Bengt Engelbrekt

from H2O Magazine spring 2020

Storia della Val Genova

Bengt Engelbrekt had his first fishing experience thanks to an English gentleman that showed him how to cast a dry fly in 1961 in Norway. In 1975 he started to make bamboo fly rods with a milling machine. But it was in 1977 that he built his first trout reel and in 1988/90 the two first salmon reels. His company was officially born in 1990 under the name : Engelbrekt Reels and Rods Company.

The first reel that Bengt made in the seventies had the following specs. Take a WF4F and 80 meter backing, small in diameter 2 1/2 ”and wide and have the look of a classic American fly reel, but with a modern feature to be able to brake on the spool edge. He built this reel for himself but his fishing friends liked it so much that he decided to make a series of 13 reels of the same size. This reel was named TR4 Autograph ,2 3/8” in diameter. The Autograph fly reel consists of 6 sizes from TR1 3” to TR6 2”. The brake is a simple click type but with a bigger gear wheel to have a smoother brake. Reels are made of high strength aluminium bar, stainless steel, phosphor bronze and titan are also used, handles are made of ivory from the woolly mammoth at least 20000 years old, two silver plaques that are hand engraved, one with the customer‘s name and one with his Autograph.

At the end of the eighties, several people thought he would produce a salmon reel, so he considered which salmon reels made the most impression on fishermen. Hardy Perfect was one and Edward vom Hofe‘s different models the others.

In the early nineties he made two prototypes, SA1 3 " and SA5/0 4 1/8", the smallest and the largest of his six sizes in the Autograph series. Then his buddies tested the smallest reel around the world Kola Peninsula in Russia, Norway, Iceland, USA, Canada and of course Sweden. From the comments about those fishing trips he

applicato premendo sul fianco della targhetta sull’altro lato, come su un Perfect, ma senza superficie rotante. I materiali sono gli stessi dei modelli da trota. I mulinelli sono disponibili come moltiplicatore o azione singola. Per quanto riguarda l’aspetto, il mulinello ha il classico manico a S americano, come quelli di vom Hofes, Bogdan, Zwarg, Walker ecc. Dal 1980 circa, Engelbrekt cominciò a riparare e restaurare i mulinelli in ebanite di Edward vom Hofe e altri; più di 500 sono passati tra le sue mani nel corso degli anni.

I mulinelli vengono consegnati in scatole di pelle cucite a mano e vengono prodotti solo su ordinazione. Combinazioni di colori: nero, nero e argento, non vengono fatti in oro. Vengono fabbricati anche mulinelli su misura come da specifiche del cliente. Garanzia a vita sui materiali e sulla fabbricazione. Tutte le parti dei mulinelli sono prodotte a mano.

www.engelbrektreels.se

designed the Autograph reels that are still made today. Its features are: Two brake systems, one large diskbrake which is controlled by a button on the top of the handle side. The second is a fighting brake which is applied by pressing on the side of the other side plate,as on a Perfect but without a rotating surface. The materials are the same as in the trout models. The reels are available as multiplier or single action. The look of the reel is classic USA S- handle, like the ones by vom Hofes, Bogdan, Zwarg, Walker etc. From around 1980 he started repairing and renovating Edward vom Hofe‘s and other ebonite reels, over the years more than 500 have gone through his hands.

Reels are delivered in hand sewn leather cases. And only made to order. Color schemes: black, black and silver, no golden ones are made. Taylor made reels are also produced to customers specs. Lifetime warranty on materials and workmanship. All parts of reels are made on manual machines.