Fibreglass Owners and Users.

[GazTheAngler]

I now have a new glass rod in my collection, curtesy of Steve Midleton at Tradtional Angling.

It's an Edgar Sealey Black Arrow 2 12ft float'fedger rod. Nice honey coloured glass, Metal ferrules and a detachable handle like a Chapman 500. Black whipings with red , a nice piece of kit, can't wait to team it up with a 300 and chriten it.

Gaz

[Hannay]

It was you Gaz! I was looking at that as well. Always fancied a Black Arrow and that one looked particularly grand. Lovely detatchable handle as well. These will be collectable one day, of that I'm convinced! Well done on the purchase, my good man.

[AshbyCut]

This might be of interest, Gaz ... from the 1969 Sealey catalogue ...

[Wandle1]

I have an old glass rod in the shed that was rewhipped before I had it with lined Fujis. I will at some point get some low bells and do it justice. It is called the Gerry Savage Carp rod and made by Marco, the butt end has a funny shaped black ball shape to finish it off..
I have many glass rods that I bought for ring stripping/parts but to be honest most are too good to do this and I just cannot bring myself round to ruining them.

....


very interesting regarding the Gerry Savage carp rod..I actually met and fished with Gerry on his own lake and some others that he worked on /ran..

I remember meeting a nice chap who also befriended Gerry..It seems that he was given a matching pair of GS carp rods by Gerry himself,i remember them being green in colour....

wonder if they ever get used....?

[DaceAce]

This might be of interest, Gaz ... from the 1969 Sealey catalogue ...

I saved up for the 11' Black Arrow in 1971 - paid about £8 as well. It was a light rod at the time and as I was only 14 just the job. It was fragile though and I bust 6" off the tip and the same from the handle. I also cracked the middle section and my dad did a glass tape wrap with Araldite to fix it.

[Vole]

"Thames Action", eh? A couple of sideways-on photos of the rod at different loadings would be interesting to see; it would give some idea of what that elusive phrase meant to the tackle-makers ( and, presumably, buyers) of the sixties and seventies.

My guess is that it emulates the curve of a rod with a built-cane tip set into a bit of tonkin which, interrupted (usually) by the top ferrule, is spliced into a whole cane (Tonkin or Spanish Reed) middle and butt), but the adverts of the day probably couldn't be sued upon, so who knows?

[Gary Bills]

I was using my first carp rod, a glass Shakespeare Carp International, on and off from 1979 to last year when - thanks to stupid "practice striking" in the garden, I managed to crack the tip off on a post! The whole rod needs a re-vamp, however. I also used a glass Hardy Deluxe carp rod, before I flogged it on ebay. Both rods caught me doubles, close in, and I think its true that glass keeps the hook in better than both carbon and cane. I quite like the softness - the cushion is there, but it's usually an illusion that glass rods are "flop-sticks", You can dictate fights with a glass rod pretty well. I'm hoping to get another glass rod some time this year - one in really good condition, hopefully - but it will cost more than I want to pay at the moment; I'm a bit skint, at present.
I like my carbons - but it's nice to have the option.
I wouldn't mind a glass "Hilton" - but we're talking silly money...
More realistically, I wouldn't mind a Milbro Carp Master, a Shakespeare Alpha Carp or - if I can find one, another Carp International.

[GazTheAngler]

I christen my Sealy black arrow yesterday. I found it a very nice glass rod, lovely action.

Gaz

[DrJohn]

A post on this thread asks...(I paraphrase), what is more traditional than using rods from your youth?

I have all my fiberglass rods from when I was at school (in the 70s), and those bought during my early career, somehow using these rods is more than just nostalgia...George Orwell, was a fisherman, not known for his poetry, once wrote -

"The skies were bluer and seas were greener
The Stickleback had a rosier breast
A bluer egg and now a sharper joy
When good King Edward ruled the land
And I was a chubby boy".

Those lines conjure up a picture of a lost England, perhaps one that never existed, one that our recreation of traditional fishing methods tries and often can rekindle in the quiet times by the water's edge.

However, back to rods! Sorry guys but here's a list:

Davenport & Fordham Farstrike Clive Gammon Bass rod (beachcaster)
Davenport & Fordham sea rod (unsure of model, a miniature version of the above)
Davenport & Fordham Farstrike trotting rod
Hardy Fibalite 7ft Spinning 7/8lb
Hardy Fibalite 8.5ft Spinning 7/8lb
Hardy Richard Walker Carp No 1 (Fuji rings)
E.T Barlow Vortex Avon Supreme
E. T Barlow Vortex Stylist match.

Approximately half of these were bought by a generous Father when I was a schoolboy and the remainder (esp the Vortex rods) were purchased by myself once I started work.

I would very much like to try a cane rod, perhaps an all rounder, but wouldn't know what to look for - advice gentlemen?

DrJohn.

[Nigel Rainton]

I found a Hardy Fred Taylor Trotter (fibre glass) at a market stall last week, no price tag. It had been re-whipped and varnished but the finish was poor. As it was not priced I offered the stall holder £20, he was not impressed. He said he wanted £220 and his highest offer so far was £150, I just laughed and walked away. There is a similar rod on ebay at the moment, current bid is £15 !