Glass rods

I bought one of those Fenwick HMG, a 6-7 wt. many years ago, still have it!

PaulG
 
Tim,

I would like to cast the rod. It was heavy for me, but I'd like to feel what it can do with a line.
 
How did I know that would turn out to be you? Funny, I thought that the moment I read his post.

Fenwick HMG 7'6" 5wt....my first good rod. Broke it in college and still miss it......
 
Dear Jay,

Next time you see me remind me and I'll let you give it a try.

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
I have an 8ft wonder rod like yours I believe. White balnk with black and red wraps. I picked up 2 alike. One was used and had standard wraps and the second was signed and has custom wraps. Phil Harris is the signature... it says "Custom Made for Jim Zumbo 76' by Phil Harris" I sold the used on a while ago but kept the nice one. I fished the used one before I sold it. It was great for roll casting.
 
I would like to buy a line and put it on that old reel that I got, None of the three rods have a line wt on then. What would be the best line wt I should get, I would probably use the same line for all of them. Could I do that?

PaulG
 
Would this help?

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/bamboo/

weird though...mine has FHF on it...and a model (no. 1290) only and its stamped into the locking ring on the reel seat.

for which a search turned up this...

http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/antiques/rods.pdf

Ok this is getting interesting...

http://fiberglass-fly-rods.pbworks.com/Shakespeare

According to this FHF means my rod was made in May F=5, of 1953 HF=53

that last link is a treasure trove of info...
 
I started getting interested in slower rods when I gave a friend's HMG a wiggle last fall. By December, I bought my first glass rod, a Diamondglass 8' 4wt. I waited until spring to use it, figuring it would be a dry fly only rod. Wrong. Boy was I stupid. That rod can do almost everything. Now I'm totally in love with glass.

I just bought a used McFarland the other day. It should be arriving soon - can't wait to get my hands on it! Now I need a reel for it - any suggestions?

And yes, this rod collecting thing is addictive.
 
BTW...

Trivia: Shakespeare beat Fenwick to market with the first graphite flyrods. Both firms claimed the tradename "Graflite", but Shakespeare got there first. Fenwick changed their product name to HMG. It just goes to show that being first doesn't always get the gold.
 
FiveWeight wrote:
I have a couple of glass rods. A 7' something Ibotson/Herrod "Mohawk" 5/6 weight, ...
Click to expand...

I got a chuckle out of that brand. Must be about 2000 years old (Herrod).

But I'm betting it was a Horrocks-Ibbotson.

I like the old glass rods, but I currently don't have any. I'll have to look for another Wonderrod.

Bought a whole bundle of rods at an estate auction once for 15 bucks because there was a white Wonderrod in the bunch. Some guy came up to me a few minutes later and offered me 15 for just one of the rods in the bundle and it wasn't even anything special. SOLD! i would have let him have that one for $5, but if he wants to give me more, who am I to quibble? So basically I ended up with the rest for free. One of the best deals i ever made. Bundle also included the white Wonderrod flyrod, an old H-I fiberglass, a heavy St' Croix boat rod and I believe a brown Wonderrod spinning rod. Had never seen one of those.

I sold most (maybe all) on Ebay, but gave the big rod to my brother as a gift. He is into big cats. There was even an old steel rod in that bunch. I think I got $10 just for that, and it had pieces missing. What some people will buy on Ebay.

I have a picture from the guy who bought the white Wonderrod flyrod. It was like new, and he loved it. I think he was from Texas. It's a picture of his girlfriend after catching a channel cat from a muddy pond while wearing a sun dress. The girlfriend was wearing the dress, not the catfish.
 
tomgamber wrote:
BTW...

Trivia: Shakespeare beat Fenwick to market with the first graphite flyrods. Both firms claimed the tradename "Graflite", but Shakespeare got there first. Fenwick changed their product name to HMG. It just goes to show that being first doesn't always get the gold.
Click to expand...

that's like Beta and VHS? :)

Shakespear might not have even made their own. Don't know for sure on the glass rods. But many (if not all) Shakespeare bamboo rods were made by others.
 
FarmerDave wrote:


Shakespear might not have even made their own. Don't know for sure on the glass rods. But many (if not all) Shakespeare bamboo rods were made by others.
Click to expand...


If you look at the one chart it says:
"Shakespeare and Pflueger Rods"
 
Shakespeare bought pfleuger so that's not a surprise:

http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/history/index.shtml

Still, the first patent for graphite (fishing rods) came from hardy.
 
I'm sure it did (first patent). I was just cutting and pasting from the site I marked.
 
Thanks.

Didn't know the history of the glass rods, other than a few details of the first one. Some sceintist broke the tip section of his cane rod, and made a new one out of fiberglass. something like that. Don't remember the name or company.

I knew they were big in reels for a long time. I'm a bamboo guy, and I wasn't sure if Shakespeare actually made their own early fiberglass rods or had someone else make them for them like they did with lots of bamboo rods. But I read the following from their history.

1954 – Shakespeare manufactured the first fiberglass radio antennas, golf club shafts, pool cues, archery equipment, and numerous industrial materials.

Makes sense they would make the glass fishing rods, too. Afterall, if it aint bamboo, it's a radio antenna with guides.;-)
 
Look at Vic Johnsons book on fiberglass fly rods for a good history.

There is some debate about the origins of the fiberglass rod and they appear to have Michigan and California roots. Fiberglass was developed during WWII for lightweight aircraft parts, dielectric whip antennas and other uses and started the whole composites industry. NARMCO in CA developed Conolon for Convair aircraft parts. California appears to be one center of innovation for fiberglass due to aircraft applications. The competion casters out there were leading edge rod designers who jumped on the new material. Actually, some make he case that the real glass innovations came from the West with Garcia Fenwick, Sage, etc not being hampered by trying to follow their existing bamboo models like Heddon and Shakespeare had to. Dr Howald in the Midwest developed a different way to form fiberglass. Shakespeare bought the Howald process and Narmco (later Garcia) started making fiberglass rods right after the war. Who was first is a matter of debate, but Easterners usually vote for Shakespeare and Westerners for NARMCO/Conolon/Garcia. The embargo of Chinese bamboo in 1950 put a stake through the heart of the mass produced cane rod business allowing fiberglass to become the major rod material until graphite rods got perfected.

One caution about using the older pre mid 60's rods. The early unpainted rods didn't have any UV protection and degraded in sunlight. All my white fiberglass Shakespeare rods from back in the day eventually failed. If you plan to use an old glass rod heavily it's not a bad idea to add a coat of modern spar varnish for UV protection.
 
http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/

paul,here's the site i was trying to PM you about,but the link wouldn't work there.
 
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