Not too long ago, my colleague and fishing buddy, Dan, walked into the office with a bag that his dad had given him. It was originally owned by Dan’s Great Uncle, a Benedictine monk and avid fisherman. His name was Angelo Zankle (isn’t that a cool name?) and lived to the age of 106. The bag was full of some really cool, antique fishing equipment.
I’ll get to the equipment in a second, but I had to point out that the bag it all came in wasn’t a bag you would get at a grocery store. It was a Duluth Pack. Check out the date the Pack was made:
If you don’t know anything about Duluth Packs, they are some of the best known, most well-made backpacks you can buy. They are really expensive, but worth every penny because they last forever. It’s the bag of choice for many outdoorsy types.
Once I saw the bag, I knew there had to be some cool stuff in it. After all, who would put crappy gear into a Duluth Pack, right?
First, Dan pulled out a silver container. It was chock full of old lures and other tackle. There were old Rapalas, spinnerbaits with real animal fur, old spoons, and classic bobbers and weights. One of the coolest items, though, was an old style bobber. It was made of clear plastic. I had never seen anything like it before.
Then Dan pulled out a rod tube. It was only about three feet long, so I figured it was a broken down fly rod. It wasn’t. It was a retractable rod. As you can see, it was made out of the plastic with the classic brown of the ’60s. I can’t imagine the rod was very sensitive.
The bag also contained several reels. One came in a leather pouch and there were several spare spools as well. The line was probably older than me.
As you can see, the bag was a treasure trove of fishing history.
When my parents bought their first cabin in the early ’80s, the previous owners left all of their fishing gear. There was a huge metal tackle box full of antique wooden lures and other antique tackle. The owner also left a fly-tying kit. As a pre-teen, I thought the stuff was cool, but didn’t appreciate it for what it was. As I got older, I was more occupied with being a teenager than going up to our cabin, and I didn’t get to retrieve the gear before my parents sold the cabin when I was in college. I wish I had that stuff now because even if I never used it, it was a snapshot of fishing history, much like Dan’s bag.
That’s a great find. Interesting that although technology has changed the sport, there are still so many little things that have remained unchanged.