Cheap Rods & Gear You Are Proud to Own

JakesLeakyWaders

JakesLeakyWaders

Active member
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,545
Location
York County Pa
My 9' 7 weight Guide Plateau fly rod I bought on clearance at Gander Mtn. for $42 bucks.

I stuck an Okuma Integrity reel and some cheap line on it and I'm "all bassed up". Has a a great cork on it and has a gloss grey finish with blue wraps, 4 piece too.

I've only used it so many times but i love the way it casts big poppers and streamers.
 
My 7 dollar Cabelas catch and release net.
 
My 7' 6" 3-weight, Cabelas Three Forks rod for $39.99 six years ago. Since I had enough points on a Cabelas Visa card, it was free.

Still have it and love to fish with it.

Dale
 
everything I own is cheap!!!!LOL but if one item stands out, it has to be my 1940 vintage medalist reel, brand new in box with papers, bought at a flea market for 20 bucks this year.
it will stay in the box, I have plenty of others to use and abuse, which were even cheaper!!
 
I keep telling myself to grab one of those Three Forks before it is too late.

And that exact model too.
 
I am most proud of my DF 76 "Phillipson Deluxe Swamp Fox" fiberglass flyrod I bought from a friend who purchased it at an auction. He had one already and sold it to me for the auction price of $45. What a rare find, it was manufactured in 1971 and in nearly mint condition. Original aluminum tube and sock too. Phillipson made some of the finest flyrods available at that time and I consider myself fortunate to own one. NO! it is not for sale LOL. Tight lines to all!
 
great deal on that phillipson!!!
 
Bikerfish, your right it was a great deal. I fish it from time to time. It is one of the smoothest rods I own. I put Cortland's Classic Sylk DT5 line on it. I swear it feels almost like fishing good bamboo. Great for dryflies! Thanks for your comment.
 
I've got an entire collection of Medalists now, from the early 1950s to a new production 1595 that I use for just about everything now.

I bought it to replace an Abel that went in for factory service, I have no interest in returning the Abel to major use.. Costs too much, and there's something oddly pleasing about bashing a $25 Pflueger off every rock in the stream and knowing its not getting ruined, but gaining personality.
 
do you guys really want to get me started?
 
Why not? Have at it.
 
LOL, come on shakey!!!
gfen, I fish almost exclusively with medalists as well, one because I like them, the other because, well, they are the reels with line on them at the moment! most of the ones I use are 60's vintage.
wildtigertrout, good glass does feel like bamboo, only much lighter in hand. my fav glass rods that get the most use include a FREE cortland that was in my sisters house when she bought it, a heddon pal from the flea market (10bucks) and a mcfarland 8ft 5wt that I built ($$$$$! doesn't belong in this thread!)
I recently got a glass blank from fhpaddock rods in NY, a 6'6" 3wt that will be my new brookie rod, got it cheap though, it was a blem!
 
I understand from the H&H site that you can no longer buy just a spool for the Medalist, which was always around $10-15 vs. $25.00 for the reel. The reel has been at that price for what seems like forever.

The Akron made Medalists from the 60's are my favorites as fishing tools, though the earlier models have the collector cache. There is nothing wrong with any of the later versions per se, though I think the aluminum is softer on the CJs (Japan) and AKs (China). The Diamolite line guard on the Akrons is harder and smoother than the line guards on the later models, as well. The pawl on the Akrons was metal, on the overseas models it's some sort of graphite composite.

For trout and bass, I don't think twice about using any of them, whether made in the US or overseas.

They do run a bit heavy, but that is perfect if you are also buying a less expensive rod, because they also run a bit heavier.

I use them because that's what my old man used and I kind of like that linkage to tradition so long as it works in the field and stream.

Edit: While on the subject I would like to clear up a common misconception. Medalists with the suffix DA as in 1494DA, were made in Fayettville, AR. The DA does not mean Dual Action.
 
I noticed the spools dried up at Cabela's, too, the only place I knew that actually carried them.

There's a trickle of htem still on ebay, where the four spares for my 1595 came from. That's the other thing I like about the Medalist, I've got a reel, four spares, and everything including ebay shipping costs, was less than a spare spool from even reasonable makers.
 
a Fye chest Box I picked up on ebay about 8 years ago for 20 bucks for a bass box. I have several old Medalist that are still working great.


Joe E
 
1964 medalist, new in the box. I paid $10.00 for it a few years ago. I have many Medalists and use them but kept this one in the box waiting for the right time. Two years ago I had my EC Powell restored and it just seems to be perfect for it.

164738785_R2R5R-L-1.jpg
 
Mine is an old harbocks Ibbotson co bamboo fly rod. It has two tip sections and the one is broken at the ferrel and the tip is missing. the other one is fine. I realize this is not an expensive rod but I would like to recondition it so I could fish with it. This rod was given to me by my uncle when I was a kid and I did use it some then. I have only had it out of the case a couple of times in the last 60 years.
 
.99 cent finger nail clippers

Altoid boxes
 
A newer $35 Pflueger 1495 -- I cut part of the back out in a crescent shape for additional finger drag when I fish for hybrid stripers. Works like a charm.

$ .99 Nail clippers instead of $4 snips.

$20 lumbar pack with glued on fly pad. Just as big and multi-pocketed as a $59 fish pack.

Wading staff cut and shaped from an oriental cherry tree in my backyard. Have had it for years. Very strong. Works great.

Tippet "dispenser" that's nothing more than a .99 velcro nylon wallet I bought 15 years ago.
 
$12 orvis gen 3 wonderline. :)
 
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