Well, Christmas came early for me this year; and it was a good one!
I was at my parent's house up on the Northshore of MA when the conversation turned to skiing. That took us on a trip down memory lane and that led to bets as to whether or not my mother's first pair of skis (an old blue pair of Northlands) were still stashed somewhere in the house. My father and I loved to ski, but my mother did it only so that the family could be together on the weekends; so, naturally, her skiing exploits and her ski gear comes up frequently as good-natured family taunts.
I took up the challenge to see whether or not those "fabled" ski were still in the house and proceeded, armed with the most powerful flashlight I coud find, to go up into the attic. There, amid some very old stuff, I found here blue Northlands.
And; sandwiched between them, was a 2-piece fly rod; the first fly rod that I had when I was a kid!
I just sat back from my crouching position and looked at it in the dim light of the attic; shook my head and felt this very broad grin work its way across my face. I had asked my father to look for it shortly after I made the above referenced post and he had reported that he thought that he had taken it off to the dump about 20 years ago; after having done a complete sweep of our garage; which is where almost all of our vintage sporting gear is stashed.
It was an inexpensive rod. I had know that from the start, but it marked my first entry into the sport; an entry that had been interrupted by a 50 year hiatus; given that my first attempt to tie a fly onto the end of the fly line had proven to be a real turn-off for me; not to mention that my home-made fly (yes, that's in the singular; one fly) had failed to snag any fish on my first and only outing with the rod. I had apparently forgotten to read the part about leaders and tippets; so it fabricated a line-to-fly connection. For some reason, I've never seen anyone else attempt that feat! I was 10 years old.
Now I need the expertise and help of the board to identify the maker of the rod.
It's a 7'1" 2-piece, solid glass rod. The ferrule is metal; looks like steel. The color of the blank is the green/cream color of natural fibergalss and polyester resin (I'm only assuming that it's polyester resin). There are 4 snake guides and the tip top; no stripper guide. The reel seat is down-locking and the cork handle looks like "cork particles" pressed together. The only marking on the rod that I can find is "HAW.4". It's on the shaft; just above the point where the rod blank joins the grip (where rod labels are usually found). Here are some pictures of the rod. Overall, it's in good condition with only one wrap slightly abraded. It clearned up well.
And, as I said, this is the only marking on the rod. According to my father's recollection, I was purchase from a sporting good store that was a
Spaulding dealer [I know that Abbey & Imbrie were associated with Spaulding; prior to their purchase by Horrocks-Ibbotson; I'm not sure about after
that, nor do I have any particular reason to think that this might be an A&I rod.]
Wraps are black/orange (must have been a Halloween special!). There are 4 snake guides on the rod and no stripper guide.
Ferrules, as I said, look like and clearn up like steel.
The blank entry in to the rod grip is initiated through what looks like an aluminum cone.
The down-locking reel seat uses a single screw barrel. The reel seat apprears to be black anodized aluminum.
The cork looks like what we would call "particle board" if we were talking about construction materials. It looks to me like a cork particle amalgum
of some kind; possibly rolled over the actual handle (I don't know, this is all conjuecture on my part and I have no appetite for a dissection of the
grip).
And here it is again; the only mark that I can find on the rod.
The age of the rod is thought to be in the 1958-60 timeframe.
Can anyone help me ID the maker of this rod? I would really appreciate it.
In the meantime, I'm headed to the snow-covered front lawn to see how it casts with a Pflueger 1495 and DT6F line! It's a heavy rod, it will need more
than that Pflueger to balance it out rcorrectly.
Thanks in advance,
Pocono
