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Post 24 Oct 2017, 19:21 • #1 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
Last week I bought a no name mystery rod for next to nothing. It's probably nothing special, and common as dirt, but my god that thing can cast! To be totally honest it's by far the best balanced, lightest and best built vintage rod I own. So, I'm hoping the online community can help me figure out what this thing is so I can look for more like it in the future. I have this gut feeling it's an old Wright and McGill, looks like one, but the quality feels almost too good.
So Here's what I know about the rod.....
8' 2pc glass (actually measures a little over 7'11" factory length)
Seems to be a 5wt....or at least REALLY likes 5wt line
Reel Seat is black anodized aluminum with polished aluminum hardware. The reel seat is unusually small in diameter at .622" (about 5/8")
The cigar style handle is topped off with a polished aluminum cap
The ferrules are nickel plated brass
weight is 2 ounces exactly
Windings are black and are done in a single thread cross over style
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Last edited by sgoodroe on 26 Oct 2017, 06:55, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 25 Oct 2017, 06:18 • #2 
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Joined: 06/16/05
Posts: 2537
Location: Georgia
Trying to view on my phone but limited. Is the ferrule butt over tip?


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Post 25 Oct 2017, 08:42 • #3 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
yah, the ferule does go over the tip


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Post 25 Oct 2017, 09:39 • #4 
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Joined: 06/23/05
Posts: 4966
Location: US-MT
No, not tip over butt, is an older, metal ferrule.


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Post 25 Oct 2017, 09:43 • #5 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
yes its a metal ferule....which is over the rod, not inside of it (like a few older glass rods I've seen).


Last edited by sgoodroe on 06 Nov 2017, 12:29, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 28 Oct 2017, 17:56 • #6 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
I fished this rod for 3 hours today, and WOW! Definitely, by far the best handling vintage glass I've ever fished. I would have fished it all day, but it's just enough heavier then a modern rod my busted up hand was starting to hurt. But that being said, next summer this WILL BE my big river glass rod. What a joy to fish!

Just wish I knew what it was. I still feel it's an early Wright and McGill, which seems odd for how well it handles. Any ideas? Anyone???????


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Post 02 Nov 2017, 15:49 • #7 
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Joined: 07/08/16
Posts: 18
Location: La Vergne, Tennessee
Doesn't look like a Wright & McGill to me. The ferrules look to very close to my Actionrod. I know they made tobacco blanks as well.


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Post 03 Nov 2017, 17:55 • #8 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
Actually it's quite similar to some early Wright and McGill's I've seen, The reel seat, blank and windings are very similar to a Denco, that isn't what this rod is, but it is most likely from the same era.


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Post 06 Nov 2017, 12:32 • #9 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
I took a long look at this rod again over the weekend. I used a black light and a digital micro scope (not at the same time) and I can just barely make out what used to be white writing on the top of the blank, about 8 to 10 inches ahead of the handle. Not enough left to read it, but there was definitely something there. Any ideas....


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Post 06 Nov 2017, 16:29 • #10 
Guide
Joined: 08/26/17
Posts: 189
Location: S.F. Bay Area
I think your rod is a low-end example that could have been made by one of dozens of different companies during the 50's. Without it being marked, you're pretty much up the creek finding the maker.
Mark


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Post 07 Nov 2017, 16:06 • #11 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
wrong88 wrote:
I think your rod is a low-end example that could have been made by one of dozens of different companies during the 50's. Without it being marked, you're pretty much up the creek finding the maker.
Mark

My thoughts exactly. I know this rod isn't a high end model. But it does fish better then any other vintage rod I own......including my Philipson. But for me when it comes to vintage rods, cheep and common is just the way I like them! :)


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Post 18 Nov 2017, 10:25 • #12 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
I recently showed the pix of this rod to my brother Mike, a fly fishing fanatic who is much older and wiser then I. His take on this was......"Something just doesn't look right, it looks like it was built from miss matched parts". In essence his perception was that either this rod was reworked long ago, or more likely built from a mail order kit.

I took another good long look at the rod from across the room, and he's right. The proportions seem out of whack. The handle and reel seat seem small for the rod, and the point of balance is about an inch ahead of the handle.

Any thoughts on that??????


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Post 18 Nov 2017, 10:46 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/23/05
Posts: 4966
Location: US-MT
I think you are overthinking it. Zillions of inexpensive rods were shipped out looking more or less like yours.


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Post 18 Nov 2017, 11:17 • #14 
Guide
Joined: 08/26/17
Posts: 189
Location: S.F. Bay Area
+1 on the overthinking.


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Post 18 Nov 2017, 12:44 • #15 
Guide
Joined: 02/05/17
Posts: 131
Location: NorCal
its a silaflex. EDIT: well maybe not, I didn't see the top half of the ferrule until just now, and it doesn't look like it.


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Post 18 Nov 2017, 18:39 • #16 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
majicwrench wrote:
I think you are overthinking it. Zillions of inexpensive rods were shipped out looking more or less like yours.



Maybe, but it would be nice to attach a brand name to this rod. Just so when some one asks me what it is, I can give a better answer then "cheep, no name, ebay special". :)


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Post 19 Nov 2017, 07:27 • #17 
Master Guide
Joined: 08/29/09
Posts: 512
Location: 2 hrs from all good things Northern Californian
The quality of the wraps and the reel seat scream trade rod from the mid-to-late 50s. Several builders used that same form and color of glass. Quality was not as consistent as a Phillipson or Fenwick, but that also means that it was quite possible for a trade rod to be perfectly rolled and then built with perfect spine alignment for a gem of a caster.

Enjoy your find and don't stress over knowing what it is; that won't make it any more valuable.


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Post 19 Nov 2017, 08:24 • #18 
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Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Similarly, the various trade rod assemblers, or retailers who contracted with OEM makers, sourced components from the same range of OE suppliers. Thus, in many cases, the use of a certain thread, reel seat, grip, winding check, ferrule and so on may be indicative, but isn't definitive. In other words, generic parts from any of several makers. ("We reserve the right to change specifications without notice," wasn't just an indication of potential innovation, it was in anticipation of the disruptions of the supply/delivery chain the assembler sourced from. Sometimes there is a "signature" component or build technique (like the continuous wrap that spirals under the snake guide to its other foot). Even those might change according to the workforce, shift, or supervisor.

The best, and still potentially inconclusive, method would be side by side visual comparison of the blank as to color tone, dimension, cloth weave and so on. Sometimes this is evident and definitive from pics, but hasn't been so far to all that looked this over. Even blanks, though, could vary in lot to lot consistency or prepreg supplier. Did anyone guess Trutemper or Actionglass Monty Wards yet? Could be.

A row of brown-toned trade rods whose maker/label was known would enable close visual inspection, so comparisons with the unknown blank might yield an answer that pics haven't enabled, but very well might not. I wouldn't be concerned either. That configuration was a wheelhouse of the time. It was hard to make a great one and hard to make a bad one. In between that, a lot will yield just the performance you described.


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Post 07 Dec 2017, 19:56 • #19 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
Yah I know, could be anything. I'm actually surprised that someone on here hasn't had a similar rod or something fairly close and said "oh yah, it this or that". I quite honestly couldn't care less about it's market value....it's mine I like it and it's going to stay mine, until I hand it down to one of the kids. So that being said, I have no interest in putting a name to it so I can make a few bucks on ebay. I'd just like to able to put a name to it, just for the sake a knowing. No stress, just pure curiosity.

For me at least, this rod quickly became my absolute favorite big river glass rod with in seconds of making my first cast with it.....and that was with cheep Hobbs Creek line I borrowed from one of my kids! I can just imagine the way thing will handle with a modern, decent quality line.....Cant wait to find out! :)

UPDATE......Mystery solved, it turned out it is actually a mid 1950's Horrocks & Ibbotson, which is what I originally thought when I bought it. This is a mid '50's Ike Walton model in 6wt. Great rod and I love fishing it!

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Post 07 Dec 2017, 20:16 • #20 
Guide
Joined: 08/26/17
Posts: 189
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Would you mind sharing your source of information? I have virtually every H-I catalog from the 50's. There is no Ike Walton model offered. Thanks.
Mark


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Post 07 Dec 2017, 21:36 • #21 
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Joined: 01/26/07
Posts: 1385
Location: Ada, Oklahoma
Do a search for "Ike Walton tackle" and you'll find the Ike Walton rod was listed in the 1971 H-I catalog.

Larry


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Post 08 Dec 2017, 11:00 • #22 
Guide
Joined: 08/26/17
Posts: 189
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Yes, H-I did produce an 8 ft. "Ike Walton" fly rod (No.1348) during the 70's. However, it's not even remotely similar to the OP's rod, which I don't believe was produced by H-I. I can supply catalog photos, if desired. The reel seat on the OP's rod is not one that was used by Horrocks-Ibbotson. I do believe it's a 1950's rod, though.
Mark


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Post 09 Dec 2017, 11:39 • #23 
Guide
Joined: 10/01/17
Posts: 230
Location: Vermont
I bought an identical rod with markings intact.....a much newer new rod, but clearly the same bits and pieces...same grip, same real seat......same windings....same blank........H I may have called it something different in the mid '50's, but it's clearly the same rod series, no question about that. To be totally honest I couldn't care less what that "actual" model name is, I just was trying to figure it out so I could buy more........mission accomplished! :)


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