Different rod makers and models

Originally written by me and some friends 2002-04 for the Virtual Fly Shop, Flyfisherman Magazine Online. The Cracker Barrel has been published in book form with the limited first edition hard cover sold out and a paperback version will be available early 2011.

Moderators: Ken M 44, fishnbanjo

Locked
User avatar
fishnbanjo
The Canefather
Posts: 4282
Joined: 03/21/04 19:00

Different rod makers and models

#1

Post by fishnbanjo »

Once again, welcome to the Bamboo Rod Forum or
Crackerbarrel as it’s been named. Last time we were given a very well thought
out laymen’s explanation of tapers and how they work. Streamer also explained
the lever and spring component of a fly rod and only one of you disagreed with
this and qualified it as their opinion, which is fine. This week I’d like to
take what Streamer has presented and using the link he provided I will give
several makers models that are similar and have you look at the graphical and
stress representations of each. Someone stated there is no substitute for
casting a rod and I’m in total agreement but the stress and graphical curves
are excellent tools to assist you on how a taper you are interested in will
act. All of this is next to useless if you’ve had no experience handling bamboo
since they make no parallels to either glass or graphite rods and to be honest
I don’t know if they could. I personally never owned much in the way of glass
rods and the few I did were at a time when I wasn’t well versed enough to make
any kind of distinction between them and any other rod I had cast. I have owned
a few graphite rods, and still have them, and will be able to make some
observations comparing them to the cane rods I own or have owned. Well the old
potbelly stove is glowing today, since I cleaned out the ash pan, and the rich
aroma of Hawaiian Kona wafts the senses so while I throttle down the stove, and
pour myself a tall cup, let’s get on with the Cracker Barrel.


Let’s take a quick look at pre bamboo rods. Generally these rods were made with
spliced joints which were tied, or lashed, together with lacing made of tanned
hide and were 12’, 13’, 15’ and longer in length. Most were made by the fisher
out of different types of woods and had little relationship to rods that
followed as they held very small reels, if any, and were mainly dapped and the
longer your rod the more water you could cover. When the first rods of bamboo
surfaced, you will probably remember from our earlier Crackerbarrel, they were
made from Calcutta
cane and had many different configurations but most of 4-sided construction.
Some of these early cane rods were spliced and some had ferrules and it wasn’t
until Hiram L. Leonard came forth with the 6-sided rod that ferrules were the
common connection. The earliest rods were also very slow and long (an 8’ rod
was considered very short) and since the fishing method of the day was nymphs
and wet fly imitations there was no need for much more than what they had and
fact of the matter is most fly fisherman of the time used a 3 fly rig.


When competitions like the Casting Tournaments began and Casting Clubs formed
it was an opportunity for makers, many were Tournament Casters themselves, like
E.C. Powell, Reuben Leonard and Hiram Hawes to name a few, to show off some of
the latest R&D and debut some rods plus the record books made good press
within the confines of the tournaments. When dry fly fishing became all the
rage the necessity for faster actioned rods to dry the fly tournament rod
tapers were altered to provide this and the industry R&D really went to
work. Understandably there is a finite set of practical tapers one could derive
in the making of a fly rod but as Streamer noted last week the variety of
compound taper application and the end result in the rods action is where the
genius of the maker was applied. It’s this variable that gives us a variety of
tapers that are delightful, proprietary and in some cases abysmal.



It is said that Theodore Gordon once traded 3 dozen of his flies for an Ed
Payne built rod, that very rod today would have a certain intrinsic value as a
Payne and more so having been owned by Gordon but the better end of the deal is
in owning 36 original Gordon flies which bring upwards of 2K apiece! So let’s look
at some tapers that are similar and you will be asked, if your interest is
piqued that is, to take a field trip over to the link I’ll provide where you
can see the graphs that show what I am talking about.


For the sake of brevity I will be working only with rods that have been
thoroughly critiqued in the past and have stood the test of time in their
likenesses and much of this comes from writings I have in my reference library
and I would be happy to pass any other information you’d like and you may post
or email as you wish.


It will become rather obvious as to why these rods have similarities since they
were designed to perform the same function for a specific weight line and these
being some of the best makers of their time it stands to reason they’d
naturally come to similar conclusions in their actions and tapers. The makers I
will look at are H.L. Leonard Rod Co., E.F. Payne Rod Co. (Jim Payne built
ERA), F.E. Thomas Rod Co. (both Fred and Leon ERA), Gillum Rod Co., E.C. Powell
Rod Co., Paul young Rod Co. and L.L. Dickerson Rod Co. to mention a few. I will
break these down by rod length, model # within the length and 2 pc and 3 pc
construction as well, and, of course, similar line WTs.



7’ Rods 2 pc construction


H.L. Leonard Model 38’s came in 38L, 38 and 38H classified as a medium fast DF
rod and is considered a crisp taper which all other 7’ DF rods are compared
with, a cherished taper.


E.F. Payne Models 97 and 98 medium fast DF rod as elegant as the Leonard
offering.


L.L. Dickerson Models 7011 and 7012 medium and medium fast DF rods, while the
7011 is a more delicate rod the 7012 is equal to both the Leonard and Payne
Models.


F.E. Thomas Models Special and Browntone medium to medium fast, not many exist
and there is a variability of action in those that do exist as some are more
aptly named Fairy Wands for their light lines and extremely delicate
presentation and those lucky enough to own them would have it no other way.


7’6” Rods 2 pc construction


E.F. Payne Models 100 and 101 fast action DF rods, considered 2 of the top 4
7’6” 2 pc rods ever offered.


L.L. Dickerson Models 7612 and 7613 fast action DF rods, the other 2 of the 4
7’6” 2 pc rods offered and the action on the 4 rods mentioned are considered so
well executed by the industry the actions have been replicated using modern
techniques i.e. lots of Graphite rods had/have these tapers.


7’6” Rods 3 pc construction


H.L. Leonard 49 DF and 38 1/2 and other 40 series Catskill and Baby Catskill
rods, ranged from medium to fast, some were truly Fairy Wands much like the
Thomas 7’ rods I mentioned earlier but this was specialized for Catskill waters
although they have many practical water uses today it is understandable that
since the majority of the makers were in the NY New England region they would
focus on the waters of their region.


E.F. Payne Models 197 and 198, the 197 was a light medium and the 198 a
medium-fast rod, again, as much as a delight as the Leonard rods.


Dickerson 761510 was as good as the Payne 197 and better than the 198 and like
the Leonard offerings cherished by their owners.



8’ Rods 2 pc construction


E.F. Payne Models 102 and 103 medium to fast DF rods well suited for all kinds
of DF fishing anywhere.


L.L. Dickerson Models 8012,8013,8014,8014 Guide, 8015, 8015 Guide Special and
8016! No other maker offered such a staggering array of 8’ 2 pc rods than
Dickerson. The 8012 was the mellow soft medium, the 8013 and 8014 an all around
DF medium, the 8015 a fast DF, the 8014 Guide and the stronger 8015 Guide
Special are very fast and pin point accurate rods which required no false
casting and were specialty tapers designed to be used by guides in the long
boats that were used in many of Michigan’s blue ribbon waters. There has not
been much written about the 8016 so if Dickerson followed the logic he did it
would be a fast heavy DF rod.


Paul Young Rod Co. Parabolic 15 (K T Keller Model) and the Boat Rod, aka the
Encampment Special. In direct response to the accolades Dickerson’s Guide
Series received Paul Young responded with 2 different approaches to solve
angling needs.

The Para 15 was a Parabolic that required minor change in your casting style to
receive a phenomenally accurate presentation be it with the dry fly or wet fly
tip (customer could order it with both) and the Encampment was the Young
equivalent to the Guide and a cannon in its own right. Modern and faster
versions of the Para 15 rod are made by R. W. Summers as the Model 856 and Bob
worked for Paul Young Rod Co. for 16 years before starting his own company.


8’ Rods 3 pc construction


H. L. Leonard Model 50 DF (including the Tournament, Hunt and Hunt-Tournament)
this venerable model was technically the rod that wrote the book on DF fishing
beginning with the DF. This series of rods ranged from slow-medium to fast for
all kinds of DF situations and definitely a fine taper.


E. F. Payne Models 200, 201 and 202, the 200 was a light DF rod, the 201 a
medium DF and the 202 a fast DF and powerful taper.


L. L. Dickerson Models 801510 and 801611 were similar to the Payne 200 and 201
tapers.



8’6” Rods 2 pc construction


The rods built by E.C. Powell and R. L. Winston of hollow or rather semi-hollow
construction have no equals in my opinion and are some of the finest tapers for
DF work ever made.


8’6” Rods 3 pc construction


I could write about all of the makers who offered rods in this format and it
would take pages of text but suffice it to say that E. F. Payne rod Co. i.e.
Jim Payne, without a doubt made the best 8’6” 3 pc format than any other maker
to plane a culm and the Model #’s are 204 and 205 which could be had as an L or
H series which stood for Light and Heavy.


When you reach the 9’ mark again there were so many makers with so many
variations it would take pages of text to make any headway so in this format
I’d look for rods made by Dickerson (9015 and 9016), Payne (208 and 209), E.C.
Powell, R. L. Winston and Gillum although Gillums as a rule were mostly custom
built and not a standardized taper as such.


Classic Rod tapers by maker may be found at:


http://www.uwm.edu/~stetz...pers/hexrod-archive.html



You may analyze or compare tapers from classic makers and tapers you may see in
print here by plugging in the #’s:


http://www.uwm.edu/~stetzer/hexrod.html


Probably the most variation of a taper occurred in the 8’ and 8’6” models as
makers redesigned their existing tapers to come up to the standards of DF
requirements and until they nailed a taper they felt they could offer as a
standard variations will be found.


Well the old coffee is empty, as Bob Corsetti always says, and the end of
another Crackerbarrel. I may be away next weekend but definitely will be the
following weekend and week as I travel for work so we’ll resume when I return
unless one of the BoB’s jumps in for Week 13, until then tight lines all.


Locked

Return to “The Cracker Barrel”