Barrier game fishing reels were made by Bill Fitch. He trained as a mechanical engineer with Cleveland Foundry in Townsville before enlisting in the Army in World War 1. He moved to Sydney in 1926. In 1931 he started making Game reels and Terminal Tackle under the Brand name Barrier for Cowles and Dunn, Sydney. His interest in Game fishing started in his youth on The Great Barrier Reef fishing for sharks. Later he fished the NSW Coast around Bega and Tathra. His reels came in five different models.
Bill Fitch Jnr said life was pretty good in the early days I recall. Game fishing was very popular before the war in the 1940’s and my father used to build fishing reels called Barrier as well as rods for Cowles and Dunn who were a Sydney based tackle stores. I would do all the running around for him, all in all not a bad way to grow up. When I returned from the war in the Pacific, there was no greater pursuit than game fishing to help take your mind away from the horrors of the past.