Andy Reekers submitted a patent for his first trolling spoon in 1922. As early as 1930 his occupation was listed as "fish trolling spoon manufacturer". In 1936 he submitted a second trolling spoon patent.
His lures were manufactured in a shop he owned that was located at 33 SE Hawthorne Street in Portland Oregon.
This address is no longer in existence.
The shop would have been next to the waterfront on the East Bank of the Willamette River, possibly under the Hawthorne Bridge.
Andy’s family provided the labor for his company. His wife Harriet, my grandmother, was a packer for his business. When they were older, his children Margine and Jack also worked in the business. My mother June may have as well.
My cousin Lee remembers the family working in the shop buffing brass and copper lures with round layers of felt.
Lee also informs me that Andy also designed a flat bottom boat that was quite popular. I had never heard about this boat before. If anyone knows anything about the boat please let me know.
At some point after 1948, Andy stopped manufacturing trolling spoons. He sold his patent and tradmark rights to the Maxwell Manufacturing Company in Vancouver Washington. They sold his lures under the Grizzly trademark.
My avid-fisherman father (Bob Olson), Andy's son-in-law, always said the lures were not as good after Andy no longer made them. Do you agree with that?
The Maxwell Manufacturing Company ultimately went out of business as well. By the early 1970's both the Grizzly and Andy Reekers trademarks were considered "dead" by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
By 1981 the remaining unsold supplies of original Andy Reekers were nearly extinct. The Luhr-Jensen company had come out with a nearly identical imitation, the "Salmon Seeker", in a wide variety of sizes and colors.
While original Andy Reekers are no longer manufactured, they remain in circulation. They are routinely bought and sold on eBay.
To this day, the lures are very popular with serious fishermen and are also sought after by collectors of fishing lures.
This is pretty much everything I know about the original Andy Reekers company. If you know any thing else about the company, the lures, or the boat let me know.
I am eager to learn more.
I just rec’d 2 aluminum salesmans sample “color listed by number” plates, each containint 24 colored lures, #1 through #48, 24/plate. The upper portion states “Andy Reekers trade mark reg. u.s. pat. off. (all in red). to the left is the picture of a bear with fish in hand. Caption below “Grizzly fine fishing tackle”. I purchased these on E-bay 8-21-12 and received today. I am trying to determine the date/age of these 2 salesmans sample plates. Each plate is 8 1/2 ” X 12 “, aluminum with 3 rows of 8 lures (No attachments to the lure) and encased in a plastic shrink wrap. Any help you could give in my quest for the date/dates used (age) would be appreciated. THANKS…Bill
..trying to reach Jim Maxwell… don’t even know if he is still alive~~??? Can you give me a phone # or an address~ ???? Thanks~!!!
Sorry, we have no contact info for Jim Maxwell. Anyone out there have contact info?
We didn’t even recognize the name but a quick internet search showed us that he was the owner of the Maxwell Manufacturing Company to which Andy sold his patent and tradmark rights back around 1950. Our search also led us to the info about the Luhr Jensen NW Historical Fishing Museum you are developing. Best wishes in your endeavor!
Hello. I don’t know if you have found Jim Maxwell yet. But if you haven’t you can get a hold of him on Linkedin.
This is Jim Maxwell and I can be reached at Jim@JimMaxwell.com. I’d have a lot of info on the Andy Reekers spoon and spinners. I’d love to hear from Phil Jensen.
Jim I fished and worked with you years ago still have lots fishing gear you gave me wondering if you still have my moose rack its great to hear your name. Still think about the day we slayed all the kings on the Uneklete River .
I have two Andy Reekers of interest, not for sale, but very interesting. The first is a size 7, made of brass with nickel plating all over, its just less than 1/8″ thick, the body of the spoon is 4-1/16″ long by 1-5/8″ at its widest, and overall length including the large treble hook and front swivel, measures 7-3/4″ long. The second is a size 8, a very thin trolling lure, maybe a 1/32″ thick, the body is 4 9/16″ in length and 1-9/16″ at its widest. Overall length is 8-7/8″. These were in my father’s collection for decades. I never saw them, not until he gave me a bunch of his old fishing gear about 15 years ago. I’ll have them in my collection, at least for the next 30 years, if I live that long! 🙂
Back in the 1960s & 70s when I was a young boy to teen years, my father and his best friend purchased Andy Reeker lures from a sporting goods dealer in Pasadena, Ca. Together they’d purchase several dozen Andy Reekers casting spoons for 5 boys and themselves. We fished them every year for nice size trout at Lake Crowley near Bishop, Ca. They were deadly on 15″ to 16″ trout cruising the shoreline in May. Some years my dad and his friend would gather up several other men and their boys, where there were a dozen or more fishing the north shore at Crowley. We’d fish with Andy Reekers, super dupers, dare devils, Al’s goldfish and a number of other lures, and by far Andy Reekers caught more limits of fish than all the others combined! To this day, my brother and father, he’s 90 now, and myself, still talk about the days of catching lots of trout at Crowley with Andy Reekers.
Thank you SO much for sharing your memories. It’s so gratifying to know that Andy’s legacy lives on in the memories of so many fishermen who have successfully fished with his lures.
Hi this is captain Eric Nappo I would like to know if you could tell me if you still have the dies for miller spoons. Please call me at [716]574-2053 with any info you may have Thank you
I have several Andy Reekers spoons i bought at Auction.
i am considering selling them.
E mail….muskratlove1941@gmail.com
ph #8599924415