I have now owned, cast, fished, and enjoyed PHY Martha Marie #4020 for exactly thirty years.
It seems odd that I have owned this Martha Marie for a longer period of time than did its original owner, George Beall, for whom it was finished by Bob Summers on February 21, 1962.
George Beall grew up in Detroit but spent most of his adult life as an expatriate American living in the south of France. He was a great friend of the Youngs, and remained in close contact with Martha Marie Young long after the death of her husband in 1960.
Forum searches for George Beall and Martha Marie #4020 will turn up information that I have posted about these subjects over the years, or check the listing for PHY rod #4020 in the serial-numbered section of the online Paul H. Young Database.
Congratulations Quashnet on continuing the legacy of that rod. Oh the stories that rod could tell. Makes me think we should keep personal diaries on these rods, the waters they fish, special fish caught and the battles, etc, for future reference. Well done.
"The course of true love never did run smooth," but 30 years with that magnificent tool testifies to the joy of commitment, patience, and a deep, intimate knowledge. Thanks, as always, for sharing.
Bob, after 30 years of being caretaker to this rod, can you share a couple of your more memorable outings with MM? As Oxbow pointed out, I am sure there are some stories.
Thanks for your enthusiasm, passion and sharing of so much knowledge - you have invested uncountable hours for our benefit!
Bob, after 30 years of being caretaker to this rod, can you share a couple of your more memorable outings with MM? As Oxbow pointed out, I am sure there are some stories.
Thanks for your enthusiasm, passion and sharing of so much knowledge - you have invested uncountable hours for our benefit!
Yes, agree, hat's off to the keeper of the flame. Would like to hear a tale or two, best line(s) that fit the stick, etc. Maybe someday we'll hook it up and I'll fish my Perfectionist from 1962 alongside your Martha Marie, and we'll sing a Four Seasons hit, period appropriate.
Regarding the keeping of personal diaries, Jean-Paul Pequegnot reported in George Beall's obituary notice that Beall had kept a fishing journal for "cinquante-trois ans" (fifty-three years). This was "un documente extraordinaire," wrote JPP, offering an opinion that clearly needs no translation. How much richer our angling tradition would be if we had access to this journal, or to Paul H. Young's shop records. I know that Beall owned the Winston mentioned above (and corresponded with Gary Howells), plus he had a Gillum, a Garrison, several Dickerson rods, "et surtout une série de Paul Young qui était son constructeur préféré et son ami" (and above all a series of Paul Young rods - his favorite rod maker, and his friend). Besides Martha Marie #4020, the other PHY rods that I know were owned by Beall are #1961 Para 16 DeLuxe and #3943 Perfectionist, but there must have been more. PHY said that he intended the original Martha Marie taper to be a "perfect replica" of the Parabolic 15, but in a 7'6" length. Although made after PHY's death, this rod almost exactly matches the prototype taper. It is, as Sante said when he made a first cast with it, "one of the true five-weight Martha Maries." I have memorably fished #4020 in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, the Westfield River in Massachusetts, the Dog River in Vermont, and an outlet pool from a New York impoundment that was clogged with largemouth bass weighing up to six and seven pounds. One September on the Renous River in New Brunswick, when the Atlantic salmon fishing was slow and the weather was hot, I brought out the Martha Marie and cast a little Ingall's Butterfly for a few hours, daring any salmon present to show itself. There were no takers then but two days later, in the same spot, I hooked a salmon of at least fifteen pounds on a standard nine-weight graphite and wished for just a moment, until all hell broke loose and the river blew up, that I had George Beall's Martha Marie rod in my hand.
Congratulations on not just owning a gem like that but having used it for it's intended purpose. 1962 was the year I graduated. Man that was a long time ago and happy to see the rod held up better than I have hopefully with less repairs needed.
Regarding repairs: when Bob Summers saw the rod in 1990, he said, "Lyle Dickerson worked on this rod. It has a Dickerson hookkeeper, and it's in a Dickerson tube." So I said, "You probably have repairs to make for Dickerson owners. Why don't you take the hookkeeper and tube from this rod to help out a couple of your Dickerson clients, and replace them with components from the Young shop," and that is what was done. So the rod was worked on once by Dickerson and twice, over thirty years, by Bob Summers. Over a decade ago Bob put a new cork grip on the rod, but left the reel seat intact. You can see that the grip cork has slightly different texture and coloration from the reel seat cork. The snake guides and tip tops were all replaced back then by Bob too. These changes are part of the rod's human history. George Beall's Martha Marie was never meant to be locked away in a glass case.
Returned from a fishing trip with my good buddy who fishes graphite, but it's a nice one: Sage LL 279. When I handed him my Brandin he cast it well, liked it too. But he's of the mind that my cane rods he sees me fishing are fragile things, prone to breakage, must be babied, are meant for small trout, all the myths.
Which leads me to wondering if anyone has had a fine bamboo rod "die on them"? I really wonder if that's happened to any of us since many of us use some very old rods. I have a few that are now over 100 years old now, including an 8' DT4 Chub lancewood that Gnome is going to touch up for me, and none of them seem close to death yet. Can a cane rod fish into a second century? Probably, I would guess.
