Antique Fish Shocker‏??

[JM]

Could you look at the attached pics? I think its a Fish shocker from the early 1900's. I have E mailed a fishing historian and he has no idea what it is. It has a 1900's paper stuck to the bottom of the box. It has a reel with cable, long weight and a crank that threads threw the side into a Magneto. It also has a detailed knob that turns from low to high.

Thanks
Jim

[waywardangler]

Your pics are too small to really see any detail. It is not a fish shocker. Many years ago I worked for a state fisheries unit and we ran a boat based fish shocker on a lake and also a small stream shocker for trout. The output of either one of those was many times greater than your unit and fish still managed to escape the current.

I am guessing your unit may be a fish caller but it is too hard to go on the info and pics you provided. Battery operated fish callers have been sold through the years and some were much smaller than your device.

Are there any patent dates, names, markings, etc. on the device? Also a transcript of the "1900s paper" if related to the device, may be helpful.

[JM]

Thanks

I can’t find any markings in or on the box, the Mag looks like something out of an old hand crank phone. Makes me think it was something illegal!! The dial is attached to a strip of metal and as you turn the knob, more pressure is applied to the strip. The weight is 8 inches long with 1 eye on the top and a sharp point on the bottom (1 lb). The spool seems to have a spring behind it, if the wire isn’t attached, it wants to spin. The paper that is stuck to the bottom is from a newspaper showing only advertisement.
I can give you my E mail if you would like more pictures. If it holds no collectors value, I want to donate it to the Local Historical society.

[CuriousCollector]

It might be a homemade one.  Many people around here would pull the power source out of old crank telephones to make fish shockers.  They are illegal to use, of course, in this part of the country. 

[waywardangler]

I think one would have more luck shocking nightcrawlers with this device, however, in a stream, in a small pool, it might shock some trout.

[JM]

Hi Wayward
It may not have anything to do with fishing, thats why im asking the pro's. It has alot of detail built into the components. Feel free to send the pictures to anyone that may know what it could be.

Thanks Curious for your comments too

[waywardangler]

I have no real idea what it is as I have never seen anything like it. I do have a B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science although I worked most of my life with the USPS. Home tinkerers have been known to make almost anything with stuff laying around their shops. What they used the end products for is often a mystery.

A short article on making and using your own fish shocker with a magneto...http://www.ehow.com/how_2312278_make-fish-shocker.html

Here's an old homemade one on Worthpoint...http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/crank-magneto-fish-shocker-catcher-74494122

You would not catch me out in a boat with 2 live wires dangling in the water cranking away on one of these without a good pair of thick rubber gloves and waders on. What are people thinking?

[JM]

Back in the day, they all lived on the edge to get a boat full of fish. Its only a single wire off the spool. Should i get one of my buddy's to hold on to the end?

Should I measure with a Multimeter? If I dont answer tomorrow, you know what happened!!!!

[KC]

JM, if you have a friend that will hold on to the end....and still be you friend.....post the video on youtube and let us know where to look!  LOL

[kysfinest]

   I wanna see that video too!! lol

[cogar]

 the Mag looks like something out of an old hand crank phone.

JM, that mechanism doesn't look to me like anything I've ever seen that came out of an old hand crank telephone. Ya gotta have magnets iffen you are gonna have a Mag.

But it sure does look to me like a mechanism that came out of .....  an old hand crank phonograph, ..... or record player, .... whichever you want to call it.

Thus, I think you could crank that thing until you break the spring(s) in it and the only "shock" you would get is when one or both of the springs "broke" and the winding handle became "free spinning".