Antique Fishing Tackle from the Antique Tackle Observer
Collecting, preserving, and recording the history of antique fishing tackle.
I am always interested in buying examples of antique fishing tackle, vintage fishing tackle and old fishing reels for research.
We also have contacts with collectors who will pay a fair price if an item is not for us.
The Antique Tackle Observer was originally started as a “Fanzine DTP (Desktop Publishing) concept in March 1994. It’s aim was to collect the vast amount of snippets of tackle collecting information that I was acquiring during my research for Men of Trent.
At the inception of the magazine the internet was in its infancy and no thought was given to a snappy internet title. A few years later it did highlight some of the problems with the name and I did attempt to change the title but this was abandoned.
It was one of the world’s first sites to have Java which attracted the internet “nerds & geeks” but no tackle collectors. Tackle collectors were usually involved in auctions, tackle meets and local get togethers.
The magazine ended at issue 45 as a hard copy with hundreds of article. It is my intension to publish the majority of the articles on this site which are still relevant today.
There will also be a page that will advise of auctions, tackle meets etc. in an Events section.


About the author
Father, Grandfather, Veteran, Historian, Engineer, Fisherman, Author and Publisher. Stefan Duma edited and wrote the majority of the articles for the Antique Tackle Observer. Additionally he has written two books on the history of antique fishing tackle and is currently working on his third and fourth books.
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Below the two books

Men of Trent
Stefan Duma
Men of Trent will explain the reasons why they were made in Nottingham and not elsewhere. Starting with reels from the early 1800s, the reader will see the biggest collection of iron-pillared clamp winches ever, along with possibly the earliest centre winch to surface so far.

Dreadnought Casting Reel Company
Stefan Duma
This book will tells the story of the Dreadnought Casting Reel Co. which only existed for just over 10 years, it will set the scene starting in the dying days of the Victorian era moving through to the Edwardian period when casting tournaments were all the rage.

Trentmen
Stefan Duma
A new book will follow on from Men of Trent and take up the story of the men who fished, and made tackle for the Trent