Terminal tackle includes hooks, line, weights or sinkers, floats and lures, in fact, anything attached to the end of the main line, hook length or leader. I use as much vintage terminal tackle and equipment as I can when I'm retro angling. this vintage tackle keeps my fishing as authentic as possible, and also includes collecting old fishing books!
Here are some good examples of Harcork floats. I didn't know anything about these floats until I bought a few and then read about them online. I found out they were very collectable and these floats were bought from different places and sold to a grateful collector.
I've come across lots of quill floats, although I think some people exaggerate about how collectable they are. I sold these with a sea float, an old bubble float, some Ivan Marks floats and an old night float with a little red LED on the top.
A collection of vintage hooks in their original packaging. Some unused and still unopened, the makers included; Pegley-Davies Quality (PDQ), along with Hewitts, Aiken, Milwards Cormorant and Spadette.
I really liked this wooden tackle box and as with a lot of the tackle I come across, would have liked to keep it. The wood, hinges and catches were in great condition and after a coat of varnish and some new float foam, it was good as new. I added some floats, packets of hooks and other bits and pieces and sold it online.
The quintessential wicker basket, a must have for any retro angler. Watching anglers sitting on their baskets is a very vivid memory for me from when I was younger. This basket was in a job lot and although it’s small and doesn’t hold a lot, it means I can strap it to the back of my wheelchair so it’s nice and easy to carry.
A Bob Church & Co bag, one of my favourite retro purchases. This bag came with loads of vintage tackle, including floats and hooks. It has a zipped pocket in the outer flap, two outer pockets and two inner sections. It has a zip running outside the underneath to make it bigger.
This large Stewart tackle box was one I used for a while but it was bigger than I needed. I replaced it with a smaller Stewart box which I still use regularly.
Another large Stewart tackle box which I bought as it included some vintage tackle I wanted. I sold this tackle box on and although it had some rust marks inside, it did have the original clips on the side at the front to give the box extra hold.
This is the smaller Stewart tackle box I use regularly. It’s just the right size for my Bob Church & Co bag with my reels, bait boxes, flask and sandwiches! The hinges and catch on the box work well and it holds all the tackle I need for a day retro angling.
I’ve had this Stewart Float Box since I bought it from Argos in the 1980s. If I remember correctly it came complete with floats and cost quite a few weeks pocket money. The box has had various uses over the years and once I started using vintage tackle I cleaned it up.
I don't think many of these EFGEECO bait boxes have survived as the plastic is quite brittle. I often get the comment "Blimey, I used to have one of those years ago!" when I go into a tackle shop for maggots. EFGEECO comes from E Frank Goddard & Company.
Here are some vintage rod bags and reel cases from the 60s and 70s which have found their way into my wicker basket. This lot included some old centre pin reel cases and freebies for the Angling Times.
Some old fishing line winders, two wooden and two metal, complete with floats. These were in the wicker basket I bought in a job lot with another old oak winder which I kept and displayed on the wall.
Collecting copies of the Angler's Mail Annual is a recent addition to 'The Retro Anglers' nostalgic fishing experience. I now have what I believe are all 16 issues from 1973 to 1988. They're full of interesting information, still relevant today and some of the images are fantastic, despite the haircuts!
Here are two Pike bung floats with two Quickstrike sized 8 wire snap tackle traces. Just the job for some vintage Pike fishing with Mr Crabtree and Peter!
Larger than the basket I use and probably a more 'common' size. This wicker basket, although it looked in pretty good condition, unfortunately, it turned out to be riddled in woodworm.
This old keep net looked to be made up of two keep nets. I have seen images of similar old keep nets and this net was nearly nine feet long, with a fitting for a bank stick and a weight at the end to hold it down. In all round very good condition.
I had two of these old landing nets from a large job lot of tackle. They both had aluminium telescopic handles which extended to eight feet. The nets were 16 inches by 16 inches by 20 inches deep and were in very good condition. I didn’t use them as they were quite heavy.
I gave this nice old Stewart float box a good clean, new float foam and a collection of floats. The box had good hinges and catches - unlike the Stewart float box I use which has a broken catch.
Another old Stewart float box which I bought in a job lot with other tackle. I cleaned it up and put in some new float foam and included some old floats.
Something new to me, fly fishing tackle! I didn't even know what a zinger was until I bought these Orvis and Benecchi zingers in a large job lot of tackle which included two boxes of flies. As I'm not into fly fishing I put this lot together and included a set of scales and sold them.
A triangular and round landing net. Both sold quickly even though they didn't have handles to someone who wanted them for some retro fishing.
Some tackle I hadn't come across before. Made in Redditch, England, this W.B. Clarke tackle box. Made of strong, thick plastic, the box had a lid that fits over the top but didn't have any catch mechanism. I sold it with some floats, weights, swim feeders and a set of scales.
A PDQ, Pegley-Davies Ltd Bait Box, similar to the Efgeeco bait boxes. This bait box, bought in a job lot of tackle, measured 13cm by 6cm and included another Efgeeco tackle box, smaller than the two I have so fitted nicely inside.
This wooden seat box was bought with a job lot of items from Wolverhampton and although I wasn't going to keep it initially, I decided it made a comfy and useful addition to my shed. The box has a seat belt for a strap, vinyl seat and side panels and looks like it was made from a Ford Cortina!
These spinning lures were with a job lot of tackle from Wolverhampton and were all in excellent condition. They are bigger than any spinners I use and I think they are for either sea or Pike fishing. The one on the right is an Abu lure.
I bought this canvas tackle wallet for £1 online. I enjoyed using it for a while, although it turned out to be a bit small and it got very soggy in wet weather!
An Efgeeco float tube which came with 25 mostly quill floats. I'm currently restoring the floats as they were looking well used. There are still quite a lot of these nice green float tubes about and I've been looking for one for a while and saw this online. I've kept it to its original size, but there's a mark on the tube to make it shorter for smaller floats.
This Swan tackle bag was definitely an impulse buy. Although you can't have too many receptacles to carry your fishing tackle. It's a nice old canvas bag with strong buckles, strap, with a partition inside to separate your sandwiches from your bait box.
Some old end tackle I sold after having a clear out. Various sizes and make of hooks including a few Allcock. The floats may have been Harcork, although they'd been painted a few times by the look of them. There was also some shot and three disgorgers including one with a nice wooden handle.
I was really pleased when I received this job lot in the post. The large tackle wallet caught my eye online and replaced my smaller canvas wallet. The Efgeeco hook length wallet interested me too. I now find myself looking at all things Efgeeco! There were some Devon Minnows, Black Seal plugs, still in their packets, a wooden handled disgorger, metal bait tin, a lovely wooden line winder, an old line spool, floats and fly boxes. The metal and plastic fly boxes both contained several flies and there were some nylon leaders which I sold on.
I'm not sure why I bought this Sharpe’s Of Aberdeen landing net! I think I just liked the look of it, even though it didn't have any netting. Made during the 1950s, it had a fob for hanging it from a bag or coat, a folding metal handle and a solid brass hinge. I added some modern netting and used it a few times but it was too short to fish from the bank and not fishing in the water as it was intended.
The hand-made rod these ferrules were off had seen better days. The cork handle was riddled with holes and some line guides were missing. Although the bamboo/Spanish read sections were in good condition, the split cane end section had been badly repaired. The ferrules sold online and I might make a landing net handle with the leftovers of the rod.
I have plenty of rod rests and these weren't being used, they were just rattling round in my shed, so I sold them online. The three on the right looked handmade and one was made of iron and very heavy. I still have several rod rests, just in case I leave any on the bank!
A pair of Beacon bite alarms from the 1970s which I used for about four years. The red light only worked on one alarm, both alarms sounded when the antenna was moved by the line, but they weren't very sensitive or very loud so I missed bites and ended up buying some newer bite alarms!
I bought a large job-lot of tackle locally which included this sea fishing tackle. Although I haven't sea fished for many years I'm planning some sea fishing next time I'm near the coast.
This good size wicker basket was used by me for Carp fishing until I was given a French-style wicker seat box which now joins me on my Carp fishing adventures.
I bought this 5-foot Efgeeco rod holdall while on holiday in Norfolk at a car-boot sale. I enjoyed using it for several years but I started to use a cutoff section of an old roll-up carp rod holdall which is lighter and easier to carry. I sold the Efgeeco holdall to a fellow retro angler to enjoy.
This is half of a Sensas rig wallet which split, so ended up with two rig wallets!
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Made by the London-based EFGEECO tackle company, a hook wallet, and a 12" ruler. Both were bought with job lots of tackle. I kept the ruler in my tackle bag for years and probably used it twice to measure fish. The wallet was used for years then I decided to carry less tackle and put packs of hooks in my tackle box.