floats and rods



The books shown on the right are currently reprinting and will be available soon. Please reserve a copy using the link provided and we will let you know when they are in stock.

lures and reels
Medlar Press
books on
fishing tackle
Here at Medlar we have, over the last thirty years, published many books of interest to the angler who is fascinated by antique fishing tackle.

We have a wide range of titles, from one that charts the history of that most humble but fascinating angling aid, the float (
The History of the Float), to one that tells the story of the incredible development of catching salmon by artificial fly (The Story of the Salmon Fly). There are books about Hardy Brothers, probably the most famous of all early tackle makers - including The Book of Hardy Lures (full of Phantoms, Devons, Spoons, Plugs, Spinners and a list of all the artificial baits Hardy produced). Alongside that is The House the Hardy Brothers Built (indispensable for Hardy collectors), The Hardy Book of the Reel, Hardy Anglers' Gadgets and the Hardy Brothers Anglers' Bible, a book about the glorious Hardy catalogues of yesteryear.

J.W.Young - A Century of the Art of Making Fishing Reels includes all of the company history and reels made by the famous Redditch based fishing firm. The Best of British Baits, and its supplement, cover the golden years of British artificial baits.

Of course, we have many other angling history books that look at aspects of tackle and how it was made and used, and we are currently working on more exciting projects for our future publishing programme. To see all of our angling books please visit our online bookshop.