The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Having recently acquired two Dawsons rods - a Sabina and a Sabrina - I have been impressed with the quality of the cane which seems, to my inexpert eye, to be top class but I'm less impressed with the quality of the finishing - whippings and intermediates - which I would not put in the same league. With this in mind I'd be interested to know where the knowledgeable members of this forum would rank Dawsons among rod makers.

Are you sure the finishing is all original or has it been refurbished at some point in the past? I have a Dawson's Medina which has been in our family since new. The cane, whippings and rings are fine. In fact better than some other supposedly better makes. In particular the butt and tip rings are excellent quality. It even comes with a really nice hardwood ferrule stopper. It has been used extensively both by my dad and now me and hasn't needed any remedial work at all.

I thought with the first rod that it may have been refurbished but the quality of whippings on the second rod, from a different source, were similar. Of course it is entirely possible they have both been re-done but because of the similarities it seems unlikely.

Dawsons are always of very good quality cane and usually have excellent reel fittings, good quality ferrules and rings. The whipping is what I would call good for rods of those days.
These days people expect a better finish but back in the heyday of cane rods it seems that functionality was the main aim and as the usual adornments could be very labour intensive, they simply did the bare minimum to help keep the cost down. Of course some of the up market rod makers could afford to supply such luxuries as close intermediate whippings and a high build finish but that doesn't necessarily mean they were/are better rods.

Wal.

The Doctor has spoken, good sound advice Wal

My Dawsons Medina had quite good fixtures and fittings
Given its age. Then Wal worked his magic upon it and its utterly gorgeous now.. the cane is good very quality it makes a lovely light stalker/roving chubber...

I have a Dawson’s Sabina and for many years it was my go to rod for most general course fishing until it was knocked off the top spot by a very early whole cane butt Avocet ( understandably I feel)

It is a crisp and responsive blank and handles hard fighting fish well as it also does with smaller fish too. Although not designed for large fish I’ve had fish to 12lb on it, which with care it subdued without any undue drama.

A good all round rod I would say. If it needs,or you feel it should, have a refurb then you can match the excellent action to a top cosmetic look if that is desireable.

I have a Sabina. The finish is, I think, original, although it may be a refurb and is very good including the stoppers. I like it a lot, it's my default float rod if there's no likely need to use my Mk IV Avon. It's in the pictures here viewtopic.php?f=423&t=27531) and it certainly handled those chub with ease.

BTW, is there any difference between that and the Sabrina? Sabrina seems a likelier name for a rod as that was the Romans' (what have they ever done for us?) name for the River Severn although Sabina is a female first name in Italy. Did they originally intend to call it Sabrina but had a typo then realised later and corrected it? Or perhaps Sabrina was a reference to the 50's glamorous TV 'personality' of the 'blonde bombshell' type (who came from Stockport and was known to her mum as Norma Ann Sykes) who some of our older members may remember, although I don't recall any fishing connection with her. I was, in any case, more of a Shirley Eaton fan myself.

Stathamender wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:46 pm I have a Sabina. The finish is, I think, original, although it may be a refurb and is very good including the stoppers. I like it a lot, it's my default float rod if there's no likely need to use my Mk IV Avon. It's in the pictures here viewtopic.php?f=423&t=27531) and it certainly handled those chub with ease.

I'd say original. The whipping has the same pattern and similar colour to my Medina, which is unrestored. Similar tone dark cane too