The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

On Friday, whilst having the first coffee of the morning, I was idly browsing the 'market' area of a popular social media site. There I noticed two vintage rods for sale, one of which looked interesting, especially as they were reduced from £30 to £15 for the pair. They had been on offer for a while and it was hard to tell what the were as there was only one photo, which had been taken from a distance. I live in the Midlands and the rods were collection only from the south coast, but as luck would have it the south coast was where I was heading for the weekend

To cut a long frustrating story of miscommunication short, the rods were eventually collected on Sunday lunchtime. One proved to be an un-named Martin James rod that has so much 'set' it will be useful for fishing around corners The other, as you've guessed, is a Chapmans 550 Apart from a small amount of corrosion on the tip ring it is in superb condition and looks hardly used. At full length, dead straight and with the original stoppers, the whippings are green and have twisted copper wire on the lower leg of the butt guide and on the ferrule wrappings. According to the Chapman's site this makes it an early model! I'll try to post some pictures by the weekend assuming I can stop grinning about the bargain price

Well done Waggers!!
Look forward to seeing the pics. The 550 is a fine rod, but you already know that

Excellent Wagtail, sounds very similar to mine, look forward to seeing it.

Super find Wagtail the 550 is a favourite of mine

Super find Wagtail the 550 is a favourite of mine

Well done! A Chapman 550 is a fine classic rod!

Tonytoned wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:45 pm Excellent Wagtail, sounds very similar to mine, look forward to seeing it.

Tonytoned, I'd say they were identical

Wagtail wrote: ↑Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:53 pm

Tonytoned wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:45 pm Excellent Wagtail, sounds very similar to mine, look forward to seeing it.

Tonytoned, I'd say they were identical

Had to replace all the rings, re-whip and varnish mine. But really chuffed with it, nicely balanced rod too.

As promised some pictures of the 550, in use for the first time I found the rod a bit floppier than expected but it coped admirably with the three carp that I caught with it that evening

Set up and ready to go...



Close up


First fish, 14lb+

Nice looking rod, what a bargain!! Darker cane than mine but mine's been restored. What is the reel in the photo? Looks great with the rod