Hi All,
I am trying to locate information about an 8 1/2' Phillipson Johnson Profile 800 Uniglass rod. The markings identify the rod maker but not the rod weight or line rating. It seems heavier than a 5 0r 6wt . Diameter of the blank adjacent to top of grip is 1/2" if that info is of any use. I am wondering if someone could help with further details about the rod or a more precise way to research it? Any help would be appreciated.

The Johnson Profile mini catalog can be found at this link. Usually the rods are marked with an AFTMA line weight, but the label paint is easy worn off. The catalog lists the rods as "medium dry fly action" or "bass action". For the medium dry fly rods, I would try DT6 and DT7 lines to see how they feel. For the bass action rods, I would try WF8 or WF9 lines.

With any given line, if the rod feels like it isn't bending much, try a heavier line. If the rod feels too soft and unresponsive, try a lighter line. Whatever line works best for your overall fishing is the correct one, for your fishing/casting style.


Tom

Bill Phillipson began using Scotchply before the company was sold to Johnson*. My Phillipson Expert is not marked Uniglas. I've only seen that marking on Johnson Profile rods and literature. Weirdly, the mini catalog above has Uniglas® but the two rods I have are marked Uniglas©. Even weirder, I can find no indications that either Phillipson or Johnson held a Uniglas trademark. For what it is worth, Eponite was never a Phillipson trademark either.

Scotchply was produced by 3M. They sold a specific composite for fishing rods, type XP-231. The image below has a scan from a 1964 Johnson Rod catalog on the left and a scan of a 1967 3M Scotchply advertising brochure on the right. They obviously shared the fishing rod photo. Sorry the images and text are so small. The Scotchply text reads, "SCOTCHPLY" plastic Type XP-231 for fishing rods is 100% epoxy reinforced with unwoven glass filaments in straight parallel alignment couple with fine glass filaments for tranverse strength. Unweakened by crimping or weaving and without unnecessary reinforcement, weight and bulk, rods made from "SCOTCHPLY" plastic are perfectly balanced and read for action. As near as I can tell, Uniglas was simply a one word description of the XP-231 fiber pattern.


Tom

* Johnson & Johnson, Fiberglass Fly Rods (1996), page 81.

Ottobahn,
A long time ago you asked for pics of this rod. Not long after, some things went sideways and I forgot to check back on the thread regarding line weight for my Phillipson. If you're still interested, I can try to figure out how to post pics.

Yes, 3M owned Scientific Anglers at the time. But the System rods were built on Fisher rod blanks developed for SA. To the best of my knowledge, Fisher never used the 3M epoxy based fiberglass.


Tom