International Fly Rods & Equipment

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czkid
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International Fly Rods & Equipment

#1

Post by czkid »

One of our members had written to me to suggest some additional topics for the Forum. One topic close to my heart is "foreign" (i.e. non-US.) rods and some of the associated equipment. Now most folks are familiar, and rather taken, with Hardy reels.... yet tend to turn up their noses at Hardy and other UK fly rods. The same seems to go for material from mainland Europe. Other countries have folks that manufacture equipment as well, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa come to mind, all largely ignored here.

My collection includes a lot of material from the UK, France, and Germany to mention a few, and I've come into contact with items from other countries as well. Now my primary focus tends to be on 1) parabolic rods, and 2) older reels and silk lines. My great favorites are the PHY series (and seemingly infinite variations) of rods along with rods manufactured by Farlow (P et M in some cases), Constable, and some modern US makers. I've also obtained a few "splice" rods... from the bench of David Atchison that are VERY interesting.

What I'd like to see in this topic are questions and/or comments on "foreign" rods in your possession, or that you are interested in acquiring. Should we develop a large enough following we may even come up with a new sub-Forum. For the present though, let's just see how much interest there is.

Ralph

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czkid
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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#2

Post by czkid »

Back in the "old" days of the 50s and 60s we had an embargo on cane from China. And there was this new "stuff" called "fiberglass" emerging onto the angling market. As a consequence many of the old bamboo rod houses were either shutting down or significantly reducing output.

At that time the UK had not embargoed raw cane from China, and being typical "Brits" they weren't prone to embracing new technology rapidly... especially in something as traditional as angling. Some of the folks over there saw an opportunity in the US to market their bamboo rods. These rods were sold thru a number of specialty houses to the remnants of the bamboo clique here in the US.

One of my favorite set of products from that era were the brain kids of Clifford Constable. There was a set of rods from the tiny 5' 9" (The Dart) all the way up to the 8+ ft Wallop Brook and the Duchess.. These rods were mildly parabolic, well made, priced right and enthusiastically received by a goodly number of folks over here. I find they are an excellent introduction to the parabolic world and are enjoyed by some lady anglers as being easy to cast and not as demanding as some "full bore" parabolic rods. They were also handled in later years by Dermot Wilson of "Nether Wallop Mill" Angling Shop in Great Britain.

Dermot was responsible for co-developing the "International" rod with Sharpe of England which resulted in one of the finest "all around" rods in my inventory. The title "International" was coined for it, because Dermot and Sharpe built prototypes and shipped them off internationally to some of the finest anglers in the game with the admonition to use them and report back their impressions and recommendations for change. These recommendations were reviewed and selectively incorporated. The result was, in my humble opinion, a fantastic rod.

There are a fair number of these rods still around, and you occasionally see them for sale... generally at very reasonable prices although they seem to be creeping up a bit. Many were sold with single tips, and they are mostly staggered ferrule rods which confuses the uninitiated, but trust me... cast them and be prepared to be amazed.

Ralph

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#3

Post by wrong66 »

I doubt there's enough interest here to warrant a sub-forum. Just my opinion.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#4

Post by 16pmd »

I've had the chance to cast and fish some outstanding recent Japanese rods and consider them up there with some of the best American rods in terms of craftsmanship, aesthetic beauty and casting qualities. Not long ago, most Japanese rods were styled after American classics like Paynes and Leonards and mostly in short light line models for Japanese fish and fishing. They were excellent, but to my mind basically very nice copies of those American classics. More recently, however, they have been making rods in the American style with some of the latest American innovations and some of their own, like using Japanese-grown bamboo. They have adopted hollowbuilding, glass and graphite ferrules, and longer rods suited to larger American waters and fish. They have interacted with top American makers like Per Brandin, Leon Hanson, Tom Morgan, and others and learned from them. 7 1/2-8 1/2' rods for 3-6 wt. lines with medium fast American-style actions are part of their lineups. Rods from many makers are crafted with typically meticulous Japanese care, are aesthetically excellent and have outstanding casting qualities.

Some of the ones I've cast and fished are by Kanjiro Nakao, Shuichi Akimaru, Masa Akaike, and Masa Takemoto, who recently won the Hardy Cup casting competition in the U.S. again this year with one of his rods. I'm sure there are other good makers I'm not familiar with. The major hitch is that they're not widely available here, though the makers above have all been to the U.S. with their rods. Quite a few people who've had a chance to try them have ended up buying them, so I think their acceptance here is likely to spread.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#5

Post by Canewrap »

Maybe the best approach would be to create a thread about this and then pin it. See how much activity it gets, then decide if we need a subforum for foreign rods. I know those rods come up in other topics from time-to-time and we could direct questions to the foreign rods thread. Just an idea.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#6

Post by Flyman615 »

16pmd wrote:I've had the chance to cast and fish some outstanding recent Japanese rods and consider them up there with some of the best American rods in terms of craftsmanship, aesthetic beauty and casting qualities. Not long ago, most Japanese rods were styled after American classics like Paynes and Leonards and mostly in short light line models for Japanese fish and fishing. They were excellent, but to my mind basically very nice copies of those American classics. More recently, however, they have been making rods in the American style with some of the latest American innovations and some of their own, like using Japanese-grown bamboo. They have adopted hollowbuilding, glass and graphite ferrules, and longer rods suited to larger American waters and fish. They have interacted with top American makers like Per Brandin, Leon Hanson, Tom Morgan, and others and learned from them. 7 1/2-8 1/2' rods for 3-6 wt. lines with medium fast American-style actions are part of their lineups. Rods from many makers are crafted with typically meticulous Japanese care, are aesthetically excellent and have outstanding casting qualities.

Some of the ones I've cast and fished are by Kanjiro Nakao, Shuichi Akimaru, Masa Akaike, and Masa Takemoto, who recently won the Hardy Cup casting competition in the U.S. again this year with one of his rods. I'm sure there are other good makers I'm not familiar with. The major hitch is that they're not widely available here, though the makers above have all been to the U.S. with their rods. Quite a few people who've had a chance to try them have ended up buying them, so I think their acceptance here is likely to spread.
I agree and, for one, would love to see some contemporary rods from Japanese makers on the Forum. Hopefully, they will materialize here soon!

Scott
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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#7

Post by chestatee »

I too really enjoy the P&M rods. I've only owned two Constable rods but found myself quite fond of the Wallop Brook. The few contemporary Japanese rods I've been fortune enough to handle were finished with an attention to detail I have never seen elsewhere. They cast well too. All were medium and smooth - nothing fast.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#8

Post by perfesser »

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Last edited by perfesser on 05/27/20 10:40, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#9

Post by perfesser »

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Last edited by perfesser on 05/27/20 10:42, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#10

Post by Mahseer »

Interesting idea, but in a way every cane rod is ‘foreign’ with the essential raw material coming from a very distant source from which rods are created by a global community of builders.

BTW Ralph, JS Sharpe are proudly Scottish. The company began in Aberdeen and they are still there.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#11

Post by PT48 »

As a foreigner on this forum I would like to see overseas rods considered on the same page as American rods. Australian builder Nick Taransky is widely considered to be one of the best in the world so his rods should rightly be considered against the benchmark American rods.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#12

Post by czkid »

And they will be.... Aussie rods are one of the reasons we're trying out this little experiment. Now if we could just get Aussie postage under control......

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#13

Post by perfesser »

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Last edited by perfesser on 05/27/20 10:43, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#14

Post by 16pmd »

I've posted about these Japanese makers before, but maybe it's worth repeating:
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=107252

Also some photos:

Masa Takemoto - his unique hollowing method, glass ferrules and outstanding
casting rods:
http://www.fly-tsuruya.co.jp/tackle/bui ... kemoto_rod
https://www.vintageflytackle.com/collec ... /takemoto-
hollow-t-construction-84-3-2-4wt-bamboo-rod

Kanjiro Nakao - E.C. Powell-style hollowbuilt rods
https://www.vintageflytackle.com/produc ... low-built-
bamboo-rod-1

Masa Akaike - rods of Japanese bamboo, with Brandin, Morgan, Brackett
http://www.akaike-rod.com/rod/rod.html
http://akaike-rod.com/wordpress/page/6

Shuichi Akimaru - hollow rods with bamboo ferrules, Morgan/Akimaru collaboration
rod
http://www.akimaru.jp/E/D%20D.html
http://www.akimaru.jp/E/menu.html

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#15

Post by czkid »

I think it would really help the uninitiated to comment on the casting characteristics of the various P et M rods. I've owned a couple aand cast a few others and apparently there are some rather strong differences between "types"? For example, my PPP is a totally different machine from a Normale I once owned, as were some of the others cast for a short time.

Ralph

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#16

Post by perfesser »

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Last edited by perfesser on 05/27/20 10:45, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#17

Post by ARTHURK »

16pmd wrote:I've posted about these Japanese makers before, but maybe it's worth repeating:
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=107252

Also some photos:

Masa Takemoto - his unique hollowing method, glass ferrules and outstanding
casting rods:
http://www.fly-tsuruya.co.jp/tackle/bui ... kemoto_rod
https://www.vintageflytackle.com/collec ... /takemoto-
hollow-t-construction-84-3-2-4wt-bamboo-rod

Kanjiro Nakao - E.C. Powell-style hollowbuilt rods
https://www.vintageflytackle.com/produc ... low-built-
bamboo-rod-1

Masa Akaike - rods of Japanese bamboo, with Brandin, Morgan, Brackett
http://www.akaike-rod.com/rod/rod.html
http://akaike-rod.com/wordpress/page/6

Shuichi Akimaru - hollow rods with bamboo ferrules, Morgan/Akimaru collaboration
rod
http://www.akimaru.jp/E/D%20D.html
http://www.akimaru.jp/E/menu.html
Thanks Ralphie for starting this thread and thanks Nelson for the link to the earlier ‘Japanese makers’ posts... wow! Time has flown by so quickly as I was convinced to look out for and purchase a 4wt ‘Catskill Championship’ Takemoto after that discussion. No regrets as my rod is a brilliant caster. I hope Japanese makers will continue to develop their tapers and aesthetics. Their focus and diligence in rodmaking is one of the cultural strengths ( some pole rod makers are National Treasures) and is rarely matched by most modern makers. I don’t mention this lightly but as a motivation/challenge to current makers... see a Kagerow rod and man, the finesse takes your breath away! I believe that canerods will not reduce in value ( both artistic & monetary) with this dedicated approach to crafting them. E. Scapin & Callum Gladstone are among the leading lights in Europe.

Cheers
Arthur

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#18

Post by jacknoir »

Ralph thanks for starting this thread. I'd been keen to learn more about Pezon et Michel rods having come into contact with them during trips to France. Looking forward to hearing what forum members with experience can tell us about them, and to fill in the fine comments that already exist here.
-John

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#19

Post by EdMcG »

I have no experience with them, but I often look at Sharpe’s and Farlow rods with a mind to acquiring one and would appreciate learning more about them. Also P&M.
Ed

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Re: "Foreign" Fly Rods & Equipment

#20

Post by EdMcG »

Are there/have there been any Irish rod makers?
I visited there in the April and it got me wondering. As noted in the above post I’ve been interested in the Scot makers but it would be cool to acquire an Irish rod ,esp for a trip back there
Ed

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