November always brings for us the eagerly awaited Lang's Fall Auction. This year--as always--we are treated to some incredible collections as well as some unique individual pieces.
There are some incredible reels available. They include the Bing Crosby-owned Fin Nor No. 3, some great Zwarg, Stan Bodgan, and a number of nifty modern reels like Tibor, Danielsson, Abel and Saracione. Indiana reel collectors will go insane over the boxed examples available. Individual gems include a nice Billinghurst, and of course, everyone loves the Philbook & Paine fly reels.
Rods are dominated by some terrific Orvis impregnated models. Other rods include some neat Payne, Leonard, Thomas, Hawes, and Edwards.
Flies have been on fire lately. Flies in this auction include Schmookler, Dette, Defeo, Wulff, and Cross. My favorite, however, are the Rhead True to Nature flies and the salmon flies dressed by Megan Boyd.
Spearing decoy collectors will be pleased by the selection, including stalwarts like Bud Stewart and Oscar Peterson. There is even a selection of minnow traps this year.
A nice collection of creels leads of the second day, including some George Lawrence and Haywood creels. There is a nice selection of floats, including some large Ideal floats and the beautiful Pequea below.
Books are one of my favorite fields, so I was pleased to see books by Francis Francis, Roderick Haig-Brown, and Thad Norris. Lang's always has some tremendous artwork, and this wonderful Bristol rod piece is no exception.
Lures, lures, lures...what can you say about an auction that leads off with a Baby Comstock Flying Hellgramite and a Chatauqua Minnow? HOLY COW. And someone is getting rid of a once-in-a-lifetime Schmoo collection. A nice selection of Moonlights, Paw Paw, and the usual suspects: CCBC, Heddon, and South Bend.
So much awesome stuff! Perusing a Lang's auction is like walking through a beautiful museum. You better block off about four hours because here's the on-line catalog for Day 1 and for Day 2.
-- Dr. Todd
