Was curious to see if anyone had some info on classic makers such as Payne and Edwards in regards to fiberglass rods. We know that both companies sold glass
rods, but to what extent.
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Classic rodmakers and fiberglass
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 fingernail |
Classic rodmakers and fiberglass |
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Posts: 1608 12/09/2009 19:38 |
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quashnet |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 2912 12/09/2009 20:30 Moderatus Muscae |
Paul H. Young marketed some fiberglass rods in the 1950's. He detested them, and the experiment did not last long (I'm not knocking fiberglass, just
conveying PHY's opinion).
Quashnet's Paul H. Young Rod Database has photos and descriptions of over 530 PHY Co. rods, plus catalogs, accessories,
etc. Thank you to all who continue to send me PHY rod photos and info.
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 16 pmd |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 791 12/09/2009 20:59 |
One of the classic rod makers that made a prominent name for itself in glass was Winston. Under Doug Merrick, then Tom Morgan, Winston made some of the finest
glass rods available. Tom Morgan has written an extensive history of Winston and fiberglass that's available on the Fiberglass Flyrodders board.
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fingernail |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 1609 12/09/2009 22:14 |
Does anyone know the story of Payne glass, was it with or after Jim Payne, or was it the name Gladding used to sell there glass line when Payne company was
purchased by them?
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turtledoc |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 2903 12/09/2009 23:35 Mark E. Baker |
I don't think he made many of them, but I own a glass rod from bamboo maker Jim Schaaf that is built from a Winston Stalker blank.
Mark B Something to consider: Be willing to share photos, information and the knowledge you have about your collection with anyone that has an interest in learning...........also share your knowledge to answer questions that others may have about items in their collections.........doing this will make you feel good and benefits this community ..................after all, what good is having knowledge that isn't shared. MEB |
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pcg |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 3636 12/10/2009 08:25 Admin |
I have heard for years that Gene Edwards made a few fiberglass rods. But I've never seen one, nor actually known anyone who claimed to have one.
Does anyone here actually own a Gene Edwards glass rod?
One of us is crazy in fishing and forget time.
And the other take part only in the party at night. --Yoshikazu Fujioka |
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Short Tip |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 1362 12/10/2009 09:31 Moderator |
I don't own one, but I've seen and cast several. Both were light salmon rods,
7-8 weights. I think they were on Conolon blanks? Nicely made rods. I once owned a pair of fiberglass rods made by Ted Simroe. Beautiful rods and great to fish as well.
"When all the rods and a lot of reels, lines, leader boxes, et cetera, had been sold, the gang paid at the cashier's
window for what they'd bought and then made a bee line for the rug room to test their rods. I put mine together, tested it for a moment or so, and then
started to show it to men I knew. Not a man was interested in my rod. They all, without a single exception, tried to get me to look at theirs. Extraordinary,
how self centered most men are. Have you noticed it? "
Last Edited By: Short Tip 12/10/2009 14:18.
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teter |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 1503 12/12/2009 00:28 |
This is what Ernest Schwiebert says about Payne's fiberglass operations in "Trout":
"His company had been acquired by Gladding, primarily to assemble an expensive grade of fiberglass rods using the Payne name and hardware. Payne said little about those rods, although his silence itself was eloquent. Payne hated glass and its contribution to the death of craftsmanship, and it was almost funny to watch him flex one with a silent headshake and grimace that eloquently betrayed his opinion. But like everything else he touched, the glass blanks he fitted with Payne hardware were the finest fiberglass he could find." |
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firehole |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 4096 12/12/2009 00:50 Local user |
IMHO the finest fiberglass rods I've ever casted/owned were the S.F. Winstons rolled by Fisher. My favorite was a 7'6" 2/1 5wt. medium-fast with
lots of power.
Dennis
Last Edited By: firehole 12/12/2009 01:34.
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nativebrownie |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 1035 12/12/2009 01:20 |
Dennis, spot on - a great taper - and deliciously finished in the Morgan era - beautful...nice when glass is approached with such a regard for craft and
finish...
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peacefisher |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 136 12/12/2009 20:54 |
I have never seen any difference between San Fran. or Montana Winston's that used the Fisher glass, same blank, same wraps, same finish. Actually, I
believe the way Fisher manufactured the blanks is illegal today . One reason why they can't be reproduced.
I at one time owned a 7' Payne glass. The only nice thing about it was that it said Payne on it. |
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Flyman615 |
SF Winston glass | #11 | ||
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Posts: 3514 12/13/2009 11:18 |
I too think the glass examples made in San Francisco and the early Twin Bridges rods are as good as synthetic rods get. Here are two, typical SF rods. The top
rod is an 8'9" for an 8 wt. and the bottom rod is an 8'0" Trout rod for a DT-5-F or WF-6-F.
Regards,
Flyman 
"There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice."-Charlie Brown |
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aquabonito |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 1129 12/13/2009 12:22 Angry Andy |
Scott, I had a really good Shakespeare "Action Rod" (not a Wonder Rod), the President series or something like that...anyway it was top of the line
at that time and at 7 1/2 feet the best rod I'd ever had. But alas my son (aged 13 at the time) decided to use it when I was elsewhere fishing with a 7
foot Ted Williams. When I returned, there was my son near tears, holding its remains after the car door put an end to its useful life.
He asked for forgiveness....that was 33 years ago. I've yet to forgive him, and when he occasionally asks is forgiveness ever forthcoming, he gets a terse "No". 
"You can't make new old friends"
 Andy
Last Edited By: aquabonito 12/13/2009 13:09.
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Flyman615 |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 3515 12/13/2009 15:31 |
Atta boy, Andy!
Some things are purely unforgivable. But I think I'd have saved my best Clint Eastwood imitation for my one and only Granger Registered! BTW, nice photo of BHB "fishing" Spearfish Canyon. My wife, who's from Fargo, took one look at it and muttered, "Crazy Norwegians!" Did I mention her maiden name is Olson? Scott
Regards,
Flyman
"There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice."-Charlie Brown
Last Edited By: Flyman615 12/13/2009 22:07.
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16 pmd |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 793 12/13/2009 16:51 |
Actually the differnce between Winston glass rods isn't really San Francisco vs. Montana, it's more the difference between those designed by Doug
Merrick and those designed by Tom Morgan, who was both in SF and MT. Flyman's rods were designed by Merrick, whether they were finished in SF or MT. The
light line Stalkers were the main ones designed by Tom Morgan. Though both designed very nice rods, most of the great Winston glass rods were designed by Doug
Merrick. Tom Morgan did change some of the hardware on the Merrick-designed rods starting in SF and continuing in MT, so there are some cosmetic differences
between them.
Merricks or Morgans, SF or MT, I think the Winstons were far better than the Payne-labeled glass rods that were the origin and reason for this thread. |
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peacefisher |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 145 12/14/2009 08:05 |
Yea, there is no comparison between the Gladding/Payne glass rods and the Fisher blanked Winston's. I have owned many of the latter in lengths 6 1/2' -
8' and they were second to non in the glass world , IMHO.
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hoagy b carmichael |
Payne fibre glass rods. | #16 | ||
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Posts: 54 12/15/2009 08:23 |
Hello: Jim Payne did make fibre glass rods. When Tom Collins bought the rod making concern in 1948, his intention was to make a line of fine bamboo rods. When
the embargo on bamboo from China came into being, Collins and Payne apparently had enough bamboo (because of smart, bulk, purchases) to weather that storm. In
a story by Raymond R. Camp written in April, 1952 for the New York Times, Collins said, "I would rather not resort to using substitute materials."
There are two kinds of "Payne" fibreglass rods: the ones made by Jim Payne, and those made by the South Bend Co. Jim Payne did make them from
Browning Silaflex blanks, and they were fitted with a special "Swiss-styled" nickel silver ferrule, and the traditional blued Payne hardware. In
fact, I caught a 12 lb. salmon on an 8'0" glass rod made by Jim Payne. South Bend also made a rod that, for reasons I cannot understand, had
"Payne" written in ink on the shaft. I am unclear as to when Jim Payne's glass rods were made. Ernie S. may be correct, but I have nothing to
corroborate his statement. H. Carmichael
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hoagy b carmichael |
Re. Payne fibre-glass | #17 | ||
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Posts: 55 12/15/2009 10:28 |
Hello: Now that I have my thinking cap on, I have gone back to a paragraph from my article on Payne. This is the story, as I know it, including the fact that
Gladding did ask South Bend to make a version of the glass/Payne rod. HC When fiberglass was developed in the late 1950s, Tom Collins feared that these new rod
blanks coming onto the market, considerably lighter and much cheaper to produce, might overtake bamboo as the material of choice. He convinced Jim Payne to
make a series of models using Browning Silaflex glass blanks (they, too, were a pleasing brown color), all fitted with authentic Payne hardware and redesigned
Swiss-type blued ferrules. Jim Payne did the work reluctantly. The project did not last long, and it is quite possible that not more than several hundred ever
reached the market. Fiberglass blanks did not have the "hoop strength" that their soon-to-be-introduced carbon fiber cousins had. The butt sections
of most fiberglass rods tended to become somewhat ovoid in shape under the stress of a long line cast and, as any physics student knows, there is little
strength left in a cylinder that has become oval in shape. After Jim Payne's death, the Gladding Corp. resurrected the idea, contracting with the South
Bend Co. to make fiberglass rods with the Payne name written in black ink in script on the blank. Nothing about these few rods has a resemblance to anything
Payne manufactured, and they were a cut below the rods made with Browning blanks in the Elm Street shop.
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mvinsel |
Edwards glass - one or more? | #18 | ||
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Posts: 359 12/15/2009 19:17 |
At the San Mateo show in the late 90s, Jim Adams had what looked like a handmade glass rod with a distinctive amber blank. The workmanship was pretty good.
It was signed Gene Edwards. I was going to buy it on the spot but Jim said it was already taken - and introduced me to its buyer Victor Johnson. I was
always curious if this was from a production run or just a one-off experiment.
-Vinnie in Juneau |
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fingernail |
re | #19 | ||
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Posts: 1613 12/15/2009 19:34 |
Guys this was great!!! Thank you for sharing!!
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bluejayee |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 916 12/15/2009 21:50 |
Hi Guys, I bought a an 8 1/2' Silaflex blank at the Winston shop in 1966. It was one piece. I also bought a set of Super 'Z' ferrules. Boy, I
sure had a hard time getting up my nerve to cut that blank in two. Doug Merrick sold it to me. I lost it in Mexico in 1977. I wish I still had it. Jay
Edwards
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