Great Lakes Mfg.

[Vince Fusco]

I bought this reel at a local auction. The first one I remember seeing was in about 1957, it belonged to a friend of my dads. The rod and reel are one piece. The rod is  solid fiberglass and 5' long. Markings on it says it was manufactured in Detroit Michigan.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HEY VINCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE A GEM HERE! You may or may not know it but these were just the item years ago for lots of folks who had a few bucks to spend on better or newer type equipment. The trade name was WIRLAWAY'S if I'm not mistaken and were popular for several years in the 60's and late 50's I believe. Nice find!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HEY VINCE,

 IN FACT this old rod was made by Great Lakes and was named the Whirlaway. It was made in two models , Model 50 and the Deluxe Model 75. You have a model 50 apparently because the Deluxe 75 had part of the reel sticking out the back in a housing for some reason. Hope I helped.

[Vince Fusco]

Thanks David, I never knew the model, or that it was called a Whirlaway. The rod itself seems to be in pretty good shape, the reel has some corrosion on the case, but it still works. I have not tried to remove the cover yet due to it being corroded and I wasn't sure how to remove the corrosion without damaging the reels finish any further.  I bought another rod and reel at the same auction. It is a Striper model 550. It is a spinning reel, with a tubular fiberglass rod. I will post a picture later. 

[John Sheehan]

Never seen one of these .Do they work like a spin caster ?Where's the release button?

[Vince Fusco]

To cast the Whirlaway reel you lift the ring located under the handle near the slot. (see picture) it is spring loaded. You then swing the handle to the bottom of the reel and while holding your thumb on the silver indention just above the reel. To cast it, you raise your thumb from the metal piece.  Then swing the handle back to its original position to reel in the line. Spincast reels have come a long way since the Whirlaway. 

[jim cosgrove]

erased my reply i think so looked them up on ebay,seem to have both models,completed listings-these things go for 10 to 60 dollars.guy at my local flea market always trying to sell me one for 50.it is a really cool piece but i tend to buy stuff and get bored with it so i only buy stuff i can resell and at least break even.do they work like the old Zero Hour Bomb Co reels?now we know where the pocket fisherman came from.i got some odd stuff i will post pics of soon,this is why i love this forum

[Vince Fusco]

I bought this one at a local auction for 4.00 . The cover is corroded, but other than that it works ok. I have been intrigued by this reel since I saw my first and only other one as a kid back in about 1957. I love old and unusual fishing related items. I am not sure how the Zero Hour Bomb Co. reels work. I am gonna research them, as they are one I am not familiar 

with.

[John Sheehan]

How long is that rod?

[John Sheehan]

Oh I see it's 5'.