Ray Gould wand

Para_Adams

Para_Adams

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I stumbled across a tiny 6' 3/4 wt rod by local legend Ray Gould. It weighs a mere 2.4oz and has a 12/64 ferrule. I don't have a three weight line but it cast well with the 4 wt Wulff Bamboo line I have on hand. The rod is marked "RR-157-6" which hopefully someone can look up in his book for me. It is a one tip rod and came with generic tube and sock. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with it as I'm not sure I want to tempt any larger size trout with it...it feels far too dainty for my ham-handed fishing style. I'd welcome any thoughts or knowledge anyone has about it. Thanks, Ron


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You find it in the Maltby antiques shop? The owner showed me the rod earlier this summer and I stayed away from the shop on purpose for months to avoid buying it. Was a lovely rod but I don't fish small creeks enough to justify the purchase of a tiny 3 weight. I can think of a meadow stretch of a small creek which would be perfect for this rod. Let's head there next summer.

The owner of the shop is a funny guy. A friend and I were at the shop looking and couldn't find anything and stopped to talk fishing rods with the owner on the way out. We must have passed the test (maybe it was my Phillipson bamboo hat) because the owner randomly reached under the counter and passed me the Ray Gould rod to look at. Kept talking and in another 10 minutes he handed my friend a lovely Winston graphite rod to look at (which my friend purchased).

You back in town. Would love to cast that little rod some time.
 
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Dave Westburg said:
You find it in the Maltby antiques shop? The owner showed me the rod earlier this summer and I stayed away from the shop on purpose for months to avoid buying it. Was a lovely rod but I don't fish small creeks enough to justify the purchase of a tiny 3 weight. I can think of a meadow stretch of a small creek which would be perfect for this rod. Let's head there next summer.

The owner of the shop is a funny guy. A friend and I were at the shop looking and couldn't find anything and stopped to talk fishing rods with the owner on the way out. We must have passed the test (maybe is was my Phillipson bamboo hat) because the owner randomly reached under the counter and passed me the Ray Gould rod to look at. Kept talking and in another 10 minutes he handed my friend a lovely Winston graphite rod to look at (which my friend purchased).

You back in town. Would love to cast that little rod some time.
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I'm back! But not for long, heading out again very soon for another couple weeks. That small creek sounds fun! But I'll more likely break out the other rod I bought from Maltby a few months ago...did you also see the 7-1/2' 4wt Hardy Deluxe 1st gen graphite? I really, really like casting that one and will break it in over the coming few weeks on a little spring creek I hope to fish.
 
Having just gone through Rays tapers listed in his book "Cane Rods , Tips and Tapers" which lists all of his published tapers I could not find "RR-157-6" or RR-157. Possibly he had made that taper post publication. He has two rods listed as "Shorty" .One at 5'-0" x2pc and another at 6'-0" x2pc. Other than those two rods listed he does not list anything less than 7'.

I don't know what RR designates but he used it on all of his rods whether solid, hollowed, hex, quad, or graphite insert.
 
Thanks Tim. It's interesting that Ray made one rod even shorter, at 5'. The 6' rod length seems very, very short. I once owned an Orvis Deluxe that was a 6' rated as a 5 weight. It felt clubby to me. This 6' 3/4 feels about like it should for such a small rod.
 
I'm planning to fish a certain spring creek in a week that often has #20 BWO's hatching...I use 6x and a size 20 BWO emerger fly which sometimes works. Hmmm...of course, the fish run to 16-17" and I'd be petrified that they would snap that little 6' rod in two. I know I know, bamboo is tough...but there are limits to my bravery!
 
Dave Westburg said:
You find it in the Maltby antiques shop? The owner showed me the rod earlier this summer and I stayed away from the shop on purpose for months to avoid buying it. Was a lovely rod but I don't fish small creeks enough to justify the purchase of a tiny 3 weight. I can think of a meadow stretch of a small creek which would be perfect for this rod. Let's head there next summer.

The owner of the shop is a funny guy. A friend and I were at the shop looking and couldn't find anything and stopped to talk fishing rods with the owner on the way out. We must have passed the test (maybe it was my Phillipson bamboo hat) because the owner randomly reached under the counter and passed me the Ray Gould rod to look at. Kept talking and in another 10 minutes he handed my friend a lovely Winston graphite rod to look at (which my friend purchased).

You back in town. Would love to cast that little rod some time.
Click to expand...
Nice score Ron!

I used to live close to that shop. I’d stop in on occasion and picked up a few things over the years, nothing extraordinary though. Always enjoyed talking with Bob, he’s a good guy.
 
He just took in a nice 7-1/2' made in England bamboo rod, but I didn't recognize the maker's name. I want to say Ben McAlister or something like that. Nice rods pass through his shop on occasion, especially now that Plug Ugly and the guy who used to be in the basement store at the antiques mall in Snohomish are no longer around. I think his prices are usually pretty attractive, but then I'm a sucker for old bamboo rods, LOL.
 
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