Knucklebusters

In 1972, a couple of decades into the post-World War II explosion of California sportfishing, a man bought an old reel at a flea market at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. This was Mike Farrior’s first vintage reel: a star-drag Castey, made by Dalmo Castey in Santa Monica. Farrior began seeking out saltwater tackle made from the Civil War era through the 1930s, and old catalogues, magazines, or books.

Farrior has literature dating from the 1940s back to the 1600s and tackle hand-tooled throughout the world. He owns artifacts once belonging to anglers Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey. In 1972, Farrior was appointed historian for the famous Tuna Club at Avalon on Catalina Island. Farrior established the West Coast as the birthplace of big-game fishing with rod and reel.

According to an interview on Farrior’s website, some New York ball-handled reels in his collection “were for casting to striped bass from the beaches and rocks in the mid 1800s…. Later, when tarpon fishing was discovered in Florida, this same design was beefed up to catch the larger tarpon.”

Also in the collection, according to the website, are “knucklebuster reels that typify what the early anglers in Avalon used when they fished for tuna between the 1890s and 1910. They received the name because when a large fish struck the bait, the direct-drive reel’s handle would spin backwards breaking anglers’ hands (and tackle) as they tried to stop the fish.”

Over the years, Farrior found that when he displayed his collection at public events, people started bringing their old gear, found or passed down through the family. Since Catherine Miller of H&M Landing began Day at the Docks 36 years ago, Farrior and his collection have been fixtures (also at the Fred Hall shows). The items at his booth are not for sale, though he is always looking for unique finds to purchase.

Farrior will be answering questions and displaying items from his collection at the Southwestern Tackle Collectors Public Show, Saturday, February 6, in Cardiff.