dadofmolly 0 Report post Posted July 22, 2017 Does anyone know about a Humphreys reel, Model 4A? Apparently made in mid 40's and is a spinning reel designed for a fly rod. Would like to find out bout it and what it may be worth (or not worth). Also a Shakespeare "Honor Made, Honor Sold" bamboo fly rod, model 1623 (I think). Was a 9 ft but apparently tip section was broken and is now an 8 1/2 f. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
utyer 0 Report post Posted July 22, 2017 These were made in Denver, you can find info online. NOT a fly reel, but used for casting light baits on a fly rod. I serviced quite a few of them when I was repairing reels. Popular for bouncing flies on the bottom of rivers with split shot as the weight. Used mostly with monofilament line. Supposedly one of the first closed faced reels. You can find values for them on some of the angling collectable web sites. Just Google it. The broken Shakespeare rod might be useful to a restorer for parts, but since most of the time it was the tips that were broken it doesn't have much value left as a collectable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vicrider 0 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 I have one of the Humphrey reels and it is sure odd with the line coming out a hole in the side. I fished exactly as you're saying utyer but I used the old Shakespeare Silver Bullet, I think it was model 1870 (1810?) but would have to dig one out to be sure. Myself and a couple of friends used these on early Lamiglas rods we bought as blanks and I wrapped up with single foot Fujis. We caught steelhead and salmon and other fish in the rivers of northern MN, WI, and MI. If you used these and were knowledgeable about them you could check our pockets and we'd have the wrench to fit the not on the front of the spool cover along with a small screwdriver and several primary gears. That gear was cast and playing a few 20# salmon or 10# steelhead or coho would eventually shred the teeth on the gear. It had a strange system for releasing line to cast of grabbing line in front of reel, then backing handle up to release pin. If you serviced any of these you must have replaced a few of those gears. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites