Pezon Competition rods

[Low-and-Slow]

Hi,
Every once in a while I see Pezon Competition rods for sale. Was wondering about their history and fishing capabilities.
Many thanks.

[jan96]

Hi,
Every once in a while I see Pezon Competition rods for sale. Was wondering about their history and fishing capabilities.
Many thanks.

I have one of these "P&M Competition", 9'. It's quite rigid, I never fished it but I suppose that it would be good for fishing bigger waters with streamers and bigger flies. I'm not sure of the line weight,..#6 I think..

r

[perfesser]

the 'competition' designated rods often have a 'normale' counterpart. for example, i own several 'speciale normale' and 'speciale competition' rods in 8 1/2 feet. the normales are slightly parabolic-actioned flyrods that a person used to a progressive rod can cast quite easily. the 8 1/2' rods are designated for 5/6 lines. the competition versions have more wood in them at the same length, maybe a 1/4 oz. or more (will have to check my taper notes to be more exact), and are rated a line group heavier 6/7, and to me, cast about the same, maybe a little more progressive in action. i use a dt6 on the normale and a dt7 on the competition, but i prefer slower actioned rods. lighter lines quicken them, of course. both rods will pick up 35-40 feet of wet line on a backcast, and shoot a bunch back out. it is quite easy to make 60 foot casts without false casting. i use mine for trout, bass, gar and suckers/carp. they are great at fishing streamers, as well as upstream wetfly fishing and best of all, every pezon et michel i own has a man-sized grip.

[perfesser]

historically, one can break pezon et michel split cane, or 'bambou refendu' fly rods into three functional periods; pre-war, post-war and ritz. the pre ww2 rods 'teddy', 'darling' etc are heavy, long and about the same as a store grade montague or chubb of the 20's and 30's.

the postwar rods, the prima, speciale and supreme normale and competition models are better casting tools and modern in action and hardware, with good nickel silver ferrules, good reelseats and handfilling cork grips. the sawyer 'still water' is of this period, as are a bunch of sawyer and farlow rods built in england from pezon blanks. a 'flyxor' is also from this period but was, in my hands, an uninspiring caster with any weight of line. these rods are available from early 50's to early 80's and are a tremendous bargain.

the 'ritz' rods are the 'ppp' line of rods, with staggered sections, the tip section longer than the rod's butt by 6 - 14 inches depending on the taper. they are all noticably parabolic. charles ritz enjoyed distance casting and had the distance world record holder on his design staff at one point. these rods include the 'colorado' 7'7" 5/6 wt, 'batault' 8'7" 6/7wt, 'fario club' 8' 5" 5wt and small rods like the 'featherlight' at 6'6" and maybe a 4wt. (there's a lot of wood in a 'batault'. it weighs a half oz. more than the 9'6" still water).

in action (to me), the colorado compares to a para 15, but the young rod has a finer tip and tip casts better. the phy para 14 feels more parabolic than any pezon i've cast with 30-40 feet of line out. (i probably should confess at this point that my favorite young is the martha marie).

there is a sense on this board that most pezons get more parabolic the more line you have out and i will agree. also most will suggest the heavier tips of pezons render them more 'clubby' in feel on shorter casts. i do not perceive this as much as some, but i have no light tipped leonards or paynes to compare to.

as i recall, wet fly distance competition rods designed under 1950-1960's rules used double taper 8 or 9 weight lines and casters were limited to one, or at most two false casts, so a heavier tip was useful for picking a long length of line up from the water. perhaps one of our historians will weigh in and add to/correct my remembery.

there are a number of threads concerning pezon rods on this site, one of which has a chronological list of all the pezon rods. i think you will find them better reading than this one, and extremely informative.

[Low-and-Slow]

I think I saw the 8.5 foot Pezon Competition rod rated 6/7 and a 9 footer rated either 7/8 or 8/9. They must be more powerful versions of some basic models. Anyway, perfesser has provided the most info I was looking for.
Many thanks indeed.

[teter]

I have the 8 1/2-foot Parabolic Speciale Competition. It is a powerful rod that is marked as a 6-weight, but I find it casts best with a DT7.

[trouterbass]

I recently picked up an 8.0 ft prima competition. Line rating not indicated on the rod. Planning on using it for streamers and hoppers on windy days. Nothing fancy about the rod, I did notice the big tip top, which at first I thought was a replacement, but then noticed the same one in photos of other rods.

[henkverhaar]

Yeah, the 8 1/2 fr Parabolic Normale is a 6 and the Competition a 7
The 8 ft Normale is a 5, with the Competition a 6.

I once made a replacement tip for a 8 1/2 Parabolic Competition, and it was a definite 7. Oh, and I hated it no end... Not a fan of the P&M Parabolic series.

The BB series UL spinning rods are well regarded here though - although they are pretty much straight taper rods - in fact rumour has it that the BBs (and also at least some Luxors and Luxors Luxe) were manufactured as one standard blank, then cut (start, end, and ferrule station) to become either a BB1, BB2 or BB3. The BBs, unlike the Luxors, are staggered designs.

[carl otto]

Among my Pezons I have an 8'0", 2/2, Special Competition, which Bob Summers told me about. Why? It is a dead ringer for a Paul Young Parabolic 15 Dry Fly. I also own a Young Para 15 Dry Fly and vouch for the mirror performance. So it was said that when Young went to Europe to fish he spent some time in Paris visiting Ritz. Coincidence?

Maybe this is where Quashnet enters the conversation for a sideline commentary?

Carl

[perfesser]

it is well documented that young was well aware of, and studied the p&m parabolic rods, and that they may have influenced his design work when he stopped using premanufactured blanks and began milling his own. young's parabolic series and his design approach is superior, in my mind, to the ritz/pezon. carefully examining scores of reliable tapers and casting numerous rods accurately built to both designs, mr. young's rods are more suitable for american fishing on smaller streams and for the occasional shorter cast. in particular, the more refined nature of the first 20 inches of a young tip as compared to a ritz makes it a better dry fly rod, as well as helping it to feel lighter in the hand.

it's important to keep in mind charles ritz loved distance casting, and paul young made rods for fishing.

p&m made a few parabolic rods specifically for the american market, the most popular being the 7'7" pate, or colorado. it is a staggered section rod, but the butt dimensions, the tip dimensions, and the general taper move the feel of casting more towards the para-15 than a fario club. many people use a dt5 on this rod, although i use a 6 for shorter casts.

nothing i've posted should lead one to think pezon's are not pleasant to use, or do not function well. they function as designed, meaning picking up lots of line and casting a long way on big rivers. if you enjoy a para-14 or 15, you will enjoy casting a pezon.

i will also note that the majority of para-15 tapers i've measured and cast were made with the lighter dry tip.

quashnet has noted many times that most young tapers grew heavier over time, say from a 4 to a 5, or a 5 to a 6. we all know the middle of the rod is what determines it's line size, not the tip, so the heaviness or lightness of the tip does not say much about the "power" of a given rod.

i own, and enjoy casting five young tapered rods, two para -14s, two para-15s and a lovely martha marie. i've cast several perfectionists, and although functional, they did not speak to me the way the ones i've kept do.

i would classify the majority of my pezons as functional and workmanlike, and they excel at what i use them for: wet fly and streamer fishing, using the belgian cast. they work perfectly well overhead casting, but as a lazy caster, belgian style fits my demeanor. my three most used pezons are my two colorados, my batault and a 9' special normale converted to ppp configuration by shortening the butt 8 inches.

[trouterbass]

Don’t know if this is relevant to this thread, but...was the P&M Competition built to compete with Hardy CC de France? Or against what other rods? I wonder which maker won more competitions.