What's a knuckle-buster reel?

Vinny · 05-24-2002, 05:48 AM

I was searching for Campbell River info. I read about the Tyee Club. They require a reel without a "clutching mechanism."

Does this mean no "one way clutch," (handle spins backwards when line feeds out)?

Do these knuckle-busters have a drag?

Thumper · 05-24-2002, 06:02 AM

They used to have leather thumb drags. Got a few of those in the collection.

CATCH AND EAT · 05-24-2002, 06:53 AM

Single action reels kind of built on a fly reel principle. Lots of fun to fish with but have someone show ya what to do first. It will save your knuckles.

fish_on · 05-24-2002, 06:54 AM

The Penn 109 is this way, handle spins back when you free spool. Has a great drag as well.

crabbait · 05-24-2002, 07:56 AM

The original "knucklebuster" reels were casting reels that had no means to disengage the reel handle when casting or when a fish is peeling line. They also originated the term "birdnest" because that was the general result of the first many hours of learning to use one. There are a few of these still in use but they are generally about as popular as manual typewriters and dot printers.

The Canadians have a knuckleduster that is completely different from any casting reel and that is related to a flyreel like a goat is related to a llama: Crude but highly effective.

I have never seen a reel like our northern brothers use down here but the Canadians have there own way of doing things, eh. :grin:

[ 05-24-2002, 08:57 AM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

GutZ · 05-24-2002, 12:30 PM

Shimano makes one that is fairly popular. If you go to www.obmg.com and check out thaer fanatic fishing catalog you will see on pictured.

Beek · 05-24-2002, 05:06 PM

Also known as mooching reels, you control the amount of line a fish takes by palming the rim of the reel with the cup of your hand.

It's when you bring your hand from the spool to the knobs that your knuckles get split. Great fun.

jcw · 05-25-2002, 03:56 PM

I fished out of Uclulelet and Tofino last Friday and Saturday with the Shimano Moocher. The guides used constant taper 9 to 11 foot rods and lots of ande 20 pound mono on down riggers at 150 feet. Believe me, slugging it out with a 20 pound chinook on one of these setups is a swift kick in the backside.

pirk fan · 05-25-2002, 06:16 PM

Alvey also makes this type reel, in addition to their sidecasters. Some are knucklebusters, others have a drag mechanism, but almost all are single action (direct drive, no gears - although they apparently now make one model with gears). Simple and reliable, but prone to line control issues. Some of the biggest are 10 inches in diameter, and have a handle with two knobs set at different distances from the spindle, one close in for speed, one further out for power. Not too bad for bottom fishing. Ausfish.com sells them and ships to the states at a reasonable price.

Paddlefish · 05-26-2002, 10:27 PM

Those Alvey reels are nice: varnished wood, polished brass. A friend on the Olympic Peninsula had one -- maybe for mounting over his fireplace. I don't think I've ever seen one in use in these parts.

As for the "original" knuckle busters, I've still got my first fishing reel: a 1960 Pfleuger Akron baitcaster. No free spool, so you need a bit more weight to get it moving on the cast. No fancy-pants anti-backlash devices either. The standard expression was "an educated thumb" for backlash control (and every beginner had more than a few "professional overruns," to borrow Crabbait's discrete euphemism.) No drag whatsoever, (other than your thumb,) so you can't put it in a rodholder, as there's not enough "drag" or resistance to keep your gear from going straight to the bottom or five miles behind you; you've gotta hold it all times, with your thumb on the spool.

Which reminds me: the knuckles weren't the only body part to be abused. :shocked: Since the only resistance you could offer a running chinook or steelhead was the friction of your thumb against the reel spool, blistered thumbs were standard. :shocked:

All that said, I still haul out my old Pfleugers (I've got two: I bought out a brother for $.50) on occasion, when the situation is appropriate. Even now, my biggest chinook fell to that reel. More often than not, somebody comes along to coment on it in a nostalgic way, and just casting it takes me back to some really great old days of fishing. :smile: