Why Old Mariner?
Old Mariner is a relatively new fly products manufacturer. However, its founder is a very old fly reel manufacturer and designer Paul Conover has been making fly reels since the early 60's in his grandfather's
machine shop in Miami where they manufactured the famous Fin-Nor wedding cake fly reels designed by Garr Wood. After 23 years at Eastern Airlines as an aircraft machinist, Paul designed and manufactured weapon systems for the police and military. Fin-Nor, now stuck in the old manufacturing ways, contacted Paul to resurrect their manufacturing facility. Paul Designed and manufactured the Fin-Nor FR series and the Ahab fly reels. In 1996, When the company was being sold, Paul left Fin-Nor and founded Old Florida Fly Reels. The idea of the company was to bring new fly fisherman into the saltwater flyfishing world by offering a machined aluminum fly reel at an affordable price made in the USA.
Paul designed and manufactured an entire line of reels including the first Nautilus reels which
encompassed the first sealed drag on a draw bar type fly reel, plus an easily removable spool which was never seen before on a saltwater fly reel.
Born from the idea of monster Tarpon caught in Miami and getting them to the boat safely and quickly, the new reels are designed to be the strongest in the industry, nothing else is even close. These serialized tools are designed like trolling reels, they have a double frame that supports the spool and bearings. Even with this unparalleled strength they are still lighter than most saltwater fly reels while standing up to the
harshness of salt water big fish reality.