Oldest Winston?

[firehole]

LeeB,
Great looking rod which is an outstanding caster.
I once owned a Merrick/Howells 8' 3 3/4oz. 4/5wt. If I'm lucky I'll get another one some day.
Dennis

[BigTJ]

John - No signature, wraps as shown, S.F. hardware, but Twin Bridges case.

Lee that is Glenn Brackett’s hand on the Winston rod signature. Tom’s hand is more rounded. It’s got the same wraps and seat as my rod. Same bag too. Only the label on the tube and the makers signature are different. I think only a couple hundred or so rods were dressed like this between when Merrick left around 1974 and when the Montana rods were made.

The rod clearly isn’t personalized - personalization differentiated from maker’s signature.

Thanks for the pics.

[LeeB]

Completely agree Dennis. One of my favorites.
Early in the 1990s, I was wrapping quite a few graphite rods. Glenn was incredibly patient and helpful to me, and I ended up building two IM6 rods; an 8' - 3 piece - 4 wt., and an 8'6" - 3 piece - 5 wt. I've used these rods more than any others I own. When I got into bamboo, I wanted to obtain a San Francisco rod, and a rod built by Glenn. I felt extremely lucky to find this 8 footer, as it gave me both.
Lee