Berkley Terminal Tackle 1966

Berkley is one of the biggest names in the fishing industry, in terms of baits and lures, scents, fishing line, terminal tackle, rods, reels, tools and tackle management. Go into any fishing tackle department today and chances are that Berkley lures will occupy a major portion of the wall and shelf space. Today in Berkley Terminal Tackle 1966 we’re going to look at what was primarily a dealer or retailer catalog from that year, that showed what Berkley had to offer in the way of fishing line, leaders, tools and snelled hooks.

It’s an interesting catalog because you don’t often see entire catalogs (45 pages) devoted to these items. Of course there were catalogs that targeted terminal tackle like this, but they don’t have the “sex appeal” of lure or rod and reel catalogs. Let’s face it, every angler loves to page through lure catalogs because they lend themselves so well to daydreaming and visualizing catching fish with the lures presented. It’s tougher to see wire leaders or a spool of nylon monofilament as fodder for dreaming about catching big bass.

But this catalog nevertheless highlights an essential and, dare I say, even “fun” part of fishing tackle. If you’re a fishing nerd like I am, you see the appeal of using top notch gear like swivels, hooks, leaders, etc. And you certainly appreciate and are even enamored by the graphics on spools of line or countertop displays. This Berkley Terminal Tackle catalog is all the more attractive to us vintage fishing gear enthusiasts because it offers a window into a fishing culture that speaks of nostalgia and history.

The catalog kicks off with 8 pages highlighting Berkley’s relatively recent fishing line innovation, Berkley Trilene. Berkley Fishing states that founder Berkley Bedell experimented with extruding nylon monofilament fishing line and in 1959 he introduced Trilene. Bedell “sent out thousands of sample spools of line and asked store owners to have their best fisherman try it on a spinning reel.  Fishermen loved the line and it began the successful launch of Berkley Trilene.” Trilene became, and still is, one of the best selling products for Berkley.

The spool graphics on Trilene line were fantastic, with the much beloved Berkley heart logo, and the wading angler battling a jumping bass over blue, yellow, red and silver geometric blocks. The same could be said of the graphics on the Dew Flex, Spin Chief and Medallion spools. They all shout retro-cool! And the counter displays were awesome. The display cases look to be free to retailers purchasing enough spools to fill them. I’d love to have that curved display on page 5 (below).

After the fishing line we get several pages of leaders, with special attention given to Berkley’s famous Steelon leader, a nylon coated wire leader. The famous Berkley heart logo was developed as a result of this leader, employing the slogan, “A nylon leader with a heart of stainless steel.”

Following the Berkley leaders are a few pages showing pre-made fishing rigs, material and tools to allow anglers to make their own leaders, snelled hooks, and stringers. That about does it for the Berkley Terminal Tackle 1966 catalog. It’s a little hard to believe that this catalog was published nearly 60 years ago. Berkley Trilene is still a top selling fishing line! But before we get to the gallery and allow you to page through the catalog, below are two additional photos from the same terminal tackle catalog three years earlier, in 1963. The 1963 catalog is essentially the same as the 1966 catalog, but these cover pages were different and, I thought, interesting. The front shows a still life of Berkley Trilene spools, which I’m not sure is more appealing than the ‘66 cover of a boy and presumably his father fishing at the shore. The back cover is, however, a different story. It is a great advertisement for the strength of Berkley Trilene fishing line, showing a 440-pound sea bass – taking up almost the whole page – caught on 30 lb. test Trilene monofilament.

If you want to page through the catalog just click on the first image below and use the arrows to scroll through. Unfortunately, there is a single page missing from the catalog, page 41/42. 

GALLERY – BERKLEY TERMINAL TACKLE 1966