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New to me RL Winston 4pc
Post 23 Nov 2022, 11:44 • #1 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 1218
Location: Branson, Missouri
Picked up this vintage RL Winston recently - rod only... all sections meeting together badly.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17580

Measures 112 inches - each of the 4 pieces is 28 inches long. Fisher dark blank.
Looking to know what tube and sock would have been stock.
9' 3" 6wt 4pc - cataloged as a Trout Rod - but no markings on this one







Balanced nice with this Med Pridex - but the DT5F line was not right.


A real bendy rod - very flexible. Easy to get into your backing.


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 14:39 • #2 
Guide
Joined: 10/06/14
Posts: 308
Location: US-MN
Old Winston glass rods are cool! Would you say it is more of a 6wt then?

I am surprised the spigot on the 3rd section is a different color. Do you think it was repaired at some point?


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 15:05 • #3 
Guide
Joined: 08/05/06
Posts: 205
Location: US-CA
The bronze color of the blank dates it to the early 1960s when Doug Merrick, the Fisher brothers and Jon Tarentino were working out the details on Winston's new glass rods. I've never seen a Winston with ferrules in dissimilar materials (hollow or solid?.) Most bronze blank Winstons I've seen had either Featherweight alauminum ferrules or the solid brown or white ones in later rods. 4 pc rods weren't common back then and while you could get Winston to build one I don't recall any being catalogued until Tom Morgan took over. All that, suggests that the rod was a one off or prototype. Finally, doesn't a 28" section length suggest an assembled rod of about 8'9" rather than 9'3"? You need to subtract the length of the male ferrules from 112". If the ferrules are loose you can always trim them back to a good fit to fish the rod safely.


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 15:18 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 1218
Location: Branson, Missouri
I believe the darker color is just the smaller diameter of the material... appears to be no hoopla.
Weighs in at 4.2 ounces - 119grams

some good info here - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4368&p=2070&hilit=dry+fly+tom#p2070


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 15:53 • #5 
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Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
As L Kenney described, quite likely a one-off from the time when even repeat production of exact models was very small. It sure does look like Fisher brown rather than the later, unique to Winston, reddish brown. But with the usual Winston wrap style. I'll guess--but hard to be sure from the pics and the measurements given, that this rod was modified from a two piece "model" (again, small production or one-off/ prototype) originally cut and ferruled that way. The other two spigots were added when each piece was cut again to make a four piece rod. That could have been almost immediately or years down the road, but the spigot stock for each of those looks different from the midway spigot. That's why I'd guess the prototype or single custom model was derived from a blank originally built as a 2-piece. The amount of original vs refinsh on the wraps might be anoher clue. If anything, there looks to be fresher finish with better gloss on the wraps at the spigots that would have been added later to make a 4-piece. Hard to tell from the pics, but perhaps you can see by inspecting closely. So the rod could have been built that way all at once or progressively modified. Nifty and thanks for showing.


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 16:07 • #6 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/29/09
Posts: 906
Location: US-MI


Have fished a similar version of your rod from this era in a two section version. This older color glass is certainly more rare than the later Fisher brown rods. Enjoyed the details provided from others above.


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 17:35 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 12/29/11
Posts: 510
Location: US-CA
From the coppery-colored blank it looks to be a factory-built rod made on the painted blanks that preceded the usual Fisher brown blanks, probably in the 1960's. The spigots should all be made of the same material, which looks to be hollow glass because of the spiral pattern and texture, because they wouldn't have used different material for just one of the spigots. There weren't many 4-piece rods in the catalog. The closest rod I've seen is a quite scarce 9'3" 2 piece 5 wt. made on a conventional Winston brown blank.


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Post 23 Nov 2022, 19:54 • #8 
Master Guide
Joined: 09/29/09
Posts: 906
Location: US-MI
Have not seen a Winston rod with different ferrule colors or materials for the same rod prior to the rod posted above.

This four weight and other multiple section fiberglass Winston rods encountered have featured all brown or all white ferrules.





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Post 24 Nov 2022, 11:23 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
You guys have a sharper eye and/or better screen display than I do to discern the "bronze" tone in the OP. But it's as shown in the pic in Grouse's post #6 ? I think I can see it in the OP now, more of a matt brown than the later high gloss, and hope the OP can confirm. Also whether the ferrule stock is distinctly different or that's just an appearance of the lighting in the photos. Same for the wraps. Later on, Winston used two-part finish and varnish according to various catalog descriptions. I'll guess that only conventional spar varnish was used early on at the SF shop. Maybe 16pmd or LK knows for certain. Brian might be able to tell on close inspection. Any difference in thread or finish that gives a clue at when or if the rod was modified.


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Post 24 Nov 2022, 14:01 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 1218
Location: Branson, Missouri
Thanks you guys - for the super cool history and information.
I had no idea it was that old - I was thinking very late 70's.
The tube and sock are still a mystery.

I can't confirm any rod blank or ferrule blank colors - being color blind this looks like green tan brown to me.
Clearer photos with better lighting coming up.

My shotty dip job made it fishable anyways.
I used that Spar varnish shown in link to work the ferrules back to 1/4 or better.

It casts that DT5F fine - just didn't always do what I wanted... looking for that line that can do it all.
Should find that out this coming week or have fun trying... even in the wind.
CFO V has a WF7F on it - trying that tomorrow.


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Post 24 Nov 2022, 14:13 • #11 
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Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Thanks. Looks like sharper eyes and screen resolution than mine are it ! And if it has been touch-up varnished by you, that might be the only reason the spigots look different .Any "before" pics?


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Post 27 Nov 2022, 05:58 • #12 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 1218
Location: Branson, Missouri
This is not 9' 3" as I wrote above.
Thanks for the correction - rod is a total of 9ft when assembled.

That varnish is oil based... that I used for the dip...
No before photos, however there was no material removed
- only a thin layer of oil based varnish added to the male ferrule stations.
This would be a good candidate to TAKE to Winston factory shop for fun.
Cast it out in the side yard.







Shot of the winding check and hook keep for comparison to above :



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Post 18 Jan 2023, 05:12 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/19/08
Posts: 1218
Location: Branson, Missouri
Rod can be seen - labeled Grizzly Glass circa 1955 in photos here :
Visit to RL Winston rod factory
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/vie ... ur#p810636

(( be sure to click back to this forum ))


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