The cover of the March April 1975 Bass Master has a picture of what I thought was just an old antique reel. Kind of a fly reel-looking sort of deal I figured, “Eh, Bass Master has an article on old antique fishing gear this issue.”
As I flipped through the pages and landed on page 20, though, I realized this was no antique tackle article, it was about some guy trying to bring back to life an antique reel – namely the Willoughby.
Okay, I’m all for collecting and/or fishing antique gear. It’s fun and gives you an idea of what the people – a long time before me – had to deal with when they went fishing. For example I have some old Garcia 301s (not really that old) that are fun to pull out every now and some old Plfuegar direct-drive knuckle busters with cat-gut line on them that make me feel for anglers of the past. Do I seriously fish with them? No.
Anyway, the article is about bringing back this archaic reel because it retrieves line faster than any casting reel of the time – 20 inches per turn of the handle as opposed to 16 inches by an ABU 5000-series reel.
But let’s look at its other advantages.
The reel has no drag (unless you consider your thumb a drag), the anti-backlash system is manual (i.e.: only your thumb again), it’s a direct drive 1:1 ratio and it holds an unbelievable 35 yards of 20-pound string.
Here are some quotes from the article:
“..but the casts are somewhat shorter in length with the Willoughby than with similar efforts with conventional gear.” Uh, could that be because it doesn’t carry much line?
“The main disadvantage of the set [up] concerns the absence of an anti-reverse set-up,….”
“Also I have some difficulty in chunking a light lure (less than 3/8 ounce) – but it’s possible.”
“No ‘professional over-runs here, an extra accumulation simply falls off on the ground.” Really? That’s an advantage?
One thing I found interesting about the article is there was no byline and it starts out with some pretty heavy ribbing – albeit to probably get the readers’ attention. In any event, it’s no wonder this reel never caught on with the masses. I’m sure there is probably someone out there who swears by them and I’ll get some not-so-desirable feedback or comments for my stance. That’s fine. Like I said before, fishing stuff like this for the fun of it is fine by me but don’t expect me to replace all my Shimanos for this crazy…….reel.
Past Reader Comments:
Rick Priest: I still use a Willoughby reel. My father, Reid Priest, was good friends with the Willoughby family. Both have passed. Fished Reelfoot Lake since I was five years old. The reels were taken over by Windmill Reels in Indianapolis. They have since ceased operation and no one is now producing them. I’d love to. The material used, and design of connecting the spokes was changed. Did not work as well as the Willoughby. Knowing the end is nearing, I ordered some baitcasters. All the drags confuse me. I get a bird’s nest constantly. Just yesterday (8/26/2013), I dug out my 30+ year old orange Willoughy and remounted it. Humans have a brain. Why do we need all those magnetic, disc… drags? In certain conditions; heavy cover, logs, stumps, lilly pads; I’ll put my Kiest design reel up against all those expensive baitcasters. I’ve lived in Southern Illinois for 12 years. Strip pits and farm ponds everywhere. Caught many 6lb+ bass on a 30 year old reel and it keeps on tickin’ !
Capt. Burton Bosley: In the early 60’s I lived in Topeka, Kansas. I met a fellow there who fished/snagged? big flatheads in the Kaw river in the winter. He used a reel identical to this except I thought it was made of aluminum. He mounted it on a calcutta cane with guides, it cast a mile if you didn’t get chopped by the spokes. Burt
Paul Wallace: Another popular Indiana lure was the Hartig Spinner. An in line spinner similar to Mepps only with a living rubber type skirt. Guys used to buy these by the dozen in my area, east central Indiana. I’ve still got a few and have a brand new Musky Hartig in my collection. Was made in Oscelo [sic] Indiana. Used this lure to catch 100’s maybe 1000’s of bass. Paul
Brian: Not a joke – As a lifelong central Indiana resident, I remember these reels back in the early 80’s when I first started seriously bass fishing. The company (Willoughby Industries) is named after founder and bass angler Ray Willoughby, and up until this year, the address and phone number in the original ad was still valid. The family company is now in the hands of the third generation, Ray being the founder back in 1947. Here’s the link to the company today.
http://www.willoughby-ind.com
The “windmill” reel is frequently referred to as an “Indiana-style” reel, probably after Ray’s original design (?), but certainly because of the local popularity of the concept.
Pete to Brian: Great stuff, Brian. Sounds like you have a lot of Hoosier State knowledge — who/what else do you remember from that era?
Brian to Pete: Pete – As you might imagine, Indiana was never the center of the bass fishing world, then or now. As such, there hasn’t been a whole lot of interesting stuff come from our state. A few things that do come to mind:
– Before the big Bass Federation fallout, Indiana, to the best of my knowledge, had the largest state Federation in the country.
– Along a similar line, Indiana has had an inordinate number of Federation “amateurs” make it to the BassMasters Classic via that route, probably more than any other state. Long list there that would be ineteresting to compile.
– In the line of baits, Indiana, unbeknownst to many I’m sure, has been near the epicenter of the pre-rigged worm phenomenon, once very popular but now somewhat out of favor and forgotten. Companies include Kelly’s (Plow Jockey and Pier Boy – late 50’s), the “Anise Worm” (Robert Eakright – mid 60’s), and Touchdown Lures (Tom Moore – 1974). Some every interesting history there.
– The best tackle store I remember growing up was the sporting goods dept. of Central Hardware. They carried everything “bass” back then (70’s/80’s).
– I also remember when Bass Pro had “approved” tackle shops locally. There was one in the tiny Indiana town of Fayette that we would visit, a town so small it doesn’t even have a stop sign on it’s main drive – Population <1,000.
