"The apple didn't fall far from the tree," a friend of mine once said to me as he compared a Midge rod made by Bob Summers to an earlier Midge rod built by Paul H. Young. Here I compare two larger PHY Co. rods by Summers and Young. The upper, darker rod is a Para 15 finished by Bob Summers on September 20, 1967, when Summers was an employee of the Paul H. Young Co. The lower, lighter rod is a Para 17 built by Paul H. Young in November 1951.
Originally built for its first owner, Bob Church, as a varnished rod, the Para 15 was redone as a oil-finish rod for its second owner, Malcolm B. "Mac" Seaholm. The rod is shown with Bob Church's book, Fly Fishing the Manistee, in which Church wrote about Summers and Young.
A light application of Butchers Wax makes the Para 15 glow just as much as its varnished counterpart. Young's lettering on the Para 17 shows that it was built for Herb Witte.
Lighter in color overall than the Para 15, the Para 17 nevertheless has some darkly flamed sections of beautifully worked cane. It also has decorative spiral thread wraps at the ferrules and the front of the cork grip, and holding all the guides. This is one of the best examples of Mr. Young's work that I have handled.
Para 15 (Summers), Para 17 (Paul H. Young)
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Para 15 (Summers), Para 17 (Paul H. Young)
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Other rod databases: Dickerson , Orvis , Powell
Other rod databases: Dickerson , Orvis , Powell