Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Knucklebusters

Hemingway and Marlins
Hemingway and Marlins

In 1972, a couple of decades into the post-World War II explosion of California sportfishing, a man bought an old reel at a flea market at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. This was Mike Farrior’s first vintage reel: a star-drag Castey, made by Dalmo Castey in Santa Monica. Farrior began seeking out saltwater tackle made from the Civil War era through the 1930s, and old catalogues, magazines, or books.

Farrior has literature dating from the 1940s back to the 1600s and tackle hand-tooled throughout the world. He owns artifacts once belonging to anglers Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey. In 1972, Farrior was appointed historian for the famous Tuna Club at Avalon on Catalina Island. Farrior established the West Coast as the birthplace of big-game fishing with rod and reel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an interview on Farrior’s website, some New York ball-handled reels in his collection “were for casting to striped bass from the beaches and rocks in the mid 1800s…. Later, when tarpon fishing was discovered in Florida, this same design was beefed up to catch the larger tarpon.”

Also in the collection, according to the website, are “knucklebuster reels that typify what the early anglers in Avalon used when they fished for tuna between the 1890s and 1910. They received the name because when a large fish struck the bait, the direct-drive reel’s handle would spin backwards breaking anglers’ hands (and tackle) as they tried to stop the fish.”

Over the years, Farrior found that when he displayed his collection at public events, people started bringing their old gear, found or passed down through the family. Since Catherine Miller of H&M Landing began Day at the Docks 36 years ago, Farrior and his collection have been fixtures (also at the Fred Hall shows). The items at his booth are not for sale, though he is always looking for unique finds to purchase.

Past Event

Southwestern Tackle Collectors Public Show

  • Saturday, February 6, 2016, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Ada Harris Elementary, 1508 Windsor Road, Cardiff by the Sea
  • $30

Farrior will be answering questions and displaying items from his collection at the Southwestern Tackle Collectors Public Show, Saturday, February 6, in Cardiff.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Hemingway and Marlins
Hemingway and Marlins

In 1972, a couple of decades into the post-World War II explosion of California sportfishing, a man bought an old reel at a flea market at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. This was Mike Farrior’s first vintage reel: a star-drag Castey, made by Dalmo Castey in Santa Monica. Farrior began seeking out saltwater tackle made from the Civil War era through the 1930s, and old catalogues, magazines, or books.

Farrior has literature dating from the 1940s back to the 1600s and tackle hand-tooled throughout the world. He owns artifacts once belonging to anglers Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey. In 1972, Farrior was appointed historian for the famous Tuna Club at Avalon on Catalina Island. Farrior established the West Coast as the birthplace of big-game fishing with rod and reel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an interview on Farrior’s website, some New York ball-handled reels in his collection “were for casting to striped bass from the beaches and rocks in the mid 1800s…. Later, when tarpon fishing was discovered in Florida, this same design was beefed up to catch the larger tarpon.”

Also in the collection, according to the website, are “knucklebuster reels that typify what the early anglers in Avalon used when they fished for tuna between the 1890s and 1910. They received the name because when a large fish struck the bait, the direct-drive reel’s handle would spin backwards breaking anglers’ hands (and tackle) as they tried to stop the fish.”

Over the years, Farrior found that when he displayed his collection at public events, people started bringing their old gear, found or passed down through the family. Since Catherine Miller of H&M Landing began Day at the Docks 36 years ago, Farrior and his collection have been fixtures (also at the Fred Hall shows). The items at his booth are not for sale, though he is always looking for unique finds to purchase.

Past Event

Southwestern Tackle Collectors Public Show

  • Saturday, February 6, 2016, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Ada Harris Elementary, 1508 Windsor Road, Cardiff by the Sea
  • $30

Farrior will be answering questions and displaying items from his collection at the Southwestern Tackle Collectors Public Show, Saturday, February 6, in Cardiff.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader