Vintage Wolverine Automatic Fly Reel

Kalamazoo Tackle Co. was established by the Shakespeare Co. The Shakespeare Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., probably had more influence in popularizing the level-wind casting reel than any other company. Its first reel featured the overly complex level wind patented by William Shakespeare, Jr., in 1897 (See the Black & White Photo Gallery on this site for an example). Later, however, the company acquired the rights to the 1907 level wind patented by Walter Marhoff, which was simpler and which eventually inspired most of the level-winding designs used by most of the other major manufacturers.

Buy on Etsy