Sewell Dunton rods

This board is for discussing the collecting of bamboo fly rods, both classic and modern. Remember that respect and civility is the goal of this board.

Moderator: TheMontyMan

Post Reply
Trout120-1
Master Guide
Posts: 713
Joined: 03/09/16 14:51

Sewell Dunton rods

#1

Post by Trout120-1 »

Were any of the Sewell Dunton rods written on the shaft with the model number and line weight ?
Thanks

NewUtahCaneAngler
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 2383
Joined: 01/22/17 17:05
Location: Utah

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#2

Post by NewUtahCaneAngler »

Sewell Dunton branded rods, or those made for other retailers? Other retailers for sure. Search Hack Miller Deluxe under my handle, for an example of the later.
Last edited by NewUtahCaneAngler on 10/19/20 20:46, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Shrimpman
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1552
Joined: 06/28/14 15:38
Location: Wet Coast of Canada

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#3

Post by Shrimpman »

I don't recall seeing a line recommendation inked on a Dunton, but then there's a lot I've yet to see...

User avatar
archfly
Guide
Posts: 125
Joined: 06/11/10 18:00
Location: western Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#4

Post by archfly »

I also have not seen a line recommendation, but I have two clearly marked Dunton rods (beaters) with rod models 100, and 101 inked on them. The markings can be easily missed as they are done in black ink on the bottom flat (flat #4) just ahead of the hook keeper wraps. The rods appear to correspond to the model descriptions published in banjo's series at the bottom section of the index page.

uniquafly
Master Guide
Posts: 654
Joined: 09/01/07 18:00
Location: United States

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#5

Post by uniquafly »

I have one Sewell Dunton 6 1/2’ rod in pristine condition and it has only the model number inked on the shaft, no line recommendation.
“He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.”

Norman Maclean

jeffkn1
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 5626
Joined: 06/08/05 18:00

Line weights from the 1959 Dunton catalog

#6

Post by jeffkn1 »

First, the page with the two-piece rods

Image
and here's the three-piece

Image

bassman
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 5532
Joined: 03/23/12 23:20
Location: Cheyenne OK

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#7

Post by bassman »

I had a Sewall Dunton 6' 3 piece pack rod and wish I'd have kept. It fished nicely and looked okay but from the standpoint of being quality finished, it wasn't. Poor guides wraps and varnish but very functional but can't remember if rod was marked but aluminum case was and believe it had a line wt. on case.

Nick

User avatar
Shrimpman
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 1552
Joined: 06/28/14 15:38
Location: Wet Coast of Canada

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#8

Post by Shrimpman »

My current Dunton is a #154S-8', not specified in the listings. I've no clue what the "S" suffix denotes, but it is a good rod, not a great rod; it seems the five weight tip was mated to a six weight butt and they don't quite meet in the middle. It's a well-built rod with Montague winding check and NiAg ferrules, but the black aluminum seat was atrocious and dropped any reel that dared to try for a hold. It got pulled and replaced with a red aluminum seat from a Pflueger glasss rod.

jeffkn1
Bamboo Fanatic
Posts: 5626
Joined: 06/08/05 18:00

Re: Sewell Dunton rods

#9

Post by jeffkn1 »

My photos above aren't close to showing all of the Dunton line,but rather the two pages that included recommended line weights. I have seen several different iterations of the annual Dunton catalog, each slightly different. I only in the last few years have started trying to match up Dunton rods with catalog entries and have found, as may be noted here, that no one catalog is all-inclusive.
The Fifties was an interesting time to me because it heralded the beginning of the end of bamboo as a mainstay in the tackle industry, and an elevation of those two new basic materials. Where it had always been split cane and nickel silver, it was to become tubular fiberglass and anodized aluminum. In that transition, there were a lot of terrible looking (read cheap) aluminum seats whose sole virtue was diminished avoir dupois.
Sewall Dunton employed a number of them, presumably with an eye toward progressive rod making. In time, we learned that lightness was not an absolute. But, for a few years we were treated to an array of aluminum on cane. It's noteworthy that for a brief period Dunton offered a model called the Premium, top of their line in all regards. It was an Orvis clone, reddish-brown finish, brown thread work, and an Orvis-style reel seat with the walnut filler and the little bit of aluminum for the thread locking part; traditionalists sometimes don't give a hoot about progress when it comes to rods. I haven't weighed many to find out but I suspect many of Dunton's lightest models weren't significantly lighter because of those seats.
I fished up in the Parmachene area one weekend with AJ and a couple other friends. On the way up I stopped in Rangeley and found a 7 1/2' 2/2 Ken Crocker. It was typically well made, though with a lightweight aluminum seat, a forgivable sin as long as it continued to work. Two of the other guys said it was a nice rod but the first thing they' d do with it if they owned it would be to replace the ugly seat with something nicer. AJ and I looked at each other and then at them before I advised them not to worry, that neither of them would be owning that rod. That was the way Crocker made it and that's how it was to remain. It's a history thing. They didn't understand. It now permanently resides in the Oquossoc museum.

Post Reply

Return to “Collecting Bamboo Fly Rods”