Reel show lures fans
Published 6:40 am Monday, May 21, 2007
By Staff
DOWAGIAC – Antique fishing reel collectors from all over the country will descend on Dowagiac when ORCA, the Old Real Collectors Association, hosts it national convention in Dowagiac on Saturday, June 2.
The public is encouraged to bring old fishing tackle into the show for identification and appraisal.
The show will take place at Dowagiac Conservation Club on M-51 North from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. Admission is free.
The show host is ORCA Vice President Bill Muth from Battle Creek.
The 2007 Dowagiac show represents the first time that ORCA has returned to a location that previously hosted the show, Muth said Friday. ORCA held its 2003 national show at Lyons Industries on West Street, the site of James Heddon's Sons until 1984.
"We had several members request that we return to Dowagiac after the 2003 show," Muth said. "The amazing hospitality provided by Don and Joan Lyons and the wonderful folks at the Dowagiac Conservation Club, combined with the historical significance of Dowagiac to antique fishing tackle collectors, made it the ideal site for the 2007 convention," Muth said.
ORCA is a non-profit corporation dedicated to education through the collection and distribution of historical and technical data regarding fishing reels, their development and their inventors and manufacturers from the earliest times through the present day.
The organization moves its national convention around the country each year, most recently hosting shows in Lake George, N.Y., in 2006 and in West Columbia, Texas, in 2005.
"We offer a unique opportunity to have your old fishing reels, lures or rods appraised by nationally-known experts," Muth said. "Members of the public also have the option of selling their items in a 'no-risk' option format that allows the seller to accept or reject the highest bid. At the Lake George convention, one very rare old lure that walked in off the street sold for over $2,000, and a rare fly reel sold for $1,000."
Anyone with questions about the show should call Bill Muth at (269) 565-0083.