Collecting old fishing tackle and lures is an interesting and natural extension to the sport of fishing.
It has been one of the most unexploited areas of collecting in America.
And, luckily there have been millions upon millions of pieces of tackle lures handcrafted and made since the early fishing days so there is still plentiful supply of nice examples to go around.
To get started, try some old "general stores", drugstores (used to carry bass plugs), bait shops and hardware stores in your area, especially their storerooms, attics, basements and storage area.
There has been many a treasured fishing lure turn up by feeling around a dusty top shelf storage rooms.
Many fisherman still use a vintage reel and some use them for reasons besides performance.
Vintage reels are solid reels but the fact is that parts are hard to come by.
Add to the fact the low gear ratio compared to the ones now, vintage reels just end up on a shelf collecting dust.
There's nothing wrong with using a vintage reel for everyday fishing, these reels are what made the reels we use today.
If you can find the parts for these vintage reels, by all means fish on.
If not, it's best to keep it in working order.
Many collectors specialize in one type of rod, reel or lure.
If you are looking for info on Bamboo Fly rods, a good book I recommend is by Michael Sinclair, The Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook.
Lots of information and drawings to help identify rod manufacturers and when the rod was built.
I have also been able to identify cane rods that were not for fly fishing using the information in this book.
If you want information on other types of rods I don't know of any good source other than doing internet searches.
Try looking at Heddon, Shakespeare, and Wright McGill.
I have found info doing research around these names.