Peetz: A Reel for All Time

Allen H. Soroka is assistant law librarian at the University of British
Columbia Law Library and an avid sportsman.

This informative and entertaining account of the B.C. Peetz
Manufacturing Company, the well-known maker of fishing reels, traces the
70-year-old company’s growth and success. Founded in the 1920s by
Boris C. Peetz, a Russian immigrant silversmith and avid salmon fisher,
the company first produced fishing reels and swivels but soon added
tackle and whole-cane rods to its product line. Its handmade wood and
brass reels would become North American classics.

In researching the book, Pollard consulted Peetz family members,
fishing museum records, angling association members, private fishing
lodges, and the current owner of Peetz Reels. His book includes two
appendixes: Appendix I is a guide to the maintenance and restoration of
these legendary reels; and Appendix II addresses the concerns of
collectors.

As well as contributing to British Columbia history, Peetz: A Reel for
All Time lays out the Peetz pedigree for the antique fishing-tackle
market. Antique fishing tackle—the rods, reels, flies, lures, and
spoons of yesteryear—now command spectacularly high prices. At a
December 1998 auction in Massachusetts, a Ustonson reel made in England
in the 1800s fetched $9500 (U.S.); an antique fishing tackle auction in
Glasgow attracted even higher bids. Whether you collect them or fish
them, the Peetz reels are worth owning, and this book is worth reading.