needs to be with you--and it was for me this past Saturday here in NH. The town north of us has a huge annual tag sale on its picture-perfect village green, hosted by the local volunteer fire department. They didn't have it last year due to the pandemic, so this year's had more vendors than usual, bigger crowds, a happier atmosphere. And more fishing gear than I've ever seen.
Some vintage stuff. I picked up and put down probably twenty-five rods, even more reels, old fly boxes, tackle boxes, and rusty old gadgets to disgorge hooks, but this is what I ended up buying.
A Young "Pridex" reel, looks brand-new: $5.00.
A Redington 8-weight graphite fly rod with the wrapping still on grip; vendor asked $10, I gave him $5.00, and I'll be passing it on to the first deserving young fly-fisher who crosses my path.
A 1494 Medalist, good condition, 50 cents! (One odd thing about tag sales; you can usually find Medalists there, but always the 1494!).
A BLACK Shakespeare fiberglass "Action Taper"Wonderod from the 60's; 7' 9" for 7-weight, with garish gold wrappings that really pop! Again, $5.00.
Best find and a real (no pun) curiosity: A "Silver King" fly reel from Montgomery Ward from the l950's, looks absolutely new, in original box with original bag. This was the most costly find at $20. It has some features I think modern fly reel designers should think about re-introducing, including the ability to switch the click off to silent, and....and I've never seen this before on a fly reel...a little dial on the facing that you can dial to indicate what weight line is currently on the spool. Since this was the l950's, the choices are ""C" "D" "E" "F" "GH" "HCH "GBG"....and you move the dial with a screwdriver.
Since I always forget what line is on which reel, this seems to be an idea worth reviving.
To top things off, met a beginning fly fisher who was turning over the stuff; I steered him to a more than adequate Cortland rod and reel for $20, then, since he seemed sincere guy, went with him off to the side and gave him his first casting lesson.
Having fun with my loot & wishing all my fellow members equal success.
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