Fall Auction

eBay Report - January 2005

We were hoping for some really unusual item to come up to start off the new year, but if it did, I guess we missed it. But here's what we did find...

Rods:

It was nice to see some interest shown in a true classic when an antique H. L. Leonard 10', 3/2 (one tip 6" short), with spike ferrules, ring guides and a ratan grip in VG condition brought $864. It is shown here. Another old classic F. E. Thomas 14'6" 2 handed salmon rod, 3/2 and VG sold for $280.

A Heddon #14 Thorobred 9' fly rod, 3/2, that was EX in the tube sold for $328.64. A nice leather fly rod tube for a 40" rod in VG reached $215.02. A South Bend Doublebuilt #166, 8'6", 3/2 for an 8 weight sold for $490. One of the most common South Bends - a #359, 9', 3/2 that was mint in its cardboard tube sold for $177.50. An 8'6" Goodwin Granger Colorado Special, 3/2 and restored to EX brought $475. A Wright & McGill Favorate, 8' 3/2 and VG sold for $965. A 7'6" Montague Rapidan, 2/2 and EX reached $257. A G. Halstead 8', 2/2, EX original shape sold for $2358.33.

A Phillipson Royal Wand fiberglass fly rod #RWF76, 7'6", 2/1 for a 6 wt. line and mint sold for $275.

A Heddon bamboo casting rod #2500 DeLuxe President, 5'6", extra light in VG sold for $460.  

Miscellaneous Stuff:

A frog or cricket box made of metal and in EX sold for $149.01. It is shown to the right. A triangle glass minnow trap with nice color and in mint condition reached $347.50. A 2 pocket George Lawrence creek with lots of leather (and a few mouse chews) brought $1225. A Lawrence creel harness only that was padded and tooled and in EX condition sold for $154.50. A Turtle creel in VG- reached $585. A fancy MacMonies creel from Portland, OR with lots of leather and fancy stitching, with the original harness, and EX sold for $1450. A Winchester bamboo handled landing net which was VG in a bag sold for $311.89.

A nifty Edward Vom Hofe line dryer, pat. 1895, in EX and with bag sold for $228.50. A Hardy "Compact" folding line dryer with mahogany handle and EX sold for $281.10 A small leather fly reel case marked Edward Vom Hofe and in EX sold for $370. A Malloch "The Coggie" fly tying vise from 1925 and VG reached $484.63. A Silver flask with a leaping fish, engraved and EX, brought $515. 

"Colorado Classic Cane" hard cover book by Spurr & Sinclair in fine condition with a VG dust jacket brought $189.49. A portfolio of 100 prints put out in 1902 by the NY State F & G Dept. that varied in condition from VG to poor sold for $1025.

A Pflueger "Nibalo" Store Display of bobbers or cork floats #2450 in VG to EX sold for $350. It is shown to the left.

A Heddon VG+ ice decoy in rainbow color and VG+ sold for $598.88. A Bear Creek northern pike shaped white plastic decoy, 6" and EX, topped out at $206.50.

A Field & Stream bronze honor badge for what I guess was a 55 pound Dolphin (I'm not a SW fisherman) brought $313.99. A really nice green "winner" minnow bucket with silver stenciling that was in VG sold for $220.

Lures:

Miscellaneous baits included a North Channel Minnow that was EX in a VG box. It was green back color and sold for $3039, and this neat old classic bait is pictured to the right. A Trory Minnow c1889, with 90% of the paint and the hooks missing, brought $1600 despite the condition. A Michigan Life-Like Minnow, green speckled color and VG, which brought $835. A Howe's Vacuum Bait, EX in a VG+ tin and white color, sold for $550. An EX Success Spinner in a VG picture box topped out at $355. It was white with gold spots. A seldom seen Judas Frog that was NIB/papers sold for $460. A Bass King, EX in a VG box, yellow/red head brought $315. A red & white Winnie Stump Dodger that was EX in a G picture box, plus a studio photo of fisherman Bert Winnie, reached $715.50.

A Heddon Punkinseed salesman's ring with 11 bodies (one missing) in EX sold for $2006.86, while a wooden salesman's case with 35 lures and VG brought $899. It was from the 1940s. A Musky Vamp, 8", VG in a yellow scale color sold for $615.51. A Luminous Crazy Crawler #2100, EX- in box/papers, reached $739.31. An EX Shrimpy Spook in an EX box with pocket catalog sold for $525.85. A Black Sucker #1300 in EX- reached $1500.

An early Pflueger Wizard 5 hook minnow, greenback over white but only VG-, sold for $380.99. A white Pflueger Globe, EX in a fair maroon box and with Neverfail hook hangers, brought $404.

 A CCBC fly rod Dingbat that was NIB and white/red head brought $410. A Wee Dee #4800, yellow/green and near mint, sold for $510. A NIB Husky Plunker #5830W (salt water size, orange/red head and black spots) sold for $623.

South Bend baits were led by one sold as a trade minnow by Abbey & Imbrie. It was called the bucktail killer and was EX in a VG box, and rainbow color. This lure received 38 bids before selling for $2185. It is shown to the left. An EX King-Oreno in minnow scale color, sold for $482. A Musky Minnow #956 in green crackleback and VG condition sold for $1502. A VG Woodpecker in an unusual gold color/scale and a green head, sold for $510.

A 1907 Shakespeare Musky Minnow in EX condition - yellow with red back and early slim tail topped out at a very nice (for the seller) $7088.88. A really nifty Mint Seven-Eleven in frog spot color, and a VG- box brought $461.78.

Metal and other unusual stuff was highlighted by a Musky size Speedbait in brass and VG, which sold for $875. An Outers Pikie Getum, white/red head and EX in a G box with papers brought 202.49. An Arbogast Weedless Kicker, EX in a VG picture box/papers, reached $209, and a Musky Big Tin Liz that was EX in a G picture box sold for $260.99. A Jos. M. Ness Nifty Minne glass tube box and papers only topped out at $3742.31. An Abalone bone jig in EX condition and 5" long sold for $374.99. An American Indian sea shell lure with a copper hook and good condition sold for $405. One seller had a pair of nice Winchester spinners that were in Mint condition. A Colorado spinner #9680 in an EX box reached $441. and a Crusader trout spinner #2-9766 on a mint card sold for $381.

Reels:

A neat looking reel was the British "The Brownie", which is a wood and metal reel that is shown to the left. This example undoubtedly had some replacement parts, so was in G? condition. The reel brought $866.36. Another unusual one is the Stalder-Merit reel, which is sort of a hybrid spinning-casting reel. Ben will probably include it in his spinning reel report, but an EX example in a VG box received 33 bids before selling for $610.

Hock your car and buy a Fin-Nor Wedding Cake #4 fly reel. This reel was serial number 4 of approximately 30 made and in EX condition. It sold for $10,457.88. A Pflueger Golden West fly reel in 80 yd size and VG sold for $451. A nice but unmarked, 2" hard rubber and aluminum fly reel in G-VG reached $650. An Edward vom Hofe Restigouche salmon fly reel with leather case and EX sold for $2,300.75. A Loomis & Plumb Automatic reel in "copper" (probably brass or bronze finish) and VG sold for $1100.

An "Old brass multiplying reel with Unusual Click Arrow", probably a Malleson NY reel with S type handle and in G-VG sold for $243.50. An A. B. Shipley #1 hard rubber and brass multiplier in VG brought $330. A Peck & Snyder NY style ball handle in brass and EX brought $405. A nice old hard rubber Hendryx 200 yard bay reel with S handle in VG reached $462.

A Shakespeare Miller Autocrat in 6/0 size that was EX in its hard box with papers topped out at $1076. An Edward vom Hofe 9/0 Big Game reel #621 in G-VG sold for $504. A EVH #471 1/0 striped bass and tarpon reel in VG topped out at $698. A bunch of Kovalovsky reels came up for sale. They had very high starting bids, and most did not receive any bids. A 16/0 sold for $8,500, and a 14/0 $7,000. Both had only the one bid. They really weren't up for auction - they were just for sale at a fixed price. A 12/0 Ocean City Balboa big game reel in G only sold for $316.13.

Newer reels included an ABU Ambassadeur Ultra Mag XLII that was NIB, with spare parts, etc. It sold for $224. A Shakespeare President II #1980HB that was purple color and in VG condition sold for $166. Topping them all in interest was an ABU Ambassadeur 5500C Deluxe from 1976. This was 1 of 500 in a wooden box with parts, etc. It catapulted to $3,800 after 29 bids. A Heddon Heritage #30 with transparent side plates and VG brought $316.

Older bait casters included a Blue Grass Reel Works #3 in VG which reached $500.87. A Wm. Shakespeare Jr. Style B level wind reel in EX sold for $273. It is pictured to the left. An engraved B. F. Meek & Sons #2 presentation and jeweled reel that was in EX condition sold for $1380.55. There was also a Heddon presentation reel that was engraved and gold plated. It was a 3-15 model presented to Heddon Rep Bill Logan and sold for $3551. A J. A. Coxe model 15 that was all German silver and EX in a leather case reached $360.50. The month ended with a rare J.F. & B.F. Meek silver Kentucky reel with 7 numbered screws from the Rice collection in Frankfort, KY reaching a nice round $15,877.33 (how's that for a round figure?). 

Stuff from the Kiest estate continues to be passed on to collectors. A couple of Kiest Indiana style reels that were new in mint tins + a cardboard box with misc. papers included sold for $280 and $271.

This month's contributors included: Larry Pearson, Tom Wight, Bill Arp, Ben Wright, Jim Schottenham, Dean Smith, Carl Schulz, Harvey Garrison and Mike Frome. Many thanks to all of you.