Trolling Rigs For Fishing Made From Victrolas

[Dave D]

I see these all the time at garage sales and flea markets in my area. They have been discussed before, but I don't recall seeing photos. Some people may find this interesting. These have been made by local fisherman ever since Victrolas became obsolete and before people had a need for wine bars. The governors are always removed and the gears often have a lot of wear.

[JerryVan]

Great topic Dave! Wondering if these are known of by folks outside of the Great Lakes states.

[JerryVan]

It's always worth checking out a trolling motor, (or more appropriately a handline or trolling box). I have put several back in action.

Here is one made from a somewhat early Victor motor...

Screenshot 2025-05-04 083619.png (272.49 KiB) Viewed 519 times

[phonogfp]

I have encountered a number of there here in New York's Finger Lakes region. Around 25 years ago I met a fellow who made these conversions and sold them to fishermen. He claimed to have sold dozens of them. I tried to establish an ongoing arrangement whereby I could see his motors before he altered them, but he disappeared. I was imagining him using Zonophone motors with their cast-iron motor plates...

George P.

[Lah Ca]

A very interesting post. Thank you.

I have always lived next to the Pacific Ocean. All my fishing, except for the occasional foray into coastal rivers and creeks and the odd lake that feeds them, has been salt water fishing.

These converted units would have had extremely short lives both because of the salt and the size of the fish. An angry 50 lb King/Chinook/Spring salmon might make short work of the motor. The salt would act more slowly.

[Dave D]

George Paul: I bought one with an Edison Home motor and one with a Talk-O-Phone before.
Also, someone mentioned that hauling in a big fish would cause wear. The line is just fed into the box hand over hand. It serves only to wind up the line neatly, not reel in the fish for you. I find a lot of wear on them just do to lack of lubrication and misuse.
Dave D

[Dischoard]

No way... I had no idea, a new thing to watch out for for sure...

Folks certainly are clever and industrious

[edisonphono]

Living in Upstate New York (East Syracuse) near the Finger Lakes Region, I end up servicing at least a dozen
of these trolling motors every year. Most are your typical 2, 3 or 4 spring Victrola motors. The most interesting
one I've worked on was a custom 5-spring motor made up of spring barrels from 4 different mfg's. all mounted
on a common shaft, using machined adapters to go from one center drive connection to the next.
It was quite the beast to work on, and had a huge spool for the fishing line mounted outside the case.

Regards,

Bill Meyer
https://ascobill.wixsite.com/edisonphono

[JerryVan]

George Paul: I bought one with an Edison Home motor and one with a Talk-O-Phone before.
Also, someone mentioned that hauling in a big fish would cause wear. The line is just fed into the box hand over hand. It serves only to wind up the line neatly, not reel in the fish for you. I find a lot of wear on them just do to lack of lubrication and misuse.
Dave D

Dave,

That's interesting. I always figured it was meant to feed out line as the fish fought against the spring tension, eventually wearing down the fish's strength so that it could be hauled in. The only fishing I have done was "hook, line, worm, sinker & wait". Somewhere in there is also beer...

[zipcord]

never heard about this before this post - here's another one on Craigslist

https://syracuse.craigslist.org/spo/d/s ... 62366.html