Bob Dunn eloquently described the difference between the original CROUCH reel and the CROUCH lookalike called CLASMI. Dunn claimed in his AFR book, that the creator of the CROUCH reel, Jack Crouch Senior, did not take steps to secure patent rights on his innovative design.The Crouch reel became quickly popular and it was not long before Jack Crouch started to become increasingly disappointed with the considerable margins that the wholesale traders took from the sales of his highly sought reel.

To counter this unfavorable situation, Jack Crouch decided to advertise and to sell his reel at the recommended retail price directly to the retail outlets and private buyers.This of course led the wholesale traders to engage a Melbourne general manufacturing engineer, Clarrie Smith, to produce an almost identical reel. And he did. A CLASMI reel, with its name derived from the first three letters of first and last name of its maker, soon appeared on the market featuring very similar design to that of the CROUCH. On the surface the differences between the two reels were mainly cosmetic:- a twin handled crank on the CLASMI, compared to a single handle on the CROUCH; a spring- loaded pin on the re-movable threaded end-plate of the CLASMI (to control spool speed during casting), compared to the CROUCH'S combination of a spool regulator on the fixed end-plate, and a fingertip control aperture in the removable threaded end-plate. But, the experience of the end-user would prove that the famous original CROUCH was of a superior engineering quality in the way it was manufactured and it's fine smooth ease of operation.