Hardy Match Fishers Reel
- AllRounder
- Brown Trout
- Posts: 1426
- Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 9:43 pm
- 8
- Location: Warwickshire
Hardy Match Fishers Reel
The opportunity to acquire this rare Match Fishers reel presented itself some weeks ago now and was taken without a moments hesitation.
My late teens and early twenties were spent match fishing the local canals and along with my interest in Hardy reels made this a simple “must have” decision.
The reel is a cross between a fixed spool and centrepin with a reversible spool turning through 90 degrees to aid casting and turning back to retrieve with the aid of a line guide hook. Since the reel was designed without a check mechanism the problem of line twist presumably generated by casting off the side was resolved by turning the spool around so the reel could be used with the line coming off the top or bottom of the spool and a fish played by finger pressure on the spool or drum.
Designed by Leslie Gordon Turnill himself a keen match angler Just 280 were produced from 1937 - 1939 production then ending with the outbreak of war.
The reel was listed in the the Hardy’s 1937 Super Bottom Fishing catalogue and was detailed across four pages. Priced at 30/- it fell in line with the Eureka and Wallis No.2 models.
Although it’s sounds quite complicated I’m hoping to give it a days outing before too long which should be interesting as it’s right hand wind only!
My late teens and early twenties were spent match fishing the local canals and along with my interest in Hardy reels made this a simple “must have” decision.
The reel is a cross between a fixed spool and centrepin with a reversible spool turning through 90 degrees to aid casting and turning back to retrieve with the aid of a line guide hook. Since the reel was designed without a check mechanism the problem of line twist presumably generated by casting off the side was resolved by turning the spool around so the reel could be used with the line coming off the top or bottom of the spool and a fish played by finger pressure on the spool or drum.
Designed by Leslie Gordon Turnill himself a keen match angler Just 280 were produced from 1937 - 1939 production then ending with the outbreak of war.
The reel was listed in the the Hardy’s 1937 Super Bottom Fishing catalogue and was detailed across four pages. Priced at 30/- it fell in line with the Eureka and Wallis No.2 models.
Although it’s sounds quite complicated I’m hoping to give it a days outing before too long which should be interesting as it’s right hand wind only!
- AshbyCut
- Honorary President
- Posts: 10148
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 1:27 am
- 12
- Location: North Warwickshire
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
Oh My !!! Now THAT looks utterly splendid, and has firmly been planted in my 'bucket list' !!!
A great find ... and in such condition. Well done, Sir !!!
A great find ... and in such condition. Well done, Sir !!!
"Beside the water I discovered (or maybe rediscovered) the quiet. The sort of quiet that allows one to be woven into the tapestry of nature instead of merely standing next to it." Estaban.
- Mole-Patrol
- Brown Trout
- Posts: 1438
- Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:04 pm
- 4
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
Lovely reel in beautiful condition
But that 'match fisher's' line in the illustrations
But that 'match fisher's' line in the illustrations
- Shropshire Lad
- Perch
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:05 pm
- 9
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
In near 25 years of attending auctions, fairs and the internet i have never seen one of those.
- Old Man River
- Eel
- Posts: 2196
- Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2015 3:43 pm
- 8
- Location: Yorkshire
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
That is a lovely example Allrounder, in good condition, and far too useful to be left on a display shelf.
I have never seen one before, so they must be a rare item and quite desirable .
OMR
I have never seen one before, so they must be a rare item and quite desirable .
OMR
Hurrumph....... whatever happened to Handlines ?
- Lea Dweller
- Pike
- Posts: 6086
- Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:58 am
- 10
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
Well done! That is a wonderful example of a rare reel! I have seen only two or three offered for sale in the last ten years, so whatever you paid it was worth it!
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall!
Confucius
Confucius
- Paul F
- Sea Trout
- Posts: 4241
- Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 11:12 pm
- 10
- Location: The West Country
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
I have seen this reel, and it is the best example i have ever seen, it has has very little use, a truly super rare reel.
- StefanDuma
- Grayling
- Posts: 516
- Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:11 pm
- 7
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
Thats a great find and buy, no idea what you paid. but its a rare reel and the condition looks fantastic.
Always buy the best example you can find and afford.
Well done sit.
Always buy the best example you can find and afford.
Well done sit.
- Fredline
- Tench
- Posts: 2631
- Joined: Sat May 16, 2015 1:10 pm
- 9
- Location: East End of the City
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
It just oozes quality.
If you have no grease with you, and your rings are full of ice, do not cut out the ice with a pen-knife but get your man to put the rings one by one in his mouth, and so to thaw the ice.
John Bickerdyke.
John Bickerdyke.
- Silfield
- Brown Trout
- Posts: 1455
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 8:31 pm
- 5
- Location: Norfolk
Re: Hardy Match Fishers Reel
Doesn't it just!
What a beautifully engineered reel you have there AllRounder
Has it ever seen a line before?
“There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a serenity of the mind.”
Washington Irving
Washington Irving