The oldest rod you regularly use?

I use my 9' 6 weight G Loomis IMX Signature when fishing stillwater with full sink lines.
 
I regularly use rods that I bought / built in the early 1990s, 25-30 years ago :

- Bunch of T&T Horizon 6-10 wts mostly built myself, including a heavy-use trio of 9wts with various heads for chinook salmon. They got this taper right, before all saltwater rods were designed for flats

- Sage LL 490, Winston IM6 865, and Sage SP 590 (all built from blanks) when trouting


I still have my first rod, a glass Fenwick from the 1970s, but never use it.
 
Well I do have a GL3 that I originally bought in the 80's. But it's been replaced a few times so it isn't the originally the oldest rod anymore.

I will fish that Bamboo this year. I haven't decided on what weight line I will use. I'll try both 5 and 6 weight lines. I might throw it in the Clark Fork or the Big Hole or BSC. All good water to play around in.
 
I'm with the OP and @RCF - a mid 80's Loomis IM6 Signature Series.

Mine is a 7wt 9.5' that's a joy to cast, and very versatile linewise. A friend found it at a garage sale and gifted it to me when I retired, along with the Marryat it came with. A favorite smallmouth rod for subsurface stuff.
 
Besides all of the vintage bamboo rods.....my first fly rod I got when I was ten is a 7’6” 5wt Phillipson back in 1966. My cousin worked at Shoff‘s Tackle in Kent and built my dad and me twin rods for $20 each! I gave mine a makeover years ago and recently inherited my dad’s which is in amazing condition. I fish mine occasionally, used it the other day with a St George w/wet line.
D0DE7748-17D8-4CDA-8949-92708BD509F4.jpeg
 
Bambooflyguy said:
Besides all of the vintage bamboo rods.....my first fly rod I got when I was ten is a 7’6” 5wt Phillipson back in 1966. My cousin worked at Shoff‘s Tackle in Kent and built my dad and me twin rods for $20 each! I gave mine a makeover years ago and recently inherited my dad’s which is in amazing condition. I fish mine occasionally, used it the other day with a St George w/wet line.
View attachment 49782
Click to expand...
not many people will remember Shoffs in Kent. across the street from JC Penneys back in the day. I bought my shotgun from Shoffs (still have my Ithica). they moved to the east hill before they closed for good. so you grew up in Kent? which elementary school did you go to? I was a Park Orchard skunk
 
Hi dep,
I grew up (wife doesn’t think so....) in North Hill which is now part of Des Moines. I went to North Hill elementary and graduated from Mt Rainier in ‘74. I bought our house in Burien in May of ‘80 and still living here! I started building fly rods 36 years ago and bought components from Shoffs. Cool store and he was great to talk with.
 
For me it's an old Sage RP 5wt. I have lots of older rods and I fish them. I have very few new rods. My newest that gets regular play is my Echo EPR musky stuff and my OHS anything with fins stuff. I'm kinda over keeping up with the hot new stick. No judgment on those that do as I'm sure technology is making lighter sweeter rods but I guess I don't fix it unless I literally break it and Sage as well as Echo are phenomenal on warrantee service so I'm not even going shopping after a mishap. Rods I like below.

Ohs
Vt2
RP
Epr
Echo 2 9wt Scandinavian rod, totally under rated
Fli
And my trusty imx Loomis home built true switch

All but the ohs and EPR are older tech.
 
I really don't own any "older" rods at this point. I've always been pretty hard on gear, especially when I was younger, so eventually all my older rods died.

I do still have my first fly rod, a St. Croix Pro Graphite 9' 6/7 wt that I got for my 15th birthday, but its been 20+ years since I've used it. Basically just keep it around for sentimental reasons.

Off the top of my head the 3 oldest rods I still own are:

Sage RPLXI 12 wt that I received from an awesome forum member 2 or 3 years ago. I use that rod a ton albacore fishing. It's an albacore landing machine.

Redington Vapen Black 12 wt that I've landed more albacore with than any other two rods combined. Paid a hundred bucks for it probably 6 or 7 years ago and it just keeps going. It's my all time favorite albacore stick. Casts very nicely and has a ton of backbone.

I also have a Loomis IMX 9' 6 wt 3 piece that was built up by @Scudley Do Right dad. I dont fish it a ton anymore, mostly because it's a 3 piece, but it's a great rod. Super smooth casting, and it was built up by a great guy so I definitely haven't gotten rid of that one.
 
My oldest rods that I use are a 1996 Winston IM6 7'6", 3 piece, 3 weight and a Scott G series 9', 2 piece, 5 weight. I'm not sure what year the Scott G was built but the cap of the rod tube says Telluride, Colorado so it would have to be after they moved from San Francisco to Telluride in 1993 and before the moved to Montrose sometime around the mid 1990's.
 
I also use a Sage RPL (not RPL+) 690 that I bought used. I have no idea when it was made. Between my 4wt and 6wt Sage rods, I hardly use anything else (though I am growing to like my Echo Carbon XL euronymph 10' 3wt).
 
DoesItFloat said:
I miss my old Orvis Silver Label. It would have been such a good steelhead rod.
Click to expand...

These rods are really nice for the money. I have several. They're kind of sleeper rods, flying under the radar. Built on the more expensive superfine blanks with less expensive components being used.
 
A late 1950s Fenwick gear rod. Pre ferrullite and blank is almost an orangish brown. The other is a 60s Fenwick fly rod.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top