Show Your FE Thomas Fly Rods

[canefisher]

A couple more.
8', 3/2, Special


8 1/2' Special Streamer

[Peales]

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Made in 1914, 8ft rod, 3-½ oz, 9/15 ferrules.


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[canefisher]

[canefisher]

[Peales]

That's a fine tip on that 7 footer canefisher.
That a three weight rod?

[canefisher]

Hi Peales,
Yes, it's a three weight. I would be afraid to try anything heavier. Original condition, only fished a few times in the past hundred years.

[fefferje]

Let's keep the wayback machine turned on. Here's an 8'3" Dirigo, very early rod. Note the long, waisted female ferrules and the rolled and soldered reelseat band. This one has a nice bag just like Charlie's, but I didn't photograph it. No tip bag, it's only a Dirigo! Also note the fineness of the tips. It's a nice medium action rod with tiny snakes.

Paul, this is the 8'3" Dirigo you were talking about. What is the weight of the rod, and how would you describe the taper? Thanks Paul. Jed

[thomasrodco]

"The FET shield logo that I've rarely seen on any FET rod tubes is the one that says "Thomas Rod Co." as shown on page 181 of the FET book."

Resurrecting an old thread, but I thought I'd mention that the reason no one has seen the "Thomas Rod Co." shield on any vintage rod tubes, is because they didn't exist until I had them made shortly after buying the Thomas shop back in 1999.. Seeing that photo in the book just made me shake my head, knowing that it was just one of many errors I found in the book. I wish I had been able to proof read it before publishing, there are many errors I've found, unfortunately.. Otherwise, I love the book.
Steve

[RScottFlyRods]

What does the 23 signify? Thanks

[firehole]

I recently picked up an original FE Streamer Special 8'6" 3/2 6/7wt.

Dennis

[thomasrodco]

What does the 23 signify? Thanks

I can’t quite make out if the letters on your cap are “FE” or “EF” but your rod is either the 23rd rod made in 1947 (EF) or 1948 (FE).
Steve

[hatch]

10' F.E.Thomas Dirigo Brewer Me. fly rod

[headwaters]

Oh, nice pick-up, Tom! Thanks for sharing the photos!

Rupert

[hatch]

These are not technically Thomas Rods but I thought they would be of interest to the Thomas Rod collector. After the Thomas Rod Co. in Bangor Maine closed in the 1950s the shop foreman ,Ed Houston, continued making fly rods in his Holyoke St. home in Brewer, Me. Here are a couple of examples.
(They sure look like Thomas Rods to me.) Both rods marked only " The Houston Rod"

9' 3/2











8.5' 3/2

[headwaters]

They are neat, Tom! And, it certainly confirms again what a fabulous resource this Forum is!

[Dave Westburg]

Here's board member SeaRun hooked up to a 4 pound bull trout on a Washington State River on an FE Thomas 7 weight streamer rod. November is a magical month in the northwest. When the cold weather locks up the glaciers and the rains pause you can catch bull trout in broad northwestern tailouts swinging fry patterns on a 7 weight 15' sink tip. The northwest bulls are beautiful fish with white stomachs and purple and red and yellow spots.

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[headwaters]

Sweet! Thanks for sharing!

[searun]

My FE Thomas rod (photos of it are in post #12) mentioned by Dave Westburg above, was made in 1945 and sold by the original Eddie Bauer store in downtown Seattle in 1946. Steve Campbell was kind enough to look this up for me in the original ledgers.

It was used to fish for Steelhead here in the Pacific NW by the original owner according to his daughter (whom I purchased it from). It's a wonderful rod, and I hope he enjoyed fishing with it as much as I have.

[Woodlakejag]

an 8ft 2/2 4 oz FE Thomas Special, marked H38 and shows on the ledger as being made in 1956. This is a late Leon Thomas era rod, the same taper as his personal rod. Casts a 5 weight beautifully, even with a weighted fly into a strong wind.

[Webfly]

Helluva slab!