The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Hi all,
as an angler and rod builder of many years, I have recently become interested in the wonders of traditional equipment and building methods.

After repairing the father-in-law's G. Wilkins & Sons fly rod he very kindly presented me with a unknown split cane rod of my own so that I could restore it to some semblance of it's previous glory and go and fish with it.

I have searched fairly extensively but am new to the world of traditional makers and am stumped as to who might have been responsible for manufacturing this rod. It's a fly rod with two tip sections, making either 9' 6" or just under 10' power is about a #6/7 deep ending which tip. The longer tip has a pronounced set and a small crack which causes an abrupt bend on one of the planes but the shorter tip is in much better order. The handle winding check is actually silver but looks gold because of the varnish over the top of it - I cannot help but think this rod was rebuilt with a rather fat hand sometime in the 60s or 70s.

Any clues at all to what this is?

One tip is darker cane, may be from another rod or a replacement.

Welcome to the TFF, Robert!

I can't help you with the identification. It's a nice rod and ,if the fibers haven't gone soft, well worth restoring.

Duebel wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:04 am if the fibers haven't gone soft

Thanks, how would I tell?

Robert P wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:36 am

Duebel wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 6:04 am if the fibers haven't gone soft

Thanks, how would I tell?

Bend the rod. If it springs back, everything's alright, if it stays a little bent, you might have a problem there.

Ahah. It's fine in that respect. Although I'm not sure of the viability of building the longer tip with it's damage..
I now see there is a building section to the forum so won't go into detail about that side of things - suffice to say if there's any way I can suss the maker that would be good, before I write "Unknown fly rod, rebuilt 2018" on it hahahah

Maybe you should ask Mark to move this thread to the New Member and Welcome section of the TFF http://traditionalfisherman.com/viewforum.php?f=26

I'm sure you'll get a little more attention there and you'll be pointed in the right direction.

From the colour of the whippings your rod could be made by Edgar Sealey and Sons, but that's a rather wild guess only based on the fact that I own two rods of that maker ...

http://traditionalfisherman.com/viewtop ... 93&t=17432

Stripped, cleaned and ferrules ready for blacking...

the fittings are very scotti like ,but the bare cane doesn't quite look like i'd expect but that could just be a camera thing .a sharpe scotti or maybe a fosters

looking good ,so far

I don't think the handle fittings are up to Sharpe's standards - the metal looks quite budget. The rubber button I added myself as whatever was there originally was missing.

I'm planning to build this in a relatively modern style and am not going for a complete 'restoration' because it'll be a fishing rod, and I'm trying to keep costs and weight to a minimum.