Mitchell Reel Museum Discussion Group

Mates,

I’ve been thinking I would like to start an extensive thread on Garcia’s imported ABU Reflex Spinner (made in Sweden) analogous to what was done with the Plucky. I would be able to provide images of catalog pages and spinners (loose, carded, and in kits – with emphasis on those with finishes ABU only did for Garcia) – along with some history. I have seen some Mates post their Reflex spinner images at MRM in the past.

Is it the case that in the US during the 50s through 70s the most prevalent lure cast with Mitchell reels was Garcia’s ABU Reflex Spinner? Certainly, in terms of sales, Garcia sold tens of millions making it their most successful lure by far. Garcia placed advertising emphasis on this spinner in conjunction with their other imports from early on.

Please reply with your thoughts. If there is interest, we’ll proceed. If this would be too far afield, understood.

John


P.S. Just for fun, here's a review by an independent source:

Hi Mates,

Ted, You mean like this?

One of my favorites in my Reel Room.

John, I would be very interested in your research on the ABU Reflex and would be happy to help if I can. Here are a couple of mine.

The above is an original display but it has ben populated with several different styles of the reflex lures, I still like it though and they are all NOS.

And this is a NOS package of Reflex lures. I've tried fishing these lures (not the ones photo'd ) but most of my fishing is on remote streams in Maine going after natural brook trout. These fish are in the 8" to 10" size and while they will hit the lure, I think they are going after the spinner as opposed to the entire lure - I don't think they can fit it in their mouth. Still fun though!

Regards,
Chris

Ted, Yes those treble-hooked spinners stick to all sorts of thing we prefer them not to. I would loose 1-3 per day on a stream.

There was a weedless model imported by Garcia starting in 1960. I'm not sure how long, to 1972 at least (based on images I have on file). That said, I don't know how readily available they were. I never saw one until after ebay came along.

I have a dealer card of 12 with all the hackle chewed off by mites or very small insects. When the card came in, I immediately put it in a ziplock bag and stuck it in the freezer for a few days. That'll kill 'em. It's a trick I learned from ornithologists. Some day I'll get around to retying the hackle to make it a nice card.

Chris, Nice stuff!

Mates,

Here's a May, 1974 Field & Stream ad stating "almost 18 million sold". I don't know how high that number ultimately got.

Hey Chris,

Fascinating what you write above. So many things to reply.
You have to go with what the customer is telling you, in this case the fish.

1) There is good evidence that stocked are different from natives. As far as stocked, it's either that a crowded tank with cereal to eat does not provide enough of a learning experience or a natural selection process for their upcoming environment (a weeding out) for them - probably a combination of the two. It's been observed that stocked don't observe standard social behavior, crowding/moving out natives when released in a river. New Zealand trout, although originally stocked, now naturally reproducing for many decades and adapting to that environment, are reported to be very difficult to catch. [That said, I've caught (native) grayling in Russia and to be blunt, they ain't too bright - consistent with what was written about them in the early days of Michigan.]

2) The phenomenon of mouth size/hookup versus lure size is real. Decades ago I used to drift fish for king salmon in Michigan. I said, why are we using steelhead lures (albeit the bigger ones of that category) for kings? Let's use some bigger sizes. Indeed that resulted in more strikes, but lost fish. [On the other hand, I got laughs for using Bomber LongA's 6'' long (which looked way too big) for 2-lb coho and they hooked up like crazy.]

3) I've had immature fish (of different species) go after the blade of a spinner bait (the hairpin type) and not the body. I haven't ever seen this with inline spinners, but your fish are telling you what they want (or let's say what they don't want).

4) Okay back to spinners. For stocked fish I go by what In-Fisherman Magazine professionals advised decades ago, a #3 blade for stream fishing. It may look too big for small trout, but they will still strike it. The big ones won't strike a smaller blade.


Hey Ted,

I've been thinking about what you wrote about your access to fishing magazines. For me, as a kid, I think it was only in barber shops. But since that was the late 60s and into the 70s, that was not that often for me . Although catalogs that came in the mail, I ate up. Then in the 80s, when I discovered and subscribed to technical magazines (Fishing Facts and In-Fisherman) I became a better fisherman.

Below is an image of a weedless (vass in Swedish) that I got as a reference for my retying.

John

More Reflex-)

Counter display card from the shops in the USA:-)

Hi John,

1) I see your point regarding the metal strips, which can be removed. This card was not "unpacked" so this is properly the reason why the metal strips are still installed.

2) The naming of the files is not "Reflex related".

Looking forward to seeing your Reflex post.

Cheers
Jens

Hi John,

Thanks for sharing your information.

The Hi-Fi is indeed a very special spinner.

I have been watching one of the movies here on the Mitchell forum:

<Old Movies on Garcia, Mitchell, Abu and Conolon> <Johnny Dieckman Demonstrates Bait Casting>

In this movie dated 1956, Johnny Dieckman is casting the 1/2 Oz Hi-Fi.

However, I do not know how long the Hi-Fi was produced?

Cheers,
Jens

Hi John,

Thanks for sharing:-)

Wonderful display from your catalogue.

Cheers,
Jens

Hi John,

Very good idea with an individual post with Garcia's ABU Hi-Fi spinner, much appreciated.

For Reflex, as far as I remember I have a "Sleeved box" from the time Garcia had their offices in New York, and have other Reflex items labelled with Alfred Avenue, Teaneck, N.J.

However, I am missing some information about when Garcia moved from New York to N.J. ?

Cheers,
Jens

Hi John,

Thanks, much appreciated.

Now I should be able to date this item.

Cheers,
Jens

Hey Jens,

Below is a scan of the top of my first version Garcia Corp. 311K cardboard sleeve. (I should mention, prior to this, Charles Garcia had a combination Reflex/Veltic kit = 309K.)

Based on review of my catalog library, the 311K lasted until 1963, when Garcia introduced a new type of cardboard sleeve, that was amber-colored (see catalog image below) and also functioned as a pegboard card. These kits were numbered: 87**.

The 87** numbering persisted in Garcia catalogs until 1976, the last year for Garcia’s ABU Reflex kits. However, there had been a switch to a light-blue-colored sleeve, which was not pictured in my Garcia Annuals (for fishers/consumers). I don’t have Garcia Tackle Catalogs (= trade catalogs) from the late 60’s to late 70’s. So, I cannot pinpoint the color change date – however, I may be able to do so from other lures packaged as such. Or, perhaps a Mate with some Garcia Tackle Catalogs could help here?

The composite image below shows the 3rd and 4th version sleeves.

John