The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

In my early teens I had a rod that had an alloy butt section and glass mid and tip sections...it was a rather lurid mustard yellow with blue whippings as I recall... I fished with it for a long time and that broke on the alloy butt section by the ferrule... I seem to remember getting snagged and pulling for a break and the rod just folded up just below the 1st joint... I know it was quite a heavy beast...

Wallys-Cast wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 9:20 pm They are light rods and nice to fish with but some have metal corrosion issues near the ferrules. I had one collapse during a cast, it broke at the ferrule on the butt to mid section joint, on looking inside the tube it was well corroded so it must have allowed moisture to get inside from somewhere.
I had another one which snapped at the mid to tip joint with very little pressure on it.
It appears to be electrolytic or bimetallic corrosion caused by the two metals touching in the presence of moisture. I think it would only take a slight gap in the adhesive between ferrule and tube to allow moisture to be drawn in as the tube cools down on a warm but rainy day. Once inside it is trapped and eats away at the metal from inside.

All that said, I have a mate who's been using one for years and has had no problems at all.

Wal.

I am a bit worried about using mine now, I suppose if it does fold I shall have a decent set of rings for a cane rod refurb at some point. Every cloud has a potential silver lining I suppose.. glass is half full and all that

My Dad worked for British Aluminium for 40 years and edited their company magazine. He had a BA aluminium float rod. I suspect BA tube may have been the supplier to some of the othet brands. I still remember that horrible moment when I tried to cast a ledger across Eagle Pond, both ferrules snapped and there was a split second where all three bits were in line but seperate!. Cast softly!!!!

...So named after Tony Croft one of our greatest rod makers and a bit of a rescue plan for Aspindales . They were an instant hit on the match scene and are superbly designed. Wally is right you have to look for corrosion caused by metal hierarchy reaction around the ferrules but I have several of them and they have endured. I recall that Nobby told me once it all went wrong for Tony in the end as he staked his life on the popularity of the rods but a business problem took him down sadly.
Inexpensive, I can vouch for the wonderful tapers Tony achieved and whilst not to everyone's taste I feel they are traditional and a nice alternative for trotting a stick float.

It is a known fact that brass and aluminium when joined together and are subjected to moisture are libal to corrode and this could be the case with the breaking of these rods made of Aluminium with brass furrels as highlighted by Wallscast.Reelmaker

Good Morning John, and A Happy New Year to you and yours, and all the Forum members who may pick up on this post.


I started my Apollo collection in 1997, and it wasn't too long before I discovered that there were quite a number of rod makers and/or shops with aluminium rods for sale. Apollo have always been my over-riding interest, and I have tended to put other rods which came my way at the back of the garage.


Last year I decided to have a look at the dusty pile of rods to see which of them might be seriously usable, and I was quite surprised to see what I had.

Aspindales,- 12foot, 13foot and 14 foot Croftdales. No Findales, but a leaflet from the 1960s listing all the then current Aspindale rods, which I got from Peter a couple of years ago, but it has no prices !!


Other rods by, Millwards, Chapmans,Jim Knight, Lindop, Pegley Davis, Gilfin, Abbey, and Auger.


Perhaps we should start a new topic?


Regards,

Mick G

I can confirm that British Aluminium of Studley Road, Redditch did indeed supply the blanks for these rods...because Accles and Pollock ( Apollo) didn't even reply to a letter to them from Croft Competetive Rods!

Lighter and stronger than Apollo's Taperflash range with newly designed tapers, they were made from aluminium just 12 thousandths of an inch thick!

As far as I am aware CCR re-named themselves Aspindale and Son when Peter Aspindale re-united with former workmate Tony Croft. This was the penultimate of five versions of the firm....six if you include the brief Aero Rods of his Uncle William. The workmates had parted company when Tony went to work for Trimcraft as a sales rep...largely using the contacts he had made working with Peter. Peter himself was very seriously hurt in a car accident and it was over a year before he was able to work again, by which time his father James had sold the company and all its assets

Unfortunately, the offer of a bank loan was seemingly withdrawn when the books were examined and the company folded before these aluminium rods could go into mass production.

What examples are out there seem to have been examples given to noted match anglers for assessment .... which by all accounts was very favourable.


Book-keeping seems to have been quite an issue for Aspindale, both Peter and William, his uncle, were just accountants and one might say, not very good ones. They were not involved in rod making at all, though Peter did later continue as Aspindale and Sons in the final version of the family firm. His rods are notable for their black and silver transfer....which strangely is almost identic al to what Tony Croft later used after he had moved to the South coast and formed Croft's again.

One day there may be a book published about all these fellers and their complicated business lives....Lord knows those still with us won't forget it...this episode cost Tony Croft his home, his furniture and his car! Peter too, it seems, was forced to sell everything by the bank.

Had these rods gone into full production it might have changed the outcome...who knows?

Yes, galvanic corrosion, most Land Rover owners are well aware of the problem.

British Aluminium also had a foray into aluminium boats. And you can imagine what happened when alminium was mixed with salt water!.

The EA apparently bought a fleet of aluminium boats for electro fishing. Oops!