As most of our members are aware, the ORCA
National Convention is not like any other fishing tackle show. The ORCA
Directors believe there is more to our organization than just a magazine
and buy, sell, and trade. The 2003 ORCA National Convention was the
perfect illustration. Andy Foster and Jim Madden put together a
wonderful learning, social, and eventful outing for all who attended.
What could be more historic than to walk with
the ghosts of James Heddon and Jack Welch, as we held our show in the
old Heddon Tackle Company building? Maybe having our antique tackle
fishing contest in the Old Mill Pond where the legend says Heddon
conceived the idea of wooden lures.
Who will forget the beautiful grounds of the
Dowagiac Conservation Club, and the wonderful meals served there. Then
were was the fantastic seminars conducted by ORCA specialists that
provided great learning opportunities for our members.
If you weren’t in Dowagiac on May 28-31 you
missed a great event in tackle collecting. Plans are being formulated
for our 2004 Convention to be in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington.
Make sure you make that one.
Wednesday
Who were all those people walking the halls of
the AmeriHost Inn? Why were all those room doors open? Those were a few
of the questions on the mind of one lady who got up on the wrong side of
the bed Wednesday morning. She called the cops to complain that there
were mysterious people selling things out of rooms in the hotel. Then
she complained that there were people talking in those rooms and she
couldn’t sleep. When offered any room in the hotel to try to accommodate
her, she slammed the door in the night managers face so hard that she
broke the door jam.
This lady’s problem was that there were lots
of reel people in town. There was a large number of rooms open for room
trading, and bargains were being snapped up all evening. Diane Foster
and Becky Gariglietti were manning the Convention headquarters room, and
signing in arrivals all evening.
Thursday
The
ORCA Antique Tackle Fishing Tournament.
With 20 fishermen registered, and many
onlookers, this was the largest Antique Tackle Tournament to date.
Members caravanned from the hotel, and upon arrival spread out in all
directions.
The weather was partly cloudy with a light
breeze, which provided perfect conditions for bass fishing.
Unfortunately no one told the bass! Of the field of 20 only four
contestants caught fish, and they were all bluegills. All were caught on
ultra-lite or fly tackle.
Terry McBurney (photo
to left with his first
fish) weighed in two gills for a combined weight of 13 ounces to capture
first prize. One bluegill was the whopper of the day weighing 9 ounces.
Terry was using a small popper fished with a Herter’s fiberglass rod,
and Pflueger Medalist #1495. He used a 7 weight line. Allen Baracco took
second place with two fish that weighed seven ounces. Last year’s winner
Dan Basore was third with three gills weighing five ounces. Ryan
Costello took fourth with his one bluegill. All the other contestants
tied for fifth. There were several other members who caught fish, but
didn’t bother to weigh them in.
Despite the lack of bass, the tournament was a
neat experience due to the setting. The park sign (above) reminded everyone of
the historic event that took place on the site 100 years ago. Any
members who looked at a map were reminded of the angling historical
nature of the area by noting the names of the towns in the area -
Dowagiac, Paw Paw, Bronson, Kalamazoo, and South Bend.
Carl Schultz, Tournament Director
Victorian
Home Tour.
While the intrepid anglers were catching
little, many other members were enjoying a tour of some Victorian homes
in Dowagiac. Joan Lyons guided these ORCAns through the former home of
one of the family members of the Round Oak Stove Company, and through
her own home. Both these wonderful houses are being restored to their
original design and beauty by new owners. The tour was enjoyed by many
of our male ORCA members as well as the wives.
After the morning events were concluded
everyone gathered at the Dowagiac Conservation Club grounds. The setting
was really outstanding. A tree shaded clubhouse, extensive grassy
grounds sloping down to a very nice looking lake. The club served an all
you can eat lunch at noon time.
Seminars
Bill Muth led off the learning phase of the
ORCA Convention, with a seminar on Horton reels. He explained the
history of reel making at the Bristol, CT. company, and showed many
examples of their work, including boxed Horton-Meek reels. A question
and answer period followed the presentation.
Craig Barber, the “reel professor” as named by
one of our members, gave a detailed overview of unmarked pre-1920 reels
manufactured by Enterprise Manufacturing Company. Craig had many
examples of these Pflueger reels, as they are commonly called. He also
gave some details on the reels of E. A. Pflueger, and showed some
examples from his collection. Craig’s lecture was accompanied by charts
of the many Enterprise reels, which will be published in an upcoming
edition of a Pflueger Pfacts CD.
As if we hadn’t filled our brains with enough
information already, Jim Schottenham (above) concluded the afternoon’s
learning experience with a terrific introduction to Indiana reels. Jim
had many examples to view, and gave an outstanding overview of these
interesting and often misidentified reels following their development
from ancient Chinese reels to those still being manufactured today.
The members adjourned for a break before
dinner, and entertained themselves by fishing the Club pond, practicing
up for the ORCA Antique Tackle Casting Championship, or just relaxing in
the rural Michigan countryside.
Annual
Meeting
At dinnertime a large crowd gathered for an
all you could eat Walleye and Perch dinner served in the clubhouse.
When everyone was stuffed the ORCA Annual Meeting was called to order by
incoming President, Andy Foster. Don and Joan Lyons read a proclamation
welcoming ORCA to Dowagiac (Don is the Mayor), and the Lyons related the
history of the Heddon Museum. Several new ideas were discussed by the
membership, and members honored. The minutes of the meeting are
published in the ORCA News section of this issue.
Following the adjournment of the meeting the
members either returned to the hotel for room trading, took a tour of
the Heddon Museum, or viewed Don Lyons collection of antique cars. A
full day ended with members prowling the hallways of the AmeriHost Inn,
again in search of their special prize or bargain reel.
Friday
Breakfast
with the Board
Friday
started off with a large crowd met at the Conservation Club for
Breakfast with the Board. This gathering allows members to meet and get
to know their leaders. Everyone is encouraged to make suggestions, and
let the Board know what they like and don’t like about our organization.
This year we had twice as many members attend as expected (see photo to
right). It was a
gratifying turnout.
Casting
Contest
Retired Casting Champion Bill Peters had a
gratifying turnout for this years ORCA Antique Tackle Casting
Championship. Eighteen members had a try at competing in one or all of
the events. After all the scores were tallied, last year’s runner-up Dan
Basore was declared Champion. The winners of the three events were as
follows.
· 5/8
ounce Non Level Wind: 1st - Basore; 2nd - George McCabe; 3rd - Jim
Madden. Basore’s tackle in this event consisted of a light 6’ Heddon
bamboo rod and a Jack Welch tournament reel.
· 5/8
ounce Level Wind: 1st - Basore;
2nd - Madden; 3rd - McCabe. In this event the winner used a Silaflex
fiberglass rod and a Shakespeare Sportcast reel.
· 1/4
ounce Spinning: 1st - Dennis
McNulty; 2nd - Basore; 3rd - McCabe. McNulty borrowed Basore’s outfit to
cast in this event (and beat him). It consisted of a Pflueger fiberglass
spinning rod and an early ABU Cardinal spinning reel.
Reel
Throw
The casting events were followed by the third
Annual Stu Lawson Reel Toss. This year there was an abundance of reels
that needed to be tossed, and anyone who wanted to throw had their
chance. And a large number of ORCAns heaved automatics, baitcasters and
fly reels through the Michigan morning.
Last year’s winner Ryan Costello let loose
with a thundering toss, which went over a slight dip to the lake, and
took an early lead. However, Paul Mortenson also winged a junker over
the lip of the dip, and the prestigious title of Champion reel tosser
was in doubt. After everyone had thrown their reel we all walked out to
see where the reels had ended up. It could soon be seen that two reels
lay far beyond the rest of the bunch. Paul and Ryan identified their
reels, and we found that Paul Mortenson was the 2003 Champion. As a
reward he then had to haul off all the reels thrown in the contest (see
photo). He has promised to assemble them into a free standing work of
reel art that can be displayed at future conventions.
By the time these activities had ended, it was
time to eat another all you can eat lunch. A group of hungry reel people
devoured a large lunch.
Afternoon
Seminars
Following lunch most members gathered to hear Col. Milton Lorens (right
photo) discuss
tips and methods of reel repair. Milt illustrated his lecture with his
large collection of tools and products used in his repair business. He
even brought along his drill press to show how he engine turned the
finish on a reel (as shown above). A question and answer period
followed.
A “stump the experts” discussion of unknown
reels followed the repair seminar. Many reels were examined and those in
attendance arrived at a consensus as to the makers.
A short recess followed, with some members
setting up the tables at the Heddon factory building for the show, while
others returned to the hotel to relax or renew their room trading. At
dinnertime, everyone again convened at the Conservation Club for a roast
pig dinner. Again this was all you can eat with all the trimmings, and
everyone went away from the table more than satisfied. At the
conclusion of the meal, the Conservation Club cooks were given a huge
round of applause, and ORCA made a nice donation to the group.
Show
& Display Set Up
After dinner the people who had reserved
tables gathered at the Heddon factory to set up their sale and display
tables. The room was packed and an overflow extended into another part
of the building. Many high quality reels changed hands during the
evening. Everyone had a good look at the displays and the reels offered
before adjourning for the evening.
Saturday
The
Show & Auction
The show
opened at 8 AM, and the public started filing in. No one had anticipated
the amount of tackle that would be brought in to be auctioned off to our
members. Bill Muth called the auction, starting at 9 AM and he finally
laid down his gavel at noon. He was assisted by many members.
Well known employee of several tackle
manufacturers Tryg Lund brought in over 200 reels to be evaluated for
the auction. Many of these reels were auctioned, and quite a few were
early samples purchased by Heddon, or other items from various archives.
Most of the remainder of the Lund reels were offered for sale during the
show.
Along with reels, there were some quality
lures and miscellaneous tackle items sold, and a few rare Heddon bamboo
rods came in the door and brought high prices. Even though things became
a bit crowded and hectic, it was a rewarding auction for those who
participated.
Display
judging
Throughout the morning the three member
judging committee of Len Sawisch, Joan Lyons, and Craig Barber (shown
below) evaluated and graded the many outstanding displays. Will anyone
ever again be able to view the number and variety of Indiana reels as
that displayed by Jim Schottenham, Larry Moellman and Dwight McKenna. I
doubt it. Will you ever see as many boxed Heddon reels, including two
with serial number 1, and one numbered 2, as shown by Randy Gariglietti.
The list goes on and on of the outstanding reels that were put on
display by ORCA members.
All entries are scored on a point system
devised to include the historical significance, presentation, and
quality of the display. This year ORCA had the largest number of
displays in any convention, and the judging was the closest on record.
After the fourteen displays were all scored, and the results tallied,
Reel News Editor Phil White came out on top for the second year in a
row. His display of Bass Fishing Tackle, 1850-1900 featured rods with
matching reels that ranged from an 11.5 foot greenheart rod with brass
New York style S handled reel, a Chubb Henshall rod with Vom Hofe black
bass reel, up to an original Bristol telescopic Henshall style rod and a
Meisselbach Expert reel. There were several other rod/reel combinations
in the exhibit to illustrate various periods of use. Also included was
an 1800’s tackle box with tackle, and a minnow bucket from the period.
The wonderful exhibit of Indiana Reels from
the combined collections of Jim Schottenham, Larry Moellman and Dwight
McKenna filled three tables, and displayed reels that most of us have
never seen. It is shown below. Featured was a Chinese reel of the
Indiana style from the turn of the century. This outstanding display
took 2nd place.
A display of Heddon reels presented by Dave
Erickson was the 3rd place winner. It was nicely presented, and featured
some very rare Heddon reels.
By 1:00 everyone had enough, and the 2003 ORCA
National Convention drew to a tired, but happy, close. See you all next
year.
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