OLD ROD'S

[Treeve wayward casting Harding]

I may have lost my marbles completely but recently i was given a fibre glass float rod i got on with it pretty well, a few weeks later i was at an auction looking for a nice chest of draws lost out on that but picked up a hollow fibre glass match rod which just neededthree line guides .........so am i mad

 

[slime monster]

Yes.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

No, a fishing rod is much better than a chest of drawers even if it is fibre glass.

The weight of it will soon give you muscles so no need to go to the gym.

i did purposely buy as fibre glass rod as one water that I fished had over head power cables.

 

[slime monster]

Someone gave me a shakespeare o series 10 foot graphite glass rod ..butt section carbon tip secion glass , I give it a go for tench and i have to say it was not bad .

 

[Huntsham]

A couple of years ago I took a North Western AC2 tench rod out for chub on a local small river. Hell, however did we used to hit bites back in the day ! It was very sloppy in comparison to carbon.

 

[Gary Dolman]

It is generally not the weight of of fibreglass rods that is the problem, but the balance. It usually took several ounces of lead in the butt end to address the situation, but a lot of fibreglass rods had very sweet actions, I remember with fondness a Peter Wheat Avon Master, that was the DB's.

 

[Treeve wayward casting Harding]

Great comments keep it going, weight not a problem asiam a big ladwith hands like shovels but i will certainly test out the balance of both rods the action of the top half of the float rod is great i caught a 7lb mirror with 3lb main line and 16 hook and the rod didits job wonderfully well .

 

[The Monk]

I grew up thropugh the period of cane, to glass to carbon materials, the newer rods are definately an improvement. I still have a few glass rods knocking around the tackle room, including a tank ariel, a Fred J taylor trotter and a few SS6s and cane rods, I`d never dream of using them as they would put me at a dissadvantage, basically they are my museum pieces, good in their day as we had nothing better, but today we do have some excellent tools built for the purpose, basically we`ve moved on, but hey, as long as your happy/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

 

[mike Gibson]

At anything over 10 foot, hollow glass rods were heavy and floppy. At 10’/11’ they were fine for ledgering or carping when the rod was in the rests for much of the time, but for float fishing, and particularly trotting where you held the rod all day, and needed the additional length, they left a little to be desired. I’ve still got a Bruce & Walker CTM 13’ match rod, which when I bought in the early 1970’s was top of the range gear. It looks the business, the finish and workmanship is excellent, but in terms of performance, it doesn’t really compare with entry level match rods. Then again, there is something about the look and feel of old tackle that the modern stuff just doesn’t have. To the amusement of younger (and probably wiser) guys in my club I spend a lot of time refurbishing old split cane rods. I get some funny looks and comments when using them, but so what!, its nice to fish with a bit of gear that no one else has.

 

[The Monk]

about ten years ago I tried using one of my old B&W split cane rods just for the hell of it, it cost me two fish, reminding me why we no longer use materials of these types.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

The only area where split cane just might be superior is short accurate fly casting where the rod has little line load.

This is noted in a resurgence of6 to 8 foot split cane fly rods in line weights of 4/5. Unfortunately such rods cost the earth. Hardys, Winston, Thomas & Thomasand Orviswill make you one, so will Barder and you won't have much change out of £1500!!!

Wealthy Americans are keeping Hardy and Barder very busy I am told.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

But forget having a split cane fly rod where you need to cast some distance. Some time ago I happened to pick up a 10 foot Ivens "Iron Murderer" split cane fly rod. Now I know how it got the name - "Murderer".

If I can remember well enough, Ieven used for a brief period a Hardy Gold Medal 11 foot Seatrout rod with a steel centre???

I often wondered why on earth they put a length of tapered spring steel down the centre of a split cane rod when all it was doing was adding weight and not increasing the stiffness by verymuch.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I thought this thread was about fibre glass rods?

I think that using 30/40 year old tackle makes about as much sense as driving the original Ford Anglia in preference to a modern car. If you are serious about going down the 'older is better' route then you should use the complete tackle that was available at that time e.g. dodgy line, blunt hooks and line guides that acted like razors after prolonged use, then and only then will you realise just what advantages modern tackle has. I have been using 'modern' fishing tackle since the 40's and each improvement, in rods especially, has been a signifcant one including the change from cheap cane materials to fibre glass which was as big a leap as the change from glass to carbon.

OK as museum pieces but certainly not a serious tool for modern day angling.

 

[The Monk]

the threads about old rods, not neccassarily fibre glass. I can remember having one of those early bamboo roach poles, thin gs have certainly moved along in that discipline, the bamboo one had to have the top setion put over a boiling kettle everytime you hit a bit fish, to restenghten it, I also had one of those Spanish reed rods,I snapped it casting into the wind, I did like the old Sealy Blue mathch rods though, I had them in 14 and 13feet, wouldnt use them today though

 

[Windy]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>mike Gibson wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>I’ve still got a Bruce & Walker CTM 13’ match rod...</blockquote>Snap ! Lovely bit of quality rod making, but sadly not a patch on a modern tool. I gave it a nostalgic airing last summer and was staggered at the difference between my rosy hued memories of how wonderful a rod it was and the floppy weighs a ton reality.... But I would never sell it, too many memories (18th birthday present, thanks Mum and Dad.....).

 

[Neneman Nick]

Treeve....power to you sir !!!!

I love getting out some of my older fibre glass rods and using them and not all of them are big old heavy things.I have rods by E.R Craddock,W M Lindop,Bruce&Walker amongst others.I team them up with reels of the period they were made and also use floats of that era as well.I have taken a 13lbs common carp on my "Lindop Rapide" and landed it with no problems what so ever.

I had the "Lindop Rapide" re-varnished and rings replaced and new fresh whippings.....she deserved it.

 

[Treeve wayward casting Harding]

Great stuff.....always take modern rodsbecause it is nonsense to sneer at the moves forward we have made over the years but a fishing rod is for catching fish and if the chances are slimer and you do hook into a nice fish like i did it,s a great thrill .........all comments made so far are bang on more or less ( not tryed spilt cane so far) i never gave a thought to using an old rod till i was given one and iam not one to hang it up it was made to be used and used it will be............ i think the men in white coatsare on their way lol.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

I had a Daiwa 9ft 8 weight fly rod in fibre glass. Stuffed a spark plug and some lead shot into the butt of the handle to balance it.
Eventually wore the rings down through stripping lures and nymphs on wet lines.

 

[Neneman Nick]

As long as you enjoy using them,who gives a toss what others think......i certainly don`t.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Just gave the last of my fibre glass fly rods away.
Let my local fishery have it for when the kids want to learn.
Not worth anything so doesn't matter if it gets broke. 8 ft and 4-5 weight so not too heavy for the kids to start off with.