Phillipson rods

[Russell]

Seems Phillipson rods have a following. I have a couple of their glass rods around and have had a few others. They have always been nice casting and fishing rods. I finally decided that I needed to experiment in bamboo recently and this rod showed up locally. Not sure how I did price wise but it was far less than most of the offerings I have been following. Pulled a decoration reel off the shelf that seemed like it was made for the rod and am ready to try out some lines. It is a 7.5' 2pc premier rod and is in great shape. funcy grip, wraps and ferruls all in good shape. one tip has a slight set to one side. Cool square tube with cooler cap. Was going to try it out with a 4-5wt and see what I like best. Not sure if sock is original but I think everytning else is.
Would love to see some more phillipson's, glass or bamboo, and hear what you think of them.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Nice rod Russell, welcome to bamboo! The Pflueger is a great match. I use Cortland Sylk lines on my bamboo, but any will work fine. I started out 58+ years ago with a 7’6” 5 wt fiberglass Phillipson with a 1494 Pflueger. I did a much needed makeover on both, they get fished once in awhile and I inherited my dad’s same rod in near mint condition! Unfortunately No Phillipson bamboo outta 80+ bamboo rods in my stash….so far…..

 

[Dave Westburg]

Seems Phillipson rods have a following. I have a couple of their glass rods around and have had a few others. They have always been nice casting and fishing rods. I finally decided that I needed to experiment in bamboo recently and this rod showed up locally. Not sure how I did price wise but it was far less than most of the offerings I have been following. Pulled a decoration reel off the shelf that seemed like it was made for the rod and am ready to try out some lines. It is a 7.5' 2pc premier rod and is in great shape. funcy grip, wraps and ferruls all in good shape. one tip has a slight set to one side. Cool square tube with cooler cap. Was going to try it out with a 4-5wt and see what I like best. Not sure if sock is original but I think everytning else is.
Would love to see some more phillipson's, glass or bamboo, and hear what you think of them.

Welcome to the Bamboo club Russell. I'm the proud owner of four Phillipson bamboo rods of 7 1/2', 8', 8 1/2' and 9'. The 8 1/2' phillipson is one of my most used fly rods but I fish and enjoy them all.

Your rod is a Phillipson Premium which is the highest grade bamboo rod Bill Phillipson made. You can tell because of the black wraps tipped with gold and the elliptical hammer handle grip. Premium rods also use silk thread rather than nylon for wraps. Your rod says its rated HEH which means it will prob fish best with a 5 weight double tapered line. My 7 1/2' Phillipson is a true 5 weight. 406 lines are terrific with Phillipsons.

I see that you also have one of the unique Phillipson square aluminum tubes with the twist lock cap. These tubes were made between 1955 and 1962 and were discontinued because clients lost too many rod caps.

Another phillipson thing is the rod bag usually doesn't cover the entire rod. It stops just short of the tip and doesn't fold over the tips like some of the other maker's rod bags. Your rod sock is original.

Some of my phillipsons at work...

7 1/2' Phillipson on a small stream in eastern Washington...


8' Phillipson in the Wisconsin Driftless...

8 1/2' Phillipson on the shores of a beaver pond...

and up close...



9' Phillipson playing a Skagit county bull trout...

If you've ever in Denver you need to visit Ricks Rods. They own the current Phillipson trademark and have many Phillipson fiberglass and bamoo rod components. They also sell great looking Phillipson hats as well as vintage fishing tackle. I visited one time to look at an Orvis bamboo fly rod and ended up leaving with - what else - a Phillipson.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

I spent some time at Rick’s Rods when our son lived in Denver. Great guy, cool shop full of great stuff…they also have a nice website to check out.

 

[Kenneth Yong]

Congratulations on getting yourself a fine, fine fly rod, you started off your bamboo journey with a real bang!

Now the slippery slope beckons .

I'm a fan of Phillipson rods myself, one of my favorite 8-footers is a Peerless, like Dave's above. I had this to say about it on the Classic Fly Rod Forum:

"I love its impregnated bombproofness. I like Bill's mindset and no-nonsense approach.

With a Terenzio DT5F artificial silk line, I find it a real pleasure to cast, suits my stroke real well. Will do a Sylk, or Hook and Hackle (in the pic below), DT5F or DT6F with equal aplomb, but there's just something about the Terenzio that goes real well with the Peerless. And, dare I say it, this rod will actually cast a whole fly line without thought. I mean, yes, other bamboo rods will also cast a whole fly line, but I have to work at it, both mentally and physically. I'm a lefty, yes, but not a Kreh by far."

Kenneth

 

[Russell]

Welcome to the Bamboo club Russell. I'm the proud owner of four Phillipson bamboo rods of 7 1/2', 8', 8 1/2' and 9'. The 8 1/2' phillipson is one of my most used fly rods but I fish and enjoy them all.

Your rod is a Phillipson Premium which is the highest grade bamboo rod Bill Phillipson made. You can tell because of the black wraps tipped with gold and the elliptical hammer handle grip. Premium rods also use silk thread rather than nylon for wraps. Your rod says its rated HEH which means it will prob fish best with a 5 weight double tapered line. My 7 1/2' Phillipson is a true 5 weight. 406 lines are terrific with Phillipsons.

I see that you also have one of the unique Phillipson square aluminum tubes with the twist lock cap. These tubes were made between 1955 and 1962 and were discontinued because clients lost too many rod caps.

Another phillipson thing is the rod bag usually doesn't cover the entire rod. It stops just short of the tip and doesn't fold over the tips like some of the other maker's rod bags. Your rod sock is original.

Some of my phillipsons at work...

7 1/2' Phillipson on a small stream in eastern Washington...
View attachment 132548

8' Phillipson in the Wisconsin Driftless...
View attachment 132542
8 1/2' Phillipson on the shores of a beaver pond...
View attachment 132543
and up close...
View attachment 132547


9' Phillipson playing a Skagit county bull trout...
View attachment 132541
If you've ever in Denver you need to visit Ricks Rods. They own the current Phillipson trademark and have many Phillipson fiberglass and bamoo rod components. They also sell great looking Phillipson hats as well as vintage fishing tackle. I visited one time to look at an Orvis bamboo fly rod and ended up leaving with - what else - a Phillipson.
View attachment 132549

Yes, the sock is slightly shorter than the rod pieces. The sock with my pack rod should be original as well then. Wondered about that.



Started off picking up an 8' 3" 5wt sweetgrass mantra some months ago and have really enjoyed it the few times I've been able to get it out. Kind of allways have my eye out for things and this phillipson just sat there so I made an offer and think I got a pretty good deal. Haven't even been able to take it out to cast yet. I was looking in Schwiebert Trout and he lists the phillipson 7' 6" as a four weight but it sounds like everyone seems to feel the silk to aftma conversion 5wt to be best.
Here are the other phillipson rods I have held onto. One is a later 3m rod with spigot ferrules and the other was made for ll bean I like each of these with a DT5 as well.

Russell

 

[Para_Adams]

Russell, Phillipsons are great fly rods and you found a shorter model (!) and the highest model grade (!!!). Dave already provided great background. I too have owned a handful of Phillipsons in the past and still own a 9' bamboo Powr Pakt and a 7-1/2' glass rod which is also marked "HEH" line weight and is a great five weight rod. One of my favorite rods I ever sold (why on earth??) was my 8' bamboo Phillipson Pacemaker, a step down in model grade from yours but a great, great fishing rod. Here's a pic of it when I used it on the Upper Sacramento River near Shasta...

 

[Para_Adams]

By the way, you mentioned that one tip has a curve or "set". It won't affect the casting in any way, but if it bothers you it might be possible to straighten it. I've worked on a few sets over the years with varying success. Some returned quickly after fishing, others stayed straight. Others here might correctly warn you against doing this, but it has worked for me as long as I used caution and took my time. So at the risk of encouraging you to harm your rod here's what I have done.

I set a heat gun (think heavy duty hair blower) on top of a flat surface like a recycle bin, turn it on, then hold the piece of bamboo about 6"-12" away while gently bending opposite the set. Make absolutely sure you don't overheat the cane and wraps to the point of damaging them. Take your time and let the cane slowly but surely warm to the touch while keeping it reverse-curved from the set. Do this for maybe a minute at a time, pausing to check on the cane's straightness between heat applications. You should soon see the set being removed. Don't over-bend against the set or twist the cane or you might induce a new curve you don't want. Once you get it where you're happy, stop and let it cool off. Sometimes the heat fix lasts a long time, sometimes it doesn't. And if you ever sell the rod I'd recommend letting the buyer know about the previously removed set which might have a tendency to come back. Cheers!