Musty, old, missing pieces....... question of worth to try and restore??

[Buzzy]

A friend of mine asked me to look at some old "poles" that his friend has. A few pictures. The owner of the rods is 76 years old, he was thinking his grand nephew might like them........ My question is, are any of these rods worth much effort?

I brought home the rod, second from the right, thinking I might pull the guides off and rewrap them so the thread wrappings are at least the same color. I'm not going to strip off the old varnish.

Journeman electrican's tape for guide wraps.

The missing male ferrule is wedged intot he plastic rod tube. O-rings on the ferrules?


The rod on the right is, I think, a bait casting rod.



Two Pflueger SalTrout and a Herters and a lot of old streamers in the bottom fly wallet.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

The two tip rod looks like the best candidate for a redo......too bad the vintage Orvis has funky ferrules on it and cracked reelseat ring. It looks pretty stout. Yes on the bait caster. Could be some Buzzy Hotrodz in there......I have two of those Herter’s double handled reels, pretty cool.

 

[_WW_]

Don't know what to say about the rods.

 

[Buzzy]

Don't know what to say about the rods.

View attachment 25928

Wayne - very nice, tell me what you've done with this reel?

 

[_WW_]

Wayne - very nice, tell me what you've done with this reel?

Well I took it fishing a few times years ago when I first got it, then put it on the shelf. Just picked it up and gave it a few turns and am now thinking about putting it on my 3wt trout spey.

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

I'd like to know when that Orvis rod was made. It might be from the 1800's. No collector or fishing value in that condition, unfortunately, but wow, that is a rare and very old Orvis rod. You should take a few close up photos of that seat and post them on the Classic Rod Forum or just PM Greg Reynolds, the keeper of the Orvis rods database, to see if that seat can date the rod. Very cool.

 

[Tim L]

Maybe just me but i wouldn't do a thing to alter the orvis in any way. Retired, life story intact.

 

[clarkman]

I dunno, I usually feel that if you can get a rod into fishable condition, it deserves to be fished. Same with those reels. Talk about workman reels...clean them up and fish 'em hard. @_WW_ that Herter's of yours is really sweet!

 

[Buzzy]

I'd like to know when that Orvis rod was made. It might be from the 1800's. No collector or fishing value in that condition, unfortunately, but wow, that is a rare and very old Orvis rod. You should take a few close up photos of that seat and post them on the Classic Rod Forum or just PM Greg Reynolds, the keeper of the Orvis rods database, to see if that seat can date the rod. Very cool.

Thanks Ron, I'll see if I can get Kc to snap a few more pics of the Orvis rod.

I dunno, I usually feel that if you can get a rod into fishable condition, it deserves to be fished. Same with those reels. Talk about workman reels...clean them up and fish 'em hard. @_WW_ that Herter's of yours is really sweet!

Kc is quite the craftsman. We chatted yesterday and I said "I wish I'd brought one of the Pfleuger SalTrout reels back to clean it up", he laughed and said he's on it.

I sketched up the segments of the rod I brought home so when I strip off the guides and clean the rod up just a bit, I can get the guides back exactly where they were. I rate my skill set at about 2.5 out of 5 for doing this work (that's pretty generous - maybe 3 our ot 10) but even so, the rod should look better than some of the electricians tape used to hold a guide in place. ;-)

 

[Old Man]

My first fly reel was a Pflueger Sal Trout. But my first fly rod was a fiberglass rod. It's now in a land fill some places in Washington. Bought them new in 1957. Boy, that was a long time ago. Don't have that reel anymore either.

 

[Buzzy]

My first fly reel was a Pflueger Sal Trout. But my first fly rod was a fiberglass rod. It's now in a land fill some places in Washington. Bought them new in 1957. Boy, that was a long time ago. Don't have that reel anymore either.

I was fishing in 1957, my folks had built along a creek between Sequim and Port Angeles. (Supervised fishing )

 

[_WW_]

I'm pretty sure I was weaned by 1957. My first fishing trip was three more years away tho...

 

[Old Man]

I was fishing in 1957, my folks had built along a creek between Sequim and Port Angeles. (Supervised fishing )

How old were you in 1957?

Thanks Ron, I'll see if I can get Kc to snap a few more pics of the Orvis rod.

Kc is quite the craftsman. We chatted yesterday and I said "I wish I'd brought one of the Pfleuger SalTrout reels back to clean it up", he laughed and said he's on it.

I sketched up the segments of the rod I brought home so when I strip off the guides and clean the rod up just a bit, I can get the guides back exactly where they were. I rate my skill set at about 2.5 out of 5 for doing this work (that's pretty generous - maybe 3 our ot 10) but even so, the rod should look better than some of the electricians tape used to hold a guide in place. ;-)

Get a hold of Bambooflyguy and see what he says. He restored the beat up boo rod I got from Capt Insano. Quite reasonable also. The rod I got was a basket case. Both tips were broken and a few guides were missing . It looks good now. I just wish I could get out and fish it. Lately, if it isn't one thing or another that stops me from getting out to fish.

 

[Peyton00]

Garden stakes?

Or save a few to give the grandkids the much needed lashing.

 

[Buzzy]

How old were you in 1957?

8

 

[Old Man]

8

I was 22, an old man already. I even had the shakes at that age.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

1

 

[Buzzy]

@Bambooflyguy - (Steve!) I stripped all the guide winding thread off the three piece rod from Kc's. Take a look at these two pictures:


There are several dings in the mid section - should I wrap these dings with thread and epoxy them or do you think they're not too deep to be a potential weak point? Other thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Ouch! Somebody was rough on this stick.....those are some nasty gouges. Are you going to add any guides? Possibly a guide might land on a divot to strengthen it.....they definitely are a weak spot. Hate to have you put a lot of time and parts into this rod if it breaks.....maybe just catch fish under 10”! Your call Pat.

 

[Buzzy]

Ouch! Somebody was rough on this stick.....those are some nasty gouges. Are you going to add any guides? Possibly a guide might land on a divot to strengthen it.....they definitely are a weak spot. Hate to have you put a lot of time and parts into this rod if it breaks.....maybe just catch fish under 10”! Your call Pat.

Steve - there are five "dings" along one joined edge and two lesser dings on another joined edge so it isn't practical to add six or seven guides ;-) I'll add some thread wraps, maybe a double layer and epoxy coat the wraps. Then suggest nothing larger than trout from small creeks in the E'burg area. (I wonder if somewhere along the life of this fly rod that someone didn't try to bonk a fish with the mid-section? )