wanted pallister/palco/sooke history lesson

tubber

tubber

Well-Known Member
HALILLAMA's post on the jump ring thing got me thinking about the time the brand new seine boat I fluked a job on in 1979 pulled into Sooke to buy rigging at what the skipper referred to as "Pallister's". I was the 17 year old greenhorn dumbass who stuck the hairpin in backwards on our first ever set on the blueline a few days later. We stopped at a dock and the boss and the older crew members made multiple trips up the ramp to an old building and returned with many used, but useful pieces of gear like nylon lines, triple blocks, snatch blocks, pulleys, enormous manilla fenders, scotchmen, shackles, blondies, anchor cable, and all kinds of other cool marine surplus junk.
I regret not looking inside the place as the stories of the piles of fishing related items, and mostly the way it was stored so haphazardly in a maze that would make collectors of all things maritme drool were part of the lore of our boat for years.
"Hey, your stateroom looks like Pallister's place, clean it or get off the damn boat, you green %*#$^&^*!"

Whatever happened to that place? Is that the same place/company where Pal spoons were made? What happened to all the stuff when it closed? Thanks
 
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It burned down and rumour has it Ed lost not only his store and inventory but also a large some of cash he had hidden in the building as well. I remember as a very young kid back in the 60's pulling into the government dock to sell our weekend catch to him. My grandfather like many back then had a putters license which I think cost $1 at the time. It allowed you to sell you sport caught fish. Palco products were made there, the Pal dodgers were probably his best seller. Lots of stories about Ed, quite the local character.
 
I believe some of the Palco equipment for making some of the spoons has been purchasd & you maybe seeing some of the spoons back on the market in the near future :)
 
Latest is that a guy is going to re-start the PAL line out of Parksville, B.C.
It's in the works now.
Got this from a very good source of info.
 
I remember one time I was in buying some gear from Ed and these 2 suits come in,ask him a terse question or two and then leave. "Who were those guys Ed?" I asked. Ed replies,"They're from Canada Revenue--they come by here every few years and try and audit me. By the time they've inventoried everything, I've moved it twice and sold it three times!"
T2
 
Palco Products Ltd. It had a big selection of marine tackle and outfitting of Boats, new and used. Owned and operated by Ed Pallister. He is local legend in his time. Lots of tackle,spoons,plugs,dodgers,flashers,cannonballs, tons more, etc, were made on site. He was a great,talented, knowledgeable man who had a tremendous sharp memory. Not only did he know exactly where the piece was you asked for but he also knew if you had talked him down on the price the last visit. If he didn't have it , he knew who to call to get it and how much to pay. He made regular trips to Vancouver and took stuff over sold & to get Galvanized and bring spoon brass,rope,lead,chain and fittings back home.
I also grew up here like Profisher and my uncles, father & grandfather all w/putter boats sold fish to 'Milly' @ Pallisters with their 'A' licence. They normally spent their pay on more tackle with Ed ...lol. Even had 'trick of the week' stuff back then that so n so used to catch a pile of fish yesterday. Hootchy n spoons were the regular fare thou. So Ed did well and shipped the spoons,dodgers,flashers n gear everywhere on this coast. He gave fisherman $ credit at the beginning of the year and collected as they caught fish.
I regularly run into some of the people who worked for him over the years and we always end up saying 'Wow that was really something... Palco...I miss it and Him!';)
I have built & rebuilt a few boats(up to 50') over the years and appreciate the values I was taught/learned of good equipment,fittings, machinery and tackle. IT was the place to go to get top notch stuff new or maybe something used you could afford . Outfitting a boat to launch(paint,zinc,props),outfitting to fish(tackle,nets,line,rope) it was all there or could be had fairly quickly within the week.
It was a very sad day when the waterfront store/shop/storage/weighs and Ed's 3rd story home burnt to the ground. Ed reopened on the warehouse side in a trailer and still ran an amazing business right up into his 80's. To say it was all stored haphazardly was an understatement. But he new right where it all was.
There still is some spoon plates for stamping/punching and dodger patterns after the fire, but I have no idea who own's them now. There have always been stories of someone starting something up with the knowledge,patterns. I know there were quite a few spoon types n sizes n colours(PAL, P1A etc) because I spent some time soldering rings and buffing/boxing. We poured cannonballs from 1 lb to 60 lb's and made anchors n stabilizers,lots of marine fittings and mast brackets etc.
After Ed died, it sold to a high bidder incl real estate and Most of the stuff got sent back, sold off,sold by weight, scrapped for metal value,or junked. Lots of it just hauled away. Pity...:(
Neverless it was a great place to grow up and good people to do it with:cool:
would you like to know more Tubber???
 
He has spoken.........

Well laid buddy..
cheers.gif
 
Thanks for the great post Halillama. I was hoping you might reply. I still regret not going up the ramp to look around at the place. Too young and dumb I guess.
 
Ed Palister died in 1994 and the company was left to his children. There was a fire and most of the equipment went up in it. After an investigation it was determined that the fire was started deliberately and no insurance was paid out.
Some of the punch presses were not in the fire and a fellow named John Egland got what was left of the equipment and stock and reopened the business around the year 2000. I am not sure why he did not carry on with it but shortly after starting he gave up. The business sat for 10 more years and was bought up by Magic Lure Product out of Port Alberni. The company is up and running but not to full capacity as of yet but he is working on it.
If you would like to get spoons you can contact Brian at 250 724 0094
Last spring one of the fishing mag. had an article about ed how he started fishing in the 1920's and started to manufacture fishing tackle in the 1930's
 
StormTrooper said:
I know this is a very dated forum thread, but it feels like the most appropriate place to post an update for the history book on this product range. FYI not a solicitation or offer to purchase anything. :)

As a kid growing up in a fishing family and becoming fully engulfed in all thigs fish, fishy...FISHING! It became my life goal to develop something that was exciting, practical, economical and easily accomplished being made in Canada. I've dabbled and played and created numerous things that are related to my favorite pastime and have had numerous ventures in business and product development. Who would have thunk that my whole life was leading up to the moment in time that today I am now enjoying ownership of an iconic fishing business that had produced fishing tackle for all areas of the Pacific region. Palco of Sooke, BC on Vancouver Island produced quite a lot of the trolling gear for the commercial fishing sector since the 1930's. They also contracted to other companies, such as Luhr Jensen. Later adding sportfishing into the mix of product offerings.

I am the fourth owner in the history line since Ed Pallister founded the tackle company as the original owner. From the third and most recent owner who had operated for nearly 9 years with the PAL trolling tackle brand. I have also negotiated with him and acquired his 25 year old lure company called MAGIC LURE PRODUCTS, made famous by the OAk Bay Marine Group as their number one jigging lure choice. These two brands have been added under the arms of my existing brand HAIDA Lure.

Who ever thought that I would end up owning one of British Columbia's iconic fishing brands. Let's build tackle and catch some fish.
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Cool! Congrats. What a story.
 
I have this memory of going into Ed’s early one March morning to get some part or other. I had my commercial troller on his ways and was sleeping on board. It was a frosty morning and so early I thought no one was around except I could hear this kachunk......kachunk......kachunk......sound from down in the basement. I went down and found Ed standing at one of his spoon making machines stamping out spoons. It was cold enough in that unheated basement you could see your breath! So my advice to you Stormtrooper is find a HEATED room to manufacture the gear!
 
Before the invention of the low maintenance plastic flashers, the Pal Dodgers were very much in demand, especially the long #3 and #4's. I have a few in new or almost new condition, including one that is still in its original packaging with the plastic bag and blue paper label that included his name G. E. Pallister and phone # and "PALCO PRODUCTS LTD PO Box 279 Sooke BC V0S 1N0. - Standard Swivels. It must be almost 60 years old now and I would think is a collectors item. They were considered deadly for Sooke Chinook in their day and may not scare off the big spawners with the gentle back and forth sway but are still long and large enough to reflect and flash a lot of light and attract from distance.
 
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Can’t wait to see what the next few years of production brings. Show us your developments as they come along. Is this going to be your day job or an after hours production?

Oly
 
StormTrooper said:
At this time I have dedicated three days a week and after work hours toward the development of my tackle venture. I will continue the majority of my work week with my current employer, they are the best group of people that I have ever had the opportunity to work for. :)
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Plus you can stock shelves with your own stuff. ;) Touche'
 
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