The Colgrove Reel of Vancouver, Washington
The Colgrove reel
was invented by Bob Colgrove in the late 1940's. His first reels were made
by converting a Keen Kaster reel so that it pivoted and could be used as a
spinning reel. After production was started the reel was patented. Colgrove
used his reel for steelhead fishing, specializing in catching big steelhead
with very light lines - 2 pound test. He tried the patience of his friends
since it took him all day to land his fish.
Colgrove also manufactured a lure that was sold locally called a "Coggle
Bug". It has been reported that this lure "didn't last long because Colgrove
was the only person who could catch anything on them".
Production of the Colgrove Reel went through several ownerships. Bob
Colgrove died in 1983 and the reel manufacturing rights were sold to Bob
Rudd of Vancouver. Boxes have also been found marked "Northwest Cast Metal
Products, Portland, Oregon" and "Colgrove Reel, Beaverton, Oregon".
The photo below shows some of the sequence of boxes that have been found
to date. The yellow and black box is the oldest and the light green box is
the newest.
