A recenty acquisition, I've fished this rod once so far - with Cameron on the family pond. It's a true 7-weight, matching best with a wf7 line. A
dt6, which I fished with Cam, was just a tad light until you end up false casting 35' or so feet, then the rod really starts to load in a lovely way. With
a WF7 the rod loads and is much more responsive at the typical pick-up distance of 15' of line plus the length of leader. One false cast and this little
rod can launch a size 4 fly 60-plus feet with ease. Very nice!
The tube is quite small. Each section of rod measures 21 inches. The four sections, of course, add up to 7 feet. But when assembled the rod loses 3-inches, so it's really a 6' 9" four piece 7wt.
The Phillipson blank, the only 4-piece configuration I know of, is quicker than the name suggests. The rod is similar in action to my Browning Silaflex 322*** series, perhaps just a tad smoother.
The rod tube says this rod weighs 3 1/8 ounce. The rod says it weighs 3 1/4 ounce. Interesting discrepancy. The rod balances near perfectly with a Pflueger Medalist 1494 1/2.
The lovely Orvis reel seat. I really like the aesthetics of these old Orvis glass rods.
It's quite a pretty rod. I stole it for about 1/4 of what its really worth because of a small problem with a ferrule. The very end of the second section male ferrule suffered a fracture that doesn't affect the lenght, action or utility of the rod. I'll either cut this section smooth (it's about a 1/4" section) and reinforce it or just slip in a couple inches of stock from an old wonderod and keep the chip in place. Either way, a drop of epoxy and ten minutes labor and the rod will be ready for another 38 years of fishing. There's no crack in the glass and the rod is absolutely fishable as is. As seen below, this damaged section ends up some 2" inside the female sleeve.
For those who like to take a rod with them, this is one heck of a portable solution. I can fit the tube into a carry-one size suitcase. Add a reel and box of flies and its a rod that can go in the cabin and provide plenty of utility for fishing warm water creeks and ponds or tight cold water flows, especially those places with well-defined pocket waters that might require accurate delivery of a bushy dry fly or heavy nymph.
Joe C.
The tube is quite small. Each section of rod measures 21 inches. The four sections, of course, add up to 7 feet. But when assembled the rod loses 3-inches, so it's really a 6' 9" four piece 7wt.
The Phillipson blank, the only 4-piece configuration I know of, is quicker than the name suggests. The rod is similar in action to my Browning Silaflex 322*** series, perhaps just a tad smoother.
The rod tube says this rod weighs 3 1/8 ounce. The rod says it weighs 3 1/4 ounce. Interesting discrepancy. The rod balances near perfectly with a Pflueger Medalist 1494 1/2.
The lovely Orvis reel seat. I really like the aesthetics of these old Orvis glass rods.
It's quite a pretty rod. I stole it for about 1/4 of what its really worth because of a small problem with a ferrule. The very end of the second section male ferrule suffered a fracture that doesn't affect the lenght, action or utility of the rod. I'll either cut this section smooth (it's about a 1/4" section) and reinforce it or just slip in a couple inches of stock from an old wonderod and keep the chip in place. Either way, a drop of epoxy and ten minutes labor and the rod will be ready for another 38 years of fishing. There's no crack in the glass and the rod is absolutely fishable as is. As seen below, this damaged section ends up some 2" inside the female sleeve.
For those who like to take a rod with them, this is one heck of a portable solution. I can fit the tube into a carry-one size suitcase. Add a reel and box of flies and its a rod that can go in the cabin and provide plenty of utility for fishing warm water creeks and ponds or tight cold water flows, especially those places with well-defined pocket waters that might require accurate delivery of a bushy dry fly or heavy nymph.
Joe C.
