It's the thought that counts

[Rex Robinson]

A while back my boss at work told me he was going to be cleaning out his basement and that he might have a few things I would be interested in.  A few days later he calls me to his office and gives me this...He said it was in with some of his dad' s old stuff and since I enjoy fly fishing he thought I would possibly be able to do something with it.  I was very thankful and the thought of a bamboo rod project would be just the ticket for the winter months.  Put the case in my service car and set out on a day full of service calls, with the thoughts of fishing a vintage bamboo rod filling my head as I drove to and from customer's offices that day.  Finally made it home and headed straight to my workshop to see what shape this rod was in.  Noticed that instead of two pieces there was three.Only one of which was bamboo; the tip section of the rod.  The middle and handle section were fiberglass.Each piece was in very good shape with the eyes all present and even the thread wraps sealed, but still it was not a complete bamboo or a complete fiberglass rod.  It was a hybrid fiberboo.  The fiberglass rod portion was a Montague rod, so all I could figure was at one time he must of had two rods a fiberglass and a bamboo, broke sections of both and made one rod from the two.  So restoring and fishing a vintage bamboo rod is not to be and I was a little disappointed, but like they say "It's the thought that counts". 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Mighty nice of him. Last season I sold two old fly rods on ebay for almost $80. The metal parts were well tarnished and the finish had turned orange peel. The labels were gone, too, but everything was there. They had been toted around for decades, and I believe they were originally part of my grandfathers things. As far as I was concerned they were unusable and restoring them was not going to happen. I finally bit the bullet and let them go to a guy in Canada. I had other things from my grandfathers that had more sentimental value for me.

[Bill Purmort]

Rex, you need to follow through with this and end up with two vintage rods... There are a couple of rod dealers around the country that could very well help you find the missing pieces to these rods And I'd bet it wouldn't be a gob of cash to do it.
Start with Len Cordella...google it. Also check eBay....you could end up way ahead.

Bill

[dick tabbert]

Nice vintage rod Rex.

[Leo Nguyen]

Oh you lucky guy!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

GGGGGGGGGOOD FOR YOU REX and I'll be very surprised if you don't like it or are amazed how well it casts!

[Rex Robinson]

David, It fits together perfect so I'm going to give it a try.  Figure some 6wt line would work on it.  He also gave me some old metal rods with what look like bait casting reels.  Made a cool display on the wall in my sons room.  I'll have to post some pictures of them.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HOW LUCKY YOU ARE REX!!!!!!!! WHAT A FIND AND STORY! Never heard of a hybrid like this but doesn't surprise me a bit! In the old days people didn't spend money as we do now . They made due with what they had at the time, and even if they had the money to replace something they wouldn't till it was broken beyond repair or didn't work anymore at all.
  Bet ya something, YOU MAY BE SURPRISED HOW WELL THIS OLD THING WILL CAST AND DARE YA TO TRY IT! DOSN'T COST ANYTHING TO TRY if you already have a reel and line! Bet You'll be surprised buddy............