Graham Marsden
Editor Emeritus
This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Wizard by Name
Wizard by Name
- Thread starter Graham Marsden
- Start date
It was Tim who did the refurbishment on my own Super Wizard some years ago, but I kept the handle at its' original length, and today it is handsome in its' grass green whippings.
That rod has had Chub to five pound plus, roach over 2 pounds and Barbel of eight pounds.
Beautiful rods, simply beautiful.
That rod has had Chub to five pound plus, roach over 2 pounds and Barbel of eight pounds.
Beautiful rods, simply beautiful.
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
From the article -
"Wizard moments have also included fishless days, when the rod has lived in tune, and in peace, with the dragonflies, the lilly pads, and this happy, expectant angler."
What a lovely sentiment. Nothing quite like quietness.
"Wizard moments have also included fishless days, when the rod has lived in tune, and in peace, with the dragonflies, the lilly pads, and this happy, expectant angler."
What a lovely sentiment. Nothing quite like quietness.
Well I never; if you can appreciate that Jeff then you may not be the philistine you make out to be when it comes to 'proper' rods.
By comparison; a carbon rod in those same surroundings and moment of calm would be as out of place as a pork chop at a Bar Mitzvah dinner.
[insert U-No-Wot > > > > HERE]
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
How dared you to have thought so of me?
I've spent many happy hours sitting by a river quietly purring and the only other noises were bumble bees visiting nearby purple loosestrife, buntings in the opposite field, a skylark singing from 600 feet above me, and the odd moo from a cow in a farm half a mile away.
Until the dogwalkers come past chucking sticks into my swim and some nurd in an inflatable with a poxy 2 hp outboard screeming its head off comes past. Not to mention the rowers with the training launch and some idiot shouting instructions through a bullhorn and the 3 foot wave of water hitting the bank as yet another 45 foot Thames gin-palace goes past at 15 knots.
Oh for a British summer on the Thames.....
PS. My mate didn't have pork chops at his son's Bar Mitzvah, they had lobster!!!
I've spent many happy hours sitting by a river quietly purring and the only other noises were bumble bees visiting nearby purple loosestrife, buntings in the opposite field, a skylark singing from 600 feet above me, and the odd moo from a cow in a farm half a mile away.
Until the dogwalkers come past chucking sticks into my swim and some nurd in an inflatable with a poxy 2 hp outboard screeming its head off comes past. Not to mention the rowers with the training launch and some idiot shouting instructions through a bullhorn and the 3 foot wave of water hitting the bank as yet another 45 foot Thames gin-palace goes past at 15 knots.
Oh for a British summer on the Thames.....
PS. My mate didn't have pork chops at his son's Bar Mitzvah, they had lobster!!!
Mark Wintle
Well-known member
It's funny but the only rods that I've ever used that had any 'wizardry' about them were both made of carbon. Whether the designers in each case imbued that little bit of magic into them is hard to say but I'd rather use either of them than the choice of a hundred cane rods. The first one was designed by my choice of the finest stick float ace of them all which is saying something, and the other seems to be acquiring its own brand of magic along the way. I don't think the material has any bearing at all.
Ah summer days on the Thames - my most pleasant memory is the day that with the temperature in the low 80s and waiting for my keepnet to dry off after an afternoon's session catching good roach on tares a group of 15 17/18 year old French female exchange students stripping off for a dip in the cooling river... Who needs soaring larks?
Ah summer days on the Thames - my most pleasant memory is the day that with the temperature in the low 80s and waiting for my keepnet to dry off after an afternoon's session catching good roach on tares a group of 15 17/18 year old French female exchange students stripping off for a dip in the cooling river... Who needs soaring larks?
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Hmm... I've got some lovely carbon rods that are a pleasure to play fish on, but I do love my cane rods: my Constable Forty Fore (a recent acquisition) and my Wizard. As I write the Wizard is reclining on the guest chair in my office with a loose ferrule. I'm contemplating a refurb as it has some badly done 1970's rings on the top and middle section, but I don't know if I can bear to lose that lovely patina of age, the dark honey of the cane and the gentle wrinkles in the varnish.
the indifferent crucian
Well-known member
Sean, take a centre punch and put a mark in the very centre of the cane down in the ferrule. Follow it with a pin punch to spread the dry cane out and then fill the punch's hole with araldite rapid ( drip it off a cocktail stick) after masking the inside of the ferrule with paper...unless you have a very steady hand. You can also use the punch to push resin down between cane and ferrule if a large gap exists there.
This will usually sort the rod for good. Don't fish it loose, .... the cane will become distorted and 'bellowsed' and the ferrule will loosen at the butt end too. If that is already the case you might remove the whipping and push some araldite rapid down under the ferrule tangs. If it is a tangless ferrule, as on some Wizards and many other rods, you can 'push' resin under with a loop of cotton or silk, pushed in with a pin head-working around the rod. Follow with a tight temporary whip whilst it cures.
If it's the counter that is loose, sometimes called the male ferrule, you can do the same at the whipping end, but if it's inside that is loose you either drill the end out to fill with resin or take the counter off. If it has to come off look out for pins driven in from the side...they can be polished down and become almost invisible !!
If you decide that you must replace the ferrule and its counter, make sure you have a set before you attack the rod..they are quite hard to find, particularly the re-inforced ones fitted to the Wizard as standard.
This is an article by JOC that I have read before...I thought it a little cheeky to call the vendor of his rod a greasy oik for trying to charge too much for the rod and then gloat that he got him down to a tenth of the value on it. Seemed a little hypocritical to me....???
This will usually sort the rod for good. Don't fish it loose, .... the cane will become distorted and 'bellowsed' and the ferrule will loosen at the butt end too. If that is already the case you might remove the whipping and push some araldite rapid down under the ferrule tangs. If it is a tangless ferrule, as on some Wizards and many other rods, you can 'push' resin under with a loop of cotton or silk, pushed in with a pin head-working around the rod. Follow with a tight temporary whip whilst it cures.
If it's the counter that is loose, sometimes called the male ferrule, you can do the same at the whipping end, but if it's inside that is loose you either drill the end out to fill with resin or take the counter off. If it has to come off look out for pins driven in from the side...they can be polished down and become almost invisible !!
If you decide that you must replace the ferrule and its counter, make sure you have a set before you attack the rod..they are quite hard to find, particularly the re-inforced ones fitted to the Wizard as standard.
This is an article by JOC that I have read before...I thought it a little cheeky to call the vendor of his rod a greasy oik for trying to charge too much for the rod and then gloat that he got him down to a tenth of the value on it. Seemed a little hypocritical to me....???
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Thanks IC. I was going to take the ferrule off and sort it that way. It's the female ferrule that's developed a slight knock, probably due to using it in sub-zero temperatures after keeping it in my nice warm office - caught some nice chub though!
I'll see if I can find a narrow punch and give it a go. It's the top ferrule thats gone so it's a bit tight to work on.
I'll see if I can find a narrow punch and give it a go. It's the top ferrule thats gone so it's a bit tight to work on.
preston96
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2002
- Messages
- 2,107
- Reaction score
- 8
My carbon rods are pretty silent when i am blanking............and when that lightning fast roach take comes out of the blue my glass qt just screams "strike whilst you have chance you old bathtub"!!
Only cane i want is the ones that my broad and runner beans grow up!!..........red flowereing runner beans that is, not Parisian white sh*t* :wh
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Going to have to take the ferrule off - mine are the 'spikey' ones so pouring araldite down them might cause problems!
It took a while to find the securing pin. Now I'm going to have to buy a really fine centre punch to drive it through.
See Paul, you don't get all this fun with carbon rods!
It took a while to find the securing pin. Now I'm going to have to buy a really fine centre punch to drive it through.
See Paul, you don't get all this fun with carbon rods!
the indifferent crucian
Well-known member
Glad you found the pin...they can be so hard to spot sometimes. My old Wizard has plain suction ferrules but I have seen a number with 'spiked' or tendon ones.
I hope you can get the thing off without cutting it...no reason not to re-use it then...just a bit more cord and some glue and it will be tight again.
I call it a 'tendon' ferrule as that's what JB Walker called it in his book 'Rods...how to make them', but I do wonder if it was a 'typo'?
My woodwork master would have called it a Tenon. Perhaps Mr. Walker was not to bothered about proof-reading?
I hope you can get the thing off without cutting it...no reason not to re-use it then...just a bit more cord and some glue and it will be tight again.
I call it a 'tendon' ferrule as that's what JB Walker called it in his book 'Rods...how to make them', but I do wonder if it was a 'typo'?
My woodwork master would have called it a Tenon. Perhaps Mr. Walker was not to bothered about proof-reading?
Last edited:
preston96
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2002
- Messages
- 2,107
- Reaction score
- 8
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Ah but think of all the fun I'll have restoring these beauties during the close season.
And, any failures will make lovely supports for my sweet peas, much prettier than runner beans!
dezza
Well-known member
You would have a lovely bonfire with that lot!
Has anyone ever thought How **** Walker's Mk IV came to be called the Mk IV?
There had to be a Mk I, II and III, hadn't there?
The Mk I was nothing more than a Wallis Wizard with 12 inches lopped off the top!
"Ouch!" say the purists!
How about doing the conversion PJ? You never know, it might be worth more than a standard Wizard.
Has anyone ever thought How **** Walker's Mk IV came to be called the Mk IV?
There had to be a Mk I, II and III, hadn't there?
The Mk I was nothing more than a Wallis Wizard with 12 inches lopped off the top!
"Ouch!" say the purists!
How about doing the conversion PJ? You never know, it might be worth more than a standard Wizard.
Last edited:
ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)
Well-known member
Ah but think of all the fun I'll have restoring these beauties during the close season.
And, any failures will make lovely supports for my sweet peas, much prettier than runner beans!
I've just taken a load of stuff like that,that I've built up over the years, to the tip ..
Last edited:
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
Argh!!!
Send it to me - I'll pay the postage.
The Wizard is back in action. I had a couple of nice perch on it today.
One of the rods in the pic is a early 60's match rod with a Spanish Reed butt and part of the middle and split cane rest of middle and top. I'm half way through a restoration and I can't wait to use it. These Spanish Reed rods were incredibly light although a little delicate in the wrong hands. I'm going to use it for grayling fishing in the winter.
Just before we went out today my mates and I compared a Chapmans 550 Mark IV carp and a Costable Forty Fore with my 11ft Daiwa barbel rod. Although they were a tad heavier their actions were every bit as good and as they would spend most of their time in the rests anyway this doesn't really matter. A well designed and constructed cane rod is every bit as useable as a carbon rod. The main reason they lost out to glass fibre was due to the expense of making the blanks and the fact that they require a little more care when storing.
Send it to me - I'll pay the postage.
The Wizard is back in action. I had a couple of nice perch on it today.
One of the rods in the pic is a early 60's match rod with a Spanish Reed butt and part of the middle and split cane rest of middle and top. I'm half way through a restoration and I can't wait to use it. These Spanish Reed rods were incredibly light although a little delicate in the wrong hands. I'm going to use it for grayling fishing in the winter.
Just before we went out today my mates and I compared a Chapmans 550 Mark IV carp and a Costable Forty Fore with my 11ft Daiwa barbel rod. Although they were a tad heavier their actions were every bit as good and as they would spend most of their time in the rests anyway this doesn't really matter. A well designed and constructed cane rod is every bit as useable as a carbon rod. The main reason they lost out to glass fibre was due to the expense of making the blanks and the fact that they require a little more care when storing.