Fall Auction

eBay Report - March 2006

Lots of great stuff again this month, especially some great metal lures. Those eBayers selling rods seem to have become more realistic and rods are selling good again. I have noted a recent trend in lures and reels coming up with high reserves or starting bids and wonder if there are investors trying to recoup their dollars.

Lures:

A nice J. T. Buel #3 Arrowhead spinner with pat marks from 1852 led off the Metal bait lineup. It sold for $545. A second one in Good brought $405 a few weeks later. An Alliance Wiggly Wigger in EX brought $428.88. This little known bait is shown to the right. A McHarg Kidney Spinner with embossed birds, fish, etc, and in VG condition received 21 bids before selling for $585. A Lane Wag Tail Minnow, EX in an EX box, gold with green back brought $1001.25. A John Pepper 1893 Bat Wing Spinner in EX reached $1304.99. A Chapman & Son, Rochester NY marked arrowhead spinner, 1/0 size and VG sold for $390.99.

A South Bend dealer carton of 12 Call Mac bass bugs in new condition sold for $1436. A Vacuum Bait that was Mint in an EX box and rainbow color reached $800. A #902 Underwater Minnow, white/red head and Bing's weedless hooks, and EX in an EX intro box sold for $471.66.

A green crackleback Shakespeare #33 underwater Minnow that was EX in an EX wooden box sold for $1005. A VG Pflueger Neverfail in an H. J. Frost "Senate" wooden box and green crackleback sold for $751.

A Creek Chub Bait Co. Husky Plunker in Frog finish that was EX in a VG box reached $847. An EX #3200 Plunker in a beautiful Goldfish color received 30 bids before selling for $4395. That was with no box. It must have been a month for plunking CCBC lures, as a Plunking Dinger #6200, white scale, sold for $290.

A Heddon Giant Vamp#7500, with flap rig hardware, in green crackleback color and EX condition sold for $861.51. An Artistic Minnow, EX in rare perch color, complete with weight and in a fair box sold for $2292.67. A Green Crackleback #150 Minnow that was EX in an EX wooden box brought $1875. A #700 Musky Minnow in yellow perch and VG sold for $107.99. A Midget Digit that was EX in an EX pot #B119M, sold for $1300. A plastic Lucky 13 in VG+ which was half white and half fluorescent orange brought $820. Holy Moly! A Display card with 10 Hi-Tails in mint, but only on a Good card, reached $579.69. Other recent Heddon's included an EX Top Sonic, Yellow/black spots, which sold for $1247, and a Tiny Lucky 13 in frogspot for $449.44.

Miscellaneous maker lures started off with a great Moonlight Chunk Bait #604 that was mint in an EX box and brought $625.05. A Box only for a Pepper National Minnow in fair condition sold for $613.50. A Rhodes Perfect Casting Minnow that had been gold, but almost all the paint was missing, still brought $1275. A Woods Expert 5 hook Minnow that was green back color and was good in a good wooden box reached $1325. A Myers & Spellman Minnow that was VG in a VG box/papers and white with green back, brought $2800. The "unknown lure" shown to the left, which was in EX condition brought $525. It sure is pretty. A white Keeling 3 hook minnow that was EX sold for $721.50. A Lowell Calking Gladd Minnow Tube in musky size and EX reached $698.88. A Wilmers "No Fooling" Salmon Plug in basic Yellow and EX brought $305.55. A nice DAM Ever Ready Wobbler, c1935, mint and gold scale color topped out at $471.66. A Millsite Paddle Bug, yellow/black & red spots, in EX sold for $355 and another that was silver/red spots brought the same. A box (only) for a Porter Bait Co. Pop Stop in EX reached $295. A Henning Glass Minnow Tuber c 1911 and EX brought $670. A Nichols wooden, glass eyed, shad type bait that was mislabeled as a Pico was recognized by enough Texans to bring $785.65. And finally, a NIB Castaic 9" hard swimbait in a color called Silver Fish sold for $1725.

Rods:

The craziest sale of the month was when one of those Japanese combo rods, an "Argus", in the wooden box/flies, etc brought $356. It was in EX condition, but wow!

A Mint South Bend #346 bamboo fly rod, 8'6", 3/2 brought $311. An Orvis Impregnated Dual Taper, 7' or 7'3", 2/2, and VG sold for $511. An Orvis Battenkill, 8', 2/2, for an 8 wt. line and EX sold for $640. An EX Orvis Fleas Rod, 6'6", 2/1 brought $504. A private label Gart Bros. 8'6", 3/2 and EX reached $355. A Phillipson Peerless Dry Fly Special, 8'6", 3/2 and Mint brought $660.55. A W. E. Edwards Quadrate Custom Deluxe, 7', 2/2, and VG sold for $1100.08. A 7' E. F. Payne with Abercrombie & Fitch marks, 2/1 and EX brought $538. A Payne 8'6", 2/2 with varnish that turned tacky, o/w VG sold for $1782.

Antique rods included a C. F. Orvis fly rod, 10', 3/2, in VG condition that sold for $470.51. An 8'6", 3/2 fly rod made by H. Andrus, Hartford Ct., in G-VG condition which brought $227.50.

A Hardy fiberglass fly rod "Jet", 8', 2/1, and EX sold for $187.50. A Phillipson "Epoxite" fly rod, 2/2, 8'6", and mint in the tube, reached $303. Another fiberglass rod was a Fenwick white Fenglass big game rod, 7', 80 lb. class, and EX. It brought $232.50.

Those Featherweight Champion casting handles seem to still bring good prices, as a white one in EX sold for $380.69.

Miscellaneous Tackle Stuff:

An Old Glory Sure Catch spring fish hook/trap made of brass and steel and VG sold for $464.11. It is shown to the right. A nice spool of Western Auto Beacon Irish Linen Cuttyhunk line that was VG in a VG box sold for $78.77. A Kingfisher line spool that was VG in a VG box sold for $128.50.

A Marbles fish grabber spring gaff in VG reached $307.66. A Norland spring gaff in EX with no wooden handle brought $175. (I remember when I used to buy those for $25 and sell them for $50). An Abercrombie & Fitch Fishing Multi-Tool that was EX in a leather sheath sold for $153.50. A B.F. Meek & Sons brass screwdriver in EX brought $406, while an EX Horton Meek oil bottle, unopened with cork stopper, reached $399.

A 1938 Ocean City Reel Co. Catalog in EX sold for $111.50. A bound Volume 1 (issue No. 1 through 26) of Forrest & Stream tabloid newspaper from 1873 in G reached $306. An EX copy of the premier issue (Spring 1968) of Bassmaster Magazine sold for $202.50. A VF/VF copy of Colorado Classic Cane by Spurr & Sinclair and signed by both, sold for $280. A Horton Mfg. Co. (Bristol) catalog from the 1920s with Philip Goodwin cover and EX brought $292.87.

An EX Turtle Creel sold for $2000. A Hardy Neroda fly box with flies and in EX condition topped out at $127.45. A line dryer by H. L. Hausman of Orange NJ made of wood and brass in EX sold for $68.99. A Ketch-Mor combination minnow trap and bucket in EX shape with papers sold for $202 and is shown to the left.

The show stopper was an EX 1914 Bristol Calendar, illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin, and with all calendar pages, which sold for $4212.88. A South Bend lures hanging sign, 9 x 11 inches and VG sold for $311.66. A Heddon Lone Eagle 1930s fishing kit, with one lure used o/w EX brought $1726.

Reels:

The month started off with the Ladies being well represented by a "purty in pink" Johnson Princess spincast reel. One that was EX in the box sold for $365, which immediately brought out another in the same condition and it sold for $362.57. The first one is shown to the right. For a report on more pink spinning reels see Ben Wright's Spinning Reel Report.

A Henshall-Van Antwerp 1889 pat. model with no finish left. It sold for $1526. A Zwarg #300 Saguenay 2/0 salmon fly reel in EX brought $1775. A Thomas Alred brass fly reel, 2¼" and VG sold for $600. A Montague hard rubber and GS fly reel with protected rim and EX reached $495. A Pflueger Hawkeye, 80 yd GS/HR and EX sold for $511.09. An EX Pettengill Mohawk #2 side mount fly reel brought $670. A raised pillar Leonard Mills salmon reel, GS/HR and VG sold for $920. A Silas Terry fly reel, brass and EX, reached $461.09. A Bogdan 100 with Abercrombie & Fitch stamp and G-VG condition sold for $998. A Hardy Super Silex wide drum model in VG topped out at $1885, while a Haywood brass clamp reel in G sold for $306.

Big Game reels of interest included a Shakespeare Miller Autocrat in 6/0 size and VG in a VG box, which sold for $409. A Penn Senator 16/0 in VG brought $547.51. A Fin-Nor 12/0? in VG condition sold for $861.88.

NY style reels were highlighted by a Thos. J. Conroy Maker brass ball handle with stop, 2½" in diameter, and VG condition. It sold for $511.11. A F. Vom Hofe S handle, stop latch reel in German silver with the former owner's name beautifully engraved, and EX brought $1826.

Newer reels included an Ambassadeur 7000, which was mint in a G box/all the goodies. It sold for $440.05. A Shimano Bantam Mag 201 and NIB reached $220.50.

A beautiful and very rare J. Holzmann hard rubber and GS reel in a very small 2½" diameter size and in EX reached $2799.21. It is shown to the left.  A Shakespeare Style B level wind reel in EX sold for $425. A Talbot Eli in EX reached $750. Finally, a J. H. Birkett combo reel and handle Gyratory Reel patented in 1908 and VG seemed the bargain of the month at $280.