Hello!

I am relatively new to this fiberglass thing, and just recently got a Hardy Jet 7 weight, 8'6" 2 piece. The rod is in very good condition, but when I put the two pieces together, it's snug, but barely. I think the ferrule is a little worn. I searched through the forum here for suggestions on repair, but was unable to find anything. When the rod is assembled, the tip and butt sections actually touch, and from what I have read there should be a small gap when the ferrules tighten up.

So what do I do to fix this? Does anyone make a replacement, or do I need to do some handywork myself? At this point, I am open to suggestions, I would like to fish this rod, but I am afraid to cast it right now, worried that the tip section will come off or the rod will snap. I will post some pictures when I get home from work, but I would like to know if anyone has encountered this.

Thanks!

Oh, edited to add: This is a spigot ferrule.

Ryan,

Welcome to the Fiberglass Flyrodders! It's nice to have visitors from Clark's!

As I understand it, your ferrule is snug with the two rod sections barely touching. It would be ideal if the two rod sections had about 1/8"-1/4" gap between them, but it isn't mandatory. The good news is the ferrule is snug. As long as that is the case, you are in good shape and you can happily fish the rod. I would recommend thoroughly cleaning the ferrule and putting a coating of common candle wax on the male slide. That will provide a little lubrication AND will make the ferrule fit tighter. As long as you keep the ferrule clean, you may be able to wax it and fish happily with it for years. If candle wax doesn't provide enough traction, beeswax is a more drastic option.

If the ferrule is still loose when the rod sections touch, then you will need to have a repair done. Carefully sanding down the female, as Richard describes, until you have a suitable gap is the recommended process. Also like Richard said, with a Hardy Jet, it is worth it.

Tom

Good Morning Ryan,
Glad we could be of assistance. Being retired I get up before dawn so I can go fishing at dawn on decent days. Some of us like to leave a little extra blank before we start our ferrule wraps, if your lucky there might be an 1/8th inch on your tip, thats what I leave when I do my final finsh, so you can just take your sanding block with fine paper, sand it back square and stop just before the existing wraps and add a few more years of fishing before you need to actually do a rewrap of the ferrule overwrap itself during your reduction fit.
I go fishing nearly every day and here with almost daily winds and gusts the granitic silica dust gets on the wax on my ferrules almost always, so its very important to clean my ferrules with care when I come home in the evenings. If Im lucky I do it enough so that the male doesn't get too reduced, it seems to be harder and more prone become the carrier of abrasion into the softer female glass, thus for me and most of the rods Ive worked on for this repair the work is almost always on the female.
Likewise my maximum gap on a brand new rod is less than 3/8 of an inch, usually closer to 5/16ths when finished, that leaves a good 1/4 inch of wear depth before the little tip space needs to be reduced to keep fishing before a rewrap of the overwrap becomes necessary. If you have a little lip, your safe to sand it back square to the base of the overwrap, then put a little fast drying epoxy on your fingertip and sparingly coat the sanded end and just as it blends into the top rod finish or overwrap to reseal this area after your sanding. With careful cleaning and waxing of the ferrule it could last you another lifetime if you have that little extra lip of adjustment.
If you find you need it professionally done in order to get the overferrule rewrap done properly please do, those Hardy Rods are well worth restoring and not seeing bloched. Even in this current recession good fly rods keep a decent value, and deserve to be kept in tip top condition even though we fish them alot and hard.
What are you planning on fishing with this rod anyway, its a good size for Salmon, Steelhead and Bass fishing.
Richard

Thanks for the additional info. I have not decided what to fish with it, but my guess is I may fish a slow sinking line for lake fishing with it. I have a 3, 5, 6, 8 and 7 weight spey at the moment. My 8 is my salt rig, the 7 wt is a Burk spey rod that I have a Cascapedia on, and that's my go-to steelhead rod for the mighty Milwaukee River My 3 and 5 are trout/panfish setups, the 6 I fish smallies with. All of my rods are running Hardy reels of some vintage or another at the moment, although I do have some modern reels that I bring with on longer trips as backups in case something goes awry.

When looking at it I had thought about the epoxy idea on the male part of the ferrule. I was just not sure how to approach it, and wanted to make sure I did not mess it up. I have always been a Hardy fan, and to find one of these in nice shape was pretty exciting for me, I have a rod tube and sock on order for it now since it came with neither, with any luck I will be able to fish it a few times in May when bass season opens up.

One other thing I noticed, the guides are really tiny compared to what I am used to on modern graphite rods, seems like they were meant for silk lines. With the increased diameter, are you still able to shoot line fairly easily, or should I be hunting for a silk line?

Thanks!

Ryan

Oh, and I will try and remember to post some photos, I forgot last night

Guys I have a 1961 Garcia Conolon 5 star 2405 the snakes are small the red agate stripper has an Id less than 5mm, its at 8 1/2ft their heaviest bass rod offered for 1961. I hate the small guides. I worrys me every time I put a reel and line on it. But you know, I move the boat or walk (wadders) closer every time, before I cast. As such if your planning on casting across he river for some reason, rather into the lilly pads etc at less than 50 yards, you know what the guide size is just fine.
On the other had if your planning on some serious offshore Tuna work it wouldnt be my first choice.
In short you have a fine rod.
Richard

Super simple, just sand the female down a bit, you have plenty of room before you hit threads.

Whatever book I had back in the early 70's that talked about spigots advised that on the female, you don't wrap all the way to the end of blank, but leave 3/16". Then if/when ferrule wears, you just sand some of the blank away to improve gap. Looks like the folks at Hardy read the same book