Bamboo Pack Rod

This is the first time I've run across one of these "Nickle Silver Rods with bamboo spacers" (as described by John Gierach). Some of the sections were delaminated along with having some mean sets. I was able to straighten quite a bit after gluing everything back together, but didn't push the straightening in a couple of areas - I wasn't sure how much the bamboo could take. This was a "trade" job for Bob, a gent I met at a local antique fair - I got a couple of project rods, some parts & tubes in exchange. As always the intermediates were hell, but made the next job (see below) feel like a wrapping breeze. There is an existing rod sleeve, pretty cool to have a rod you can put in your pocket. Bob & I were pleased with the results, I think it will make a neat display rod.

Unknown South Bend Bamboo Rod

Okay, a "work in progress" post. Here's a South Bend (no markings on rod, but the reel seat is stamped) I'm restoring. The gent had been given my name by the folks at Dry Creek, but the phone number was wrong. I happened to catch his post on The Classic Fly Rod Forum. The rod is rough, missing the ferrule & tip top on the tip - the tip also had a pretty severe set.

Found a ferrule, got the tip straightened up. I added a bit of cork putty to fill a couple of divots in the grip and found that the thread was a dark green with orange tipping - at first glance it looked like dark blue & rust. As usual, the cane is several shades lighter. I began wrapping this morning. Stay tuned.


The wraps are done, 2 coats of lacquer. I will put some spar varnish on the wraps and dip this weekend - I would do it tomorrow but we have a gig at Heritage Highlands. Not sure if I should continue my Granger Favorite or knock out another one to post for sale - all those taxes paid and now I have to enteratain the in-laws the next 2 weeks.

Things turned out nicely and the colors were muted by the varnish. I'm going to rotate the female ferrule on the mid for Bob as it angles just a bit. Time to complete the Granger Favorite.

The Mystery of the Montague Flash

I wish I had the full story on this rod. I bought it in a group with a Wright & McGill Waterseal and 2 tubes. My main desire was the tubes, nice burgandy with gold trim aluminum. The Waterseal was a combo rod and the pictures of this rod were fuzzy, but I could see the paper band on the grip. I honestly doubt this rod was ever fished but I assume it was crushed at some time. The stripping guide was bent, someone had glued a separation in the butt section and wrapped with heavy thread. Inexplicably every male ferrule has a crack - the bane of Montague ferrules, but there are no scratches on the reel seat and the decal is pristine. All I did was bend the stripper back into shape, re-wrap it with vintage Gudebrod Champion nylon thread and dip the butt from the wrap above the decal. The rod casts well, I am fairly certain it would stand up well if fished, but think it should be displayed - it is as clean and straight as any vintage bamboo rod I had have ever seen. I'll probably post it on eBay later today, I don't think any of the collectors on the Classic Fly Rod Forum would have any interest in it.

South Bend 323 8.5' HDH

It's been almost 1 year (July 30) that my house was flooded. Ironically, the only rod that was totally ruined was an HEH version of this same model. This one was in a PVC tube that was used for shipping, water had crept in, soaked the sleeve and after months in storage, smelled like a bloated carp that had spend a week in the sun. Every section had de-laminated, but luckily the wraps held so I was able to reglue everything. I lost the decals, the bottom knob on the reel seat was corroded, but I was able to take it apart, clean and oil it so it does work. I was pretty pleased with the look of the cane considering that I was worried all the power fibers had wasted away. I don't think I will ever be able to sell this so it will be part of the 10 rods I will eventually keep. It does cast a 6 wt Sylk line nicely - it will serve as a reminder of living through adversity.

Arrivaca May 25, 2011

Not the best shot in the world, but I only had my phone since I was using my daughter's truck. I could have taken a shot on the lake, but I envision the phone slipping out of my hand and slipping into the murky waters. Funny, the water seems murkier - I distinctly remember being able to see fish on the nests in years past - but I am sure that is just a flawed memory. It was before the big fish kill years ago. Anyway, the fish seem happy enough - I didn't arrive until 2. I saw few fish working on top, but neither foam hoppers nor deer hair frogs did any good. Around 5 I finally relented and tied on a chartreause crystal bugger on my 6 wt with the sink tip and hooked a very healthy 21" bass. It jumped twice, but luckily was well hooked. Working back I landed a nice sunfish, lost the fly and my root-beer crystal bugger took one out from some overhanging branches. This bass was "only" 18", but just as healthy. One more bluegill and I was off the water around 6:45 BUT I could hear fish working on top in the distance. I won't have a chance for topwater action unless I break down and go on a weekend. It will probably be busy here this weekend since I heard that Parker Canyon is closed.

H-I Governor, ready to fish

Okay, I was in a hurry and I had 3 jobs piled up but I still should have taken a "before" shot of this rod. A nice little H-I Governor, 8 1/2 foot, 3 piece with 2 good tips. It was in very bad shape, in fact I had to replace every guide as they pretty much rusted away. I see plenty of 9 footers in this model. It was nice to bring this one back, the maroon wraps popped nicely on the lighter colored cane.

Montague Ausable, H-I Pocono Restored

A couple of rods I recently finished. I found the Pocono in an Antique Mall, a 7.5 footer with a single short tip. The reel seat is red, I swear it's a Montegue, identical to one on a Flash (as well as the Ausable pictured) that I have and I've only seen these rods with black reel seats. The tip was horribly scarfed, but the glue was not to be undone. Unbelieveably, it still casts well - a very thin taper that will throw a 3 WF, but seems to prefer a 4 DT. I went ahead and used red wraps and added guides (matched an Orvis Battenkill pattern). I was going to trade this to a buddy, but he has health issues right now. I can't wait to try it on a small stream and will probably sell it at the next club swap meet.

The Ausable was in terrible shape, with horrendous sets. I switched cameras so "before" pictures are evident. As you can see, I replaced the first 2 cork rings, and I went with red thread instead of the red/yellow combination. This rod only had 2 guides per section, I redid it with 3. Oh, the tip was delaminated so I reglued that. My intent is to sell it as a display, but it casts surprisingly well. I don't doubt it would fish just fine. I'm not sure if I will post on eBay or wait for the swap meet.

My current project is a South Bend 323 that barely survived my flood. Then I will redo my 9 foot Granger - unknown model but a 9053 taper that I will wrap as a Favorite.

Arrivaca, Southern Arizona - April 2011

Okay, I will post now that the action has cooled slightly. I made 3 trips over the last 2 weeks to my favorite bass lake. In reviewing my past journal entries I saw that there were definite windows where action was hot. I figured it was still early for any topwater. I was surprised by how high the lake is despite the dry winter. My first trip yielded 4 bass after 1 pm, the largest 16" but very healthy. I used a sink tip line, casting tight to the shore and stripping back immediately. I christned my Phillipson 9' Power Pakt rod - it did well with the bass taper line, but a full day of casting did the cork grip no favors. I got it out of my system and went to plastic for the next 2 trips. Oh, I did get one on topwater - a brown Baby-doll cast deep into a mess of tree branches where one was noodling. The second trip was epic. Went with my buddy Rod who had been a week earlier also. We caught several in the morning up to 18", but killed in the late afternoon. Rod was using smaller flies, 12-14 Prince nymphs and the like, I had continued luck with the crystal buggers (black plastic bead-chain eyes) pictured above. Chartreuse/black the first day, the brown was magic the second day. Working the shoreline in the afternoon, we'd cast to any shadowed area (rocky areas produced best). An intermediate sinking line did better than the sink tip. I scored 3 over 20" and most were very fat & healthy. We also caught a couple of chunky bluegills (10-12"!). The just seemed to migrate to the shorelines as the sun was setting. There was a stretch where every second cast yielded a fish. I was borrowing Rods plastic 8 weight (some Sage RP-something and it took me longer to working in the larger fish as I didn't know if it would explode) - I have to admit it cast well and let me punch my casts out quickly. I also didn't experience "Popeye arm" at the end of the day. My trip this week was more consistent throughout the day, a larger range in size (10 to 18") but no spurt at the end of the day. Color changes seemed to be in order - chartreuse then olive then brown and back to olive. I only got into bass once last year and they seem much healthier this year. I could tell the plant growth was coming up, I pulled in clusters several times where I was weed free last week. I did see a little top water activity. It will be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to return, but I'm hoping I'll find them on top or chasing the fry in the shallows then.

Thin Water & Trout in Southern Arizona

I am amazed whenever I found trout in my part of the world, moreso when they are not stockers. But, these tough little fish don't have much longer (look at the 3rd photo) if we don't get some rain in Southern Arizona soon. I'm told the water was higher in just the past week and I could see evidence where the rocks had been underwater very recently. These were smaller fish (with one notable exception) in very clear water. They were tough to sneak up on (I forgot my knee pads) and the casts had to be pinpoint but it was well worth the drive - a little more than 2 hours from my front door. I started with a 2 piece Heddon 8' bamboo (equivilent to a model 20 or higher) that I will restore soon, but it was too long for the tight spots. Things really started singing when I strung up my Orvis 7 1/2' Impregnated Bamboo. I did best with dries, a size 16 X-Caddis did the best, but I missed several takes on a Royal Trude - just love those old-school patterns. I took one from the last fishable pool upstream (pic #1) and ended the day with a surprise fish close to picnic tables - I was so surprised I got my camera wet while struggling with the fish and it broke me off while I debated a beach shot. Perfectly fitting, that fish deserved anonimity I pray some of the showers I hit on the way home made it up to the peaks and refilled the banks. A perfect tonic to take my mind off taxes.

Christening the Heddon President & Granger Victory

I forgot to take the camera on my short hike to Rose Canyon Lake, so I took these rod shots when I got back to the vehicle. I have been working on a couple of restoration jobs and slowly replacing the flies I lost in the flood - the urge was too strong to resist a trip up the mountain before the gates to the lake open. A cool sunny day on the moutain, a bit of a breeze, but never enough to force me off the water. I bought the W&M Victory (8642) last year, the President the year before, but had not fished with them. Time to remedy that problem. I started with a Hare's Ear, then a PTN, but finally (around noon) started hooking small Browns when I tied on a PTN soft hackle with a clear glass bead. I hooked about 10, landed 5, all around 6-8". As I understand, these browns were stocked as fingerlings and they were a bit larger on average than last year. It is so nice to get something besides a stocked rainbow up here. I've got a Heddon Bill Stanley's favorite and HI Governor coming out of the drying cabinet this week, I will try to post the pictures next week. A couple more in the production line before I get to work on some of mine. More later!

A Warm Fall Afternoon

Creek levels were well below what I experienced here in April. The stream and fish were in very good shape. I took my daughters and 2 of their friends - everyone that fished caught a hybrid Apache Trout.

Almost all my fishing gear is still in storage. I had to borrow a reel and a box of flies. I had no tippet material and this little stream demands sacrifices of mono. I was fortunate in that the fish were very accomodating, in a fall feeding kind of mood.

I would have preferred fishing nothing but dries, but I figured it was easier for my novice partners to hook the fish on nymphs. A Hare's Ear was perfect and kept working even when my tippet was more suited to bass bugs.

All fish were promptly returned, I hope to see them when I return. I hit it perfectly this time.

RUNOFF IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA!

It's been a few years but I have visited this small Southern Arizona stream off and on for over a dozen years and I have never seen it this full. As you can see from the first picture, I did get a hybrid Apache on a Zug Bug, but finding quieter water was the challenge. I figure at least 2 more weeks before I can even think of dry fly fishing. Any fish here is hard won, but it's nice to know you can catch a trout within 2 hours of Tucson. I always like to explore while I'm here and the third shot is one of several Metates I came across in the area. It makes sense this was seasonally occupied being one of the few streams with year-round water - even now deer hunters have good luck in this area. I wonder how much more water it held in the past?

Yellowstone 2010

I'm very happy despite the specter of paying taxes next month. I have the rooms booked in Yellowstone and will be driving instead of flying this year. I am debating whether I should allow one or two days for driving and where to stay. I look forward to hitting the Lamar as I did in '08 (the picture above with Tom.

I had to share this painting, done by a very special artist. You will note that the expectant pose is the same. I have this painting in my office below the print of the Conejos River, between my bronze flyfisher and crystal trout. Hmm, I must hang a better bamboo rod to complement these lovely pieces. I will post some more restorations in a couple of weeks, I've been doing clean up and repairs. Did a 7 1/2' Montague Fishkill but forgot to take pictures of the after! It's 6 months away, too soon to start thinking of what rods to take?

Latest Work

Here's a nice little Devine Fairy rod I just re-did for my good friend Whitey. Those intermediate wraps were hell, but I had them down by the last section. I love the way the wraps went up the grip vs. a winding check on this rod, I may try this design the next time I turn a grip. I'm not sure this was the original wrap pattern - in Michael Sinclair's book, he mentioned red wraps, nothing about black trims. There was a delamination on one tip, but the invisible repair wrap seems to have done the trick. If the pattern works, you should see the new, then the redone section. This is such a delicate little rod, I don't know if Whitey has even fished it - it was an honor to work on it.

Restoration Work - Dec. 2009

I just dipped a Montague Flash Saturday and I finished the Mt. Tom last month. I will post the "after" pictures this weekend. I used some vintage Gudebrod Champion threads on these rods and was very pleased. I used Aerogloss lacquer as a color preserver on the Flash and love the way the color stayed true. I'm about to re-post the Mt. Tom on E-Bay to see if I can get a sale (the last one backed out at the end). I just started work on 7' Eastern rod for a friend, I am not looking forward to the intermediate wraps.