Peetz: A Reel for All Time

Doug Pollard tells the story of a remarkable 70-year-old company whose name is synonymous with the West Coast fishery from California to Alaska. This book traces the evolution of sport fishing for salmon in the legendary waters off Vancouver Island. Pollard's narrative shows how the fortunes of the company, Canada's most successful tackle maker, are tied to the fortunes of the fishery.

Boris C. Peetz, a Russian-born silversmith, arrived in Victoria, BC, in 1911 and built his first reels a decade later. By 1935 the BC Peetz Manufacturing Company had fishing reels and swivels as its main line of business. The company diversified into tackle and whole-cane rods, but it was its handmade wood and brass Peetz fishing reels that became North American classics. The tough, uncomplicated design of the Peetz reel has enabled it to stand the test of time.

Doug Pollard, a respected environmentalist, avid fisherman and keen historian, portrays the Peetz reel in musical terms as he describes the song that comes with the strike of a fish. He writes convincingly of the pleasures to be found in restoring classic reels and reminds us that simple tackle can balance the enjoyment of fishing and conservation. Written in the spirit of Roderick Haig-Brown and carefully researched, Peetz, A Reel for All Time was written for all anglers, history buffs, collectors and conservationists.

Douglas Pollard has a Ph.D. in botany and is an avid fisherman, a respected historian and an environmentalist. At the age of 12 he cast a line into the River Mole and never looked back. A few years later he was lured by the fishing prospects offered by the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and collected a Ph.D. in botany. After two years working as a wildlife biologist at the Wildfowl Trust in Slimbridge (actually being paid to be on the water), he immigrated to Canada to develop a career in forest research (and to do a bit more fishing).

Initially specializing in the physiology of tree growth, he pressed his concerns over conservation and deteriorating environments. For several years he was senior policy advisor, environment, for Forestry Canada, and he represented forestry on the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas. He is a leading authority on the implications of climate change, and has published over 75 papers in scientific and professional journals. He celebrated his retirement in 1996 by catching a 262-pound halibut off Langara Island. Doug is a member and past president of the Haig-Brown Fly Fishing Association in Victoria, BC, where he lives with his wife Penny.