VFT917
For sale here is a very scarce "Lee Wulff Ultimate" fly reel made in the late 1960s. Many notable fly fishing visionaries were involved in this limited edition run of 100 reels. Stanley Bogdan designed the reel in collaboration with Lee Wulff, perhaps as far back as the late 50s. Lee Wulff was involved with Orvis at that time and upon leaving Orvis and joining forces with Norm Thompson, he convinced Thompson's partner, Peter Alport to fund the development of this reel. Farlow's of London or actually their subsidiary, Sharpe's of Aberdeen, was selected to manufacture the reels. The reels were then distributed by Norm Thompson. The reel incorporated the palmable rim or open frame concept which originated with the Nottingham reels of the 19th century. Of course, Orvis later brought this concept mainstream in 1972 with the introduction of the CFO model, of course designed by none other than Stanly Bogdan.
According to Graydon Hilyard's marvelous book, Bogdan, Lee Wulff "asked Stanley to design a reel capable of handling large fish, but without the bulk." Wulff went on to catch a 146 black marlin off the coast of Ecuador with the reel.
The reel is 3 1/2" in diameter with a 1 1/8" wide spool. It weighs 8 3/8 oz. Nice and strong fixed check, RH/LH convertible (currently setup for right hand retrieve), ventilated spool and frame, anodized finish. The reel accommodates an 8wt line with ample backing.
The reel is in very good+ used condition with normal wear from fishing. Mechanically excellent.