2006 Convention - Lake George, New York
The 2006 ORCA National Convention at Lake George,
N.Y. came off without a hitch, except for a bit of bad weather, one
casting contest caster’s bird nest problem and one antique tackle
fishing contest participant’s problems with his hook protectors.
More than 50 club
members made the trip to Lake George to enjoy reel collecting, seminars,
fishing and casting contests, great food and a surprising assortment of
reels and tackle available in room trading.
Jim Schottenham and
Henry Caldwell served as show hosts and went the extra mile to make the
convention an enjoyable experience. The conference center was easy to
negotiate, the area offered a wide variety of restaurants and historic
areas, and the classic tackle fishing tournament at Lake Lonely offered
up some decent fish — and more than a few laughs.
Collectors put
together numerous reel displays that gave many club members a chance to
get a close-up view of some museum-quality reels. Co-host Jim
Schottenham, well known for his amazing sidemount reel collection,
captured first prize for his display, with Dwight McKenna and Ed Clark
also taking home plaques for their excellent displays.
Jim Madden was the
overall winner in the classic tackle casting competition, although he
faced stiff competition, mainly from George McCabe, who tallied some
impressive scores in his casting efforts.
For those looking
for new information about reels, the seminars offered up interesting
insights and slides in programs by Steve Vernon, Jim Brown, Ben Wright
and Henry Henze, a member of the family who ran the Penn reel company
for many years.
Steve Vernon
focused on ways to identify reels that don’t bear the desirable maker’s
name or patent dates. He said collectors can start with patent dates as
one important way to ID the maker of a reel. He showed photos of Silas
Terry reels, vom Hofe reels and a number of reels by John Kopf, which
were profiled by Steve in a recent Reel News.
He urged collectors
at the convention to dig into research as a way to identify and document
the heritage of reels, and to share what they find with other
collectors.
“We really have a
long way to go. There are a lot of reel makers out there who need
identification and need rediscovery,” Steve said.
Ben Wright, who
sold off a vast collection of vom Hofe reels at one point and switched
to collecting spinning reels, talked about his interest in spinning
reels as a big area for collectors.
Ben showed off an
unusual Barbara reel, made in Italy, as evidence that there is always
something new awaiting the spinning reel collector.
“People who think
spinning reels are too ‘new’ to collect really haven’t studied them to
find out how many kinds there are and how long they’ve been around,” Ben
told a crowd of collectors who attended his spinning reel seminar.
ORCA
Secretary/Treasurer Roger Schulz noted how more than half the people who
have joined ORCA recently list themselves as spinning reel collectors.
Ben said collectors
just starting out in the hobby can get a nice collection going at $20-30
per reel, in many cases.
He urged collectors
to learn as much as they can about what interests them.
“Knowledge is
power,” he said. “I don’t care what you collect.”
Article by Richard Lodge
Some Photos from the convention
follow. Just click on the thumbnail to see a full size photo.
 |
Before the main events even got started ORCA members
had a treat when show host Henry Caldwell invited everyone up to his
"family farm" overlooking Lake George for drinks and dinner. |
 |
This was the view that greeted the members to
journeyed to Henry's farm. |
 |
Ben Wright (left) and ORCA President Andy Foster
(right) admire the plaque that Ben was awarded for his selection to
ORCA Honorary Membership. |
 |
Ben Wright shows off his Barbara spinning rod/reel
combination during his seminar on open faced spinning reels. |
 |
A Seminar about the reel collection at the American
Museum of Fly Fishing was delivered by Jim Brown, another ORCA
Honorary Member. Noted author Steve Vernon (far left) also delivered
a seminar for ORCA members. Steve is also an Honorary Member of
ORCA. |
 |
Herb Henze, son of the Penn Reel founder. Herb, who
spent a life-time at Penn Reels and served as President of the
company, also gave a seminar about his life with Penn and the growth
of this popular reel company. |
 |
Tom Harwood with a largemouth bass he caught during
the fishing tournament. Note the old tackle that Tom is using.
However, you need to ask him about the special chipless, weedless
and fishless lure he was using before this catch. |
 |
ORCA Vice-President "Big Fish Bill" Muth with his
prize winning fish. This largemouth was caught on a Pflueger
Pal-O-Mine as the tournament was winding down. |
 |
George McCabe (left) caught several largemouth on
his dad's old South Bend fly rod and deer hair bass bugs to win the
tournament. Bill Muth's bass shown in the preceding photo won the
big fish honors. |
 |
ORCA members journeyed to the American Museum of Fly
Fishing to take a tour of the museum. There were many historical
items of fishing tackle to be seen by all who headed to Vermont. |
 |
Jim Schottenham presents a donation to the Museum as
Andy Foster and other ORCA members look on. |
 |
Lorraine Lawrence warms up for the casting contest
at the pool outside the Hotel. The warm-up was necessary for we had a
few showers the morning of the contest. |
 |
Champion Caster Jim Madden shows the form which won
the championship. |
 |
The Convention ended with the ORCA show on Friday
evening and Saturday morning. Here Tom Harwood (left) and Tom Conroy
discuss some of the finds they've made. |
 |
Bill Muth served as auctioneer for the items that
walked in the door. The quality was outstanding! Here Bill auctions
a Julius Vom Hofe fly reel. A lure brought over $2000 as well. |
 |
The displays at the ORCA Show are unbelievable! This
display of side mount reels by Jim Schottenham was awarded first
prize. |
 |
The display winners were from right to left: 1st -
Jim Schottenham for the above display, 2nd - Dwight McKenna for his
display of Heddon Reels and tackle, and 3rd - Ed Clark for his
display of Hendryx Reels. |
 |
Finally! "Leather Suspenders" Jack Bright shows off
his 40 yard Shakespeare Perfect reel for which he has been searching
for many years. You can smile better than that, Jack! |
