Penn 49A History.

[Enigma]

QAZA wrote:

Guppigetta wrote:

Apparently the Penn 49 A was made specially for a man named Scott (can't remember his first name) who fished at Cape Point. He used to spin for Yellow Tail, and emptied his old 49 on every cast.I read that for exercise he would do a handstand against a wall and then do push ups and clap his hands on the up stroke. He was the one who requested that a Penn 49 be modified to a wide spool. I don't know who did the modification.

Chuck Norris's oupa I presume

and when asked how many push ups he could do he replied "ALL OF THEM"

On the reels, I learnt how to Surf Cast with the 49 and used it as a stock reel for salmon fishing and when I could handle the 49A used to use it for spinning when the big Yellowtail were around and the Penn 500 with Alu spool wasn't capable of stopping the Tail

 

[jb2]

Enigma wrote:

QAZA wrote:

Guppigetta wrote:

Apparently the Penn 49 A was made specially for a man named Scott (can't remember his first name) who fished at Cape Point. He used to spin for Yellow Tail, and emptied his old 49 on every cast.I read that for exercise he would do a handstand against a wall and then do push ups and clap his hands on the up stroke. He was the one who requested that a Penn 49 be modified to a wide spool. I don't know who did the modification.

Chuck Norris's oupa I presume

and when asked how many push ups he could do he replied "ALL OF THEM"

On the reels, I learnt how to Surf Cast with the 49 and used it as a stock reel for salmon fishing and when I could handle the 49A used to use it for spinning when the big Yellowtail were around and the Penn 500 with Alu spool wasn't capable of stopping the Tail

Hi Enigma

I was wondering about the Penn 500 v 49 question. the 500 Jigmaster came standard with brass gears but the 49 seems to come with either brass or cast iron type gears.

I realise that the surface area of the 49's washers is far greater but:

Was the cast iron gearing a feature of the wide spool (Chuck Norris) approach or was it a cost saving design thing that was aimed at cost saving?

 

[kraken]

Its Mike Stott that you people are referring to.
He was a legendary Cape angler both from the shore and on boats.
One of the first to get provincial colours in shore angling as well as national colours in the game fishing facet.
Died about 15 years ago or so.
Held SA casting records way back in the 50's which most with the fancy stuff they use today would probably still battle to beat!
He was a director of Jack Lemkus sports here in Cape Town and I can still remember him at the shop in the CBD when I used to go there as a kid in the 70's.
A big man and I was always in awe of this angling legend.
Involved as he was in the tackle trade, and having fished abroad way back then, he would have no doubt been able to make suggestions to the Penn factory.
But even the Penn was often outgunned and with a number of the originals employed at such places as the SAR workshops in Salt River, a lot of customising was done to reels.
Sadly, that history is all but gone and those still alive just don't seem to want the publicity that arises from a world overloaded with information.
Thats such a pity....

 

[Guppigetta]

Thanx Kraken for that interesting info on Mike. Thika, no, the Senator is a bigger reel built for trolling deep sea.See on this forum there's another on the history of the Penn reel with photos of a collection. They show a Senator 6/0 in the one pic in the cabinet.

 

[thika]

Thanks Guppy

I have a Senator 6/0 but it is on my boat

Don't have 49 anymore, but what I meant is that I am sure the 6/0 has the same diameter and same "sideplates" as the 49's?

Think this is the pic you referring to:

 

[KLIPVIS]

Got my first 49A when I was 12 , bloody hell casting that thing then was difficult as my hands was too small so I had to use almost my whole hand to hold the spool when I casted.Brings back memories from our annual fishing trips with my family in Namibia.I casted OK , and even got some fish , most memorable was 2 cob which was in the 8-10kg range at paaltjies.I casted myself ,Keith Murrison must know much a lot about these reels.When I was 15 I got the daiwa sl50sh and I threw better then than now probably.Nice thread
ps still have the reel , should get it serviced.

 

[Marthin]

I still have a mint condition 49A with a bakelite spool.

Grew up with penn 85 seaboy, then general shore fishing was the jigmaster, and when the 49's came out they generally went onto a rod that would leave you without feeling in your arms after about 5 minutes of just holding it.

They were used for big fish and in those days 40 or 60pd mono....

The steel spool would leave u with a thumb smelling like cooked meat!!!

 

[BTTB]

Hi Guys.

I took the liberty of phoning one of the Rooikrantz veterans about the 49A and this is his story:

The late Louis Boshoff, a Pattern Maker that worked at Salt River Works should be credited for the development of the Penn 49A.
Louis Boshoff is also notably one of most famous Rooikrantz anglers of yesteryear, many spinners that are still being used today he developed, original moulds of which are still doing the rounds and have been copied by other people.
One part of the fishing area at Rooikrantz is named after him. Louis Boshoff threw with his left hand and the fishing spot that is named after him is the most inaccessible place at Rooikrantz at the lowest part of the cave (at the end of the rope for people who know it) where you can only comfortably cast left handed. If you look carefully you will spot a small hole in the rock there with a cover on it, this was where one of the fighting chairs for catching Yellowfin is situated. Louis Boshoff never used the drag of his reels and from what I am told he tightened the drag with a spanner to its full extent. Obviously on the days that the Yellowfin were around I assume a different tactic would have applied and from what I understand they kept spare rods and reels all kitted standing ready for those days.

The 49A was developed because of the Yellowfin Tuna that were being caught off Rooikrantz, as more line was needed for this application.
Louis made 3 reels, one for himself, one for his brother and kept one spare.
He made the reels by removing the crossbar and reel-seat from a normal Penn 49 and replaced it with the reel-seat and crossbar from a Penn 500 which was wider, He took the shaft of the Penn 500 and placed that in the spool of the Penn 49, not before making a spacer to fit between the two halves of the spool, the Penn 49's spool comes in two halves.

The late Mike Stott was one of the Directors at Jack Lemkus in Salt River who were the agents for Penn in Cape Town. The story goes that he took the spare reel that belonged to Louis Boshoff and sent it to Penn. Apparently a representative from Penn came to Cape Town to see what all the fuss was about and the rest is history.
You will notice on the box of the Penn 49A that it is only available in South Africa.

Hope this helps and sheds some light on the Penn 49A's history.
It is so important that these sorts of things get recorded before current generations move on and that information is lost.

Regards,
BTTB.

 

[Serra Moz]

Thanks BTTB, amazing history!

 

[KLIPVIS]

amazing BTTB ! would have loved to be a fly on the wall at rooikrantz those years or even better an angler with a 400/6 and torium 30 ! can only dream now.

 

[Joker]

BTTB wrote:

Hi Guys.

I took the liberty of phoning one of the Rooikrantz veterans about the 49A and this is his story:

The late Louis Boshoff, a Pattern Maker that worked at Salt River Works should be credited for the development of the Penn 49A.
Louis Boshoff is also notably one of most famous Rooikrantz anglers of yesteryear, many spinners that are still being used today he developed, original moulds of which are still doing the rounds and have been copied by other people.
One part of the fishing area at Rooikrantz is named after him. Louis Boshoff threw with his left hand and the fishing spot that is named after him is the most inaccessible place at Rooikrantz at the lowest part of the cave (at the end of the rope for people who know it) where you can only comfortably cast left handed. If you look carefully you will spot a small hole in the rock there with a cover on it, this was where one of the fighting chairs for catching Yellowfin is situated. Louis Boshoff never used the drag of his reels and from what I am told he tightened the drag with a spanner to its full extent. Obviously on the days that the Yellowfin were around I assume a different tactic would have applied and from what I understand they kept spare rods and reels all kitted standing ready for those days.

The 49A was developed because of the Yellowfin Tuna that were being caught off Rooikrantz, as more line was needed for this application.
Louis made 3 reels, one for himself, one for his brother and kept one spare.
He made the reels by removing the crossbar and reel-seat from a normal Penn 49 and replaced it with the reel-seat and crossbar from a Penn 500 which was wider, He took the shaft of the Penn 500 and placed that in the spool of the Penn 49, not before making a spacer to fit between the two halves of the spool, the Penn 49's spool comes in two halves.

The late Mike Stott was one of the Directors at Jack Lemkus in Salt River who were the agents for Penn in Cape Town. The story goes that he took the spare reel that belonged to Louis Boshoff and sent it to Penn. Apparently a representative from Penn came to Cape Town to see what all the fuss was about and the rest is history.
You will notice on the box of the Penn 49A that it is only available in South Africa.

Hope this helps and sheds some light on the Penn 49A's history.
It is so important that these sorts of things get recorded before current generations move on and that information is lost.

Regards,
BTTB.

BTTB

 

Thank you for the info.

 

[Serra Moz]

Are there any pics available of these masters fishing of the ledges? Sorry, I know it's a side track to the 49's history, but I would love to see some pics!

 

[Joker]

Serra Moz wrote:

Are there any pics available of these masters fishing of the ledges? Sorry, I know it's a side track to the 49's history, but I would love to see some pics!

Serra Moz.

Yes and no.

I have seen an older book written by mr Horne, some time ago. They show some of the catches make by the guys. There's a pic or two of guys on with 'monsters"off Rooikrantz.

 

[Marthin]

http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=69934&forum_id=1

 

[Expat]

BTTB wrote:

Hi Guys.

I took the liberty of phoning one of the Rooikrantz veterans about the 49A and this is his story:

The late Louis Boshoff, a Pattern Maker that worked at Salt River Works should be credited for the development of the Penn 49A.
Louis Boshoff is also notably one of most famous Rooikrantz anglers of yesteryear, many spinners that are still being used today he developed, original moulds of which are still doing the rounds and have been copied by other people.
One part of the fishing area at Rooikrantz is named after him. Louis Boshoff threw with his left hand and the fishing spot that is named after him is the most inaccessible place at Rooikrantz at the lowest part of the cave (at the end of the rope for people who know it) where you can only comfortably cast left handed. If you look carefully you will spot a small hole in the rock there with a cover on it, this was where one of the fighting chairs for catching Yellowfin is situated. Louis Boshoff never used the drag of his reels and from what I am told he tightened the drag with a spanner to its full extent. Obviously on the days that the Yellowfin were around I assume a different tactic would have applied and from what I understand they kept spare rods and reels all kitted standing ready for those days.

The 49A was developed because of the Yellowfin Tuna that were being caught off Rooikrantz, as more line was needed for this application.
Louis made 3 reels, one for himself, one for his brother and kept one spare.
He made the reels by removing the crossbar and reel-seat from a normal Penn 49 and replaced it with the reel-seat and crossbar from a Penn 500 which was wider, He took the shaft of the Penn 500 and placed that in the spool of the Penn 49, not before making a spacer to fit between the two halves of the spool, the Penn 49's spool comes in two halves.

The late Mike Stott was one of the Directors at Jack Lemkus in Salt River who were the agents for Penn in Cape Town. The story goes that he took the spare reel that belonged to Louis Boshoff and sent it to Penn. Apparently a representative from Penn came to Cape Town to see what all the fuss was about and the rest is history.
You will notice on the box of the Penn 49A that it is only available in South Africa.

Hope this helps and sheds some light on the Penn 49A's history.
It is so important that these sorts of things get recorded before current generations move on and that information is lost.

Regards,
BTTB.

t(((up((t(((up((

 

[jb2]

BTTB wrote:

Hi Guys.

I took the liberty of phoning one of the Rooikrantz veterans about the 49A and this is his story:

The late Louis Boshoff, a Pattern Maker that worked at Salt River Works should be credited for the development of the Penn 49A.
Louis Boshoff is also notably one of most famous Rooikrantz anglers of yesteryear, many spinners that are still being used today he developed, original moulds of which are still doing the rounds and have been copied by other people.
One part of the fishing area at Rooikrantz is named after him. Louis Boshoff threw with his left hand and the fishing spot that is named after him is the most inaccessible place at Rooikrantz at the lowest part of the cave (at the end of the rope for people who know it) where you can only comfortably cast left handed. If you look carefully you will spot a small hole in the rock there with a cover on it, this was where one of the fighting chairs for catching Yellowfin is situated. Louis Boshoff never used the drag of his reels and from what I am told he tightened the drag with a spanner to its full extent. Obviously on the days that the Yellowfin were around I assume a different tactic would have applied and from what I understand they kept spare rods and reels all kitted standing ready for those days.

The 49A was developed because of the Yellowfin Tuna that were being caught off Rooikrantz, as more line was needed for this application.
Louis made 3 reels, one for himself, one for his brother and kept one spare.
He made the reels by removing the crossbar and reel-seat from a normal Penn 49 and replaced it with the reel-seat and crossbar from a Penn 500 which was wider, He took the shaft of the Penn 500 and placed that in the spool of the Penn 49, not before making a spacer to fit between the two halves of the spool, the Penn 49's spool comes in two halves.

The late Mike Stott was one of the Directors at Jack Lemkus in Salt River who were the agents for Penn in Cape Town. The story goes that he took the spare reel that belonged to Louis Boshoff and sent it to Penn. Apparently a representative from Penn came to Cape Town to see what all the fuss was about and the rest is history.
You will notice on the box of the Penn 49A that it is only available in South Africa.

Hope this helps and sheds some light on the Penn 49A's history.
It is so important that these sorts of things get recorded before current generations move on and that information is lost.

Regards,
BTTB.

Hi BTTB

Thank you! thank you!

Brilliant post, I feel like I am at the end of an Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot has just unravelled the elaborate plot.(Please tell me that you have a thin moustache that you can twirl)

But now the digging begins.

If Mr. Boshoff is no longer with us then:

Who are his successors? Was there a descendant who took an interest in his stuff and preserved it?

Are there photos around with the "Frankenpenn" mark 49/500? Dare I ask whether there is still a prototype.

Did he leave behind line drawings or notes? (My restricted access to the old pattern makers and tool and die types is that there would be meticulous drawings. Even watching them sharpen a pencil with a pocket knife was a pleasure to watch!)

I am also curious about the influence of the proportions of the Penn 500 and 49 on the design of South Africa's Policansky reels. But that is a story for another time.

 

[BTTB]

Hi jb2.

Fascinating stuff indeed. No thin moustache here, lol.

In regards to the Policansky reels, call Steve Champion (021-7031602), I remember him telling me stories about this reel, be sure to have some time on your hands if you visit him as he likes to chat. He is also a Rooikrantz veteran and can help with the history of many reels, not to mention the history of the more than 500 spinner moulds he has in his possession. Listen carefully to what he says, he can rattle on a bit about his life experiences, but every now and then he reveals valuable information only he was privy to.

In regards to the late Louis Boshoff's family I took the liberty of phoning a childhood friend from the days I lived in Rondebosch, who lived near Granville Boshoff's residence, one road up from the Liesbeek River and one road down from the Main Road close to Schweppes.
The Boshoff family line-up is as follows: Louis and Alfie/Alfred Boshoff were brothers, the son of Alfie Boshoff, Granville Boshoff had two children, Rene and Alfred Boshoff. Alfred Boshoff should be between 44 and 47 years old now and still alive, the family moved long time ago from Rondebosch to council housing at Gabriel Estate on Victoria Road, Wynberg/Plumstead, but where they are now we are uncertain.
-Funnily enough my childhood friend and I were at Kleinbaai two weekends ago and we drove through Franskraal, the Boshoff Cottage is still there! My friend took a picture of it, will try to get a copy some time. Maybe it is still in the family?

Here is a newspaper clipping of Alfred/Alfie Boshoff, aged 15, great nephew to Louis Boshoff, with a 18Kg Yellowtail caught at Rooikrantz circa 1982 if my maths is correct.

 

[jb2]

BTTB wrote:

Hi jb2.

Fascinating stuff indeed. No thin moustache here, lol.

In regards to the Policansky reels, call Steve Champion (021-7031602), I remember him telling me stories about this reel, be sure to have some time on your hands if you visit him as he likes to chat. He is also a Rooikrantz veteran and can help with the history of many reels, not to mention the history of the more than 500 spinner moulds he has in his possession. Listen carefully to what he says, he can rattle on a bit about his life experiences, but every now and then he reveals valuable information only he was privy to.

In regards to the late Louis Boshoff's family I took the liberty of phoning a childhood friend from the days I lived in Rondebosch, who lived near Granville Boshoff's residence, one road up from the Liesbeek River and one road down from the Main Road close to Schweppes.
The Boshoff family line-up is as follows: Louis and Alfie/Alfred Boshoff were brothers, the son of Alfie Boshoff, Granville Boshoff had two children, Rene and Alfred Boshoff. Alfred Boshoff should be be between 44 and 47 years old now and still alive, the family moved long time ago from Rondebosch to council housing at Gabriel Estate on Victoria Road, Wynberg/Plumstead, but where they are now we are uncertain.
-Funnily enough my childhood friend and I were at Kleinbaai two weekends ago and we drove through Franskraal, the Boshoff Cottage is still there! My friend took a picture of it, will try to get a copy some time. Maybe it is still in the family?

Here is a newspaper clipping of Alfred/Alfie Boshoff, aged 15, great nephew to Louis Boshoff, with a 18Kg Yellowtail caught at Rooikrantz circa 1982 if my maths is correct.

Thanks BTTB

The lure moulds are also an interesting part of the story.

How much does it cost to copy a mould?

We should make a deal with someone like Ashley Read or Penguin Products to maybe do a run of the spoons from those moulds.

 

[BTTB]

I don't know Ashley Reid, only by name.

Go visit Steve Champion, he started making spinners at the age of 9 and is in his 70's now. He may well have the widest privately owned range of spinner moulds for the purpose of catching Yellowtail in the world? Nobody else I know has dedicated his life to making spinners like him, a living legend, speak to him while you still can, these veterans aren't going to be around for much longer.
In Steve's case he wanted his son to take over the spinner making business, but unfortunately he died last year. Some people have expressed concern over what will become of his moulds, but that is another story.

 

[kraken]

Thanx BTTB for filling in the gaps.

There is a story that Louis Boshoff was pulled off the ledges by a big thing due to having locked his drag....

It would probably be fair to say that there is no other place on the SA coast that can compare to Rooikrantz when it comes to gamefishing from the side.

This is a place steeped in history and was apparently fished long before a road had been made past Simonstown.

Virtually every time I pass Cape Point on the way to the fishing grounds, I wonder to myself what creatures lurked in abundance all those years back along the cliffs inside the point.

As for Steve, he is simply a legend.
I don't use any other type of spinner other than his.
His patterns have been copied, but nobody can get the alloy mixtures and weights right like he can.
When he takes those secrets with him when he passes on, there may well be a noticeable increase in the yellowtail stocks.....