One is an exact copy of a Pflueger Trump:
As I mentioned in the previous post, I've added a couple of fly reels to the "Available" page. While these are not top end, expensive fly reels they are good functioning & affordable reels. One is an exact copy of a Pflueger Trump: Another is an Ocean City reel that has issues with it's click drag mechanism: Also there's the other reel I've previously listed & will offer with the True Temper glass rod: These reels have been thoroughly inspected, cleaned, & lubricated. For more info about them, please see the "Available" page & scroll down below the fishing bags listed there. As always, if you have any questions, please contact me.
It's been busy here in the rod shop. Recently I've added a buch of vintage fiberglass fly rods to the "Available" page. Please check them out.
Along with a Clasiical Series bamboo fly rod that's listed on the page, I've added these fiberglass fly rods: 1) True Temper 8'-6" 2.) Berkley 7'-6", 6wt 3.) Berkley 8'-0", 6/7 wt 4.) Shakespeare 8'-6", 8wt. Wonder Rod 5.) Berkley 8'-0", 5/6 wt. In addition to those rods I've also added a couple of affordable fly reels. In the comming days & weeks I'll be adding even more new & vintage tackle to the "Available" page, so please check back often. If you have any questions about anything you see on the "Available" page, please feel free to contact me. Glenn Struble Manufacturing has announced that they will be discontinuing production of all reel seats. They blame the current business environment & global economic pressures.
For those of you who don't know, Struble makes (made) reel seats of all kinds right here in the USA. Their products were excellent, well made, & well designed. The quality of their work was always above board at the best prices in the business. Their reel seats could be found on some Sage fly rods as well as some of mine. I would, from time to time, use Struble seats. They were the standard seat on my Prudential & Classical Series rods. They allowed me to maintain high quality on my rods at an affordable price. If a client has a specific request for a reel seat, I either make the seat in my shop -custom to meet their requests- or buy a seat from a different manufacturer that meets their needs. This is usually decided by meeting the clients needs at the best price without compromising quality. Struble allowed me to do that easily. If they didn't have what a client needed - or I could make it cheaper myself - than I would make the reel seat. Many times they could make certain types of reel seats cheaper than I could & at high levels of quality. Now that they're no longer making them this doesn't mean we'll be limited when designing your custom fly rod, it just means that we'll have to adjust. Starting soon there will be a different standard reel seat on my Prudential & Classical Series rods. This will most certainly mean a slight price increase on these rods. It will NOT be a significant price increase, but I wanted you to know this ahead of time. It's a shame that Struble will no longer be in the reel seat business. Let's hope that things will improve & that they can get back in the game sometime very soon. In the meantime you & I will just keep on keeping on. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me. I've recently added a couple of more vintage fiberglass fly rods to the "Available" page. Both are made by Berkley & about the same age. The rod pictured below is a 7'-6", 6 weight rod. It's in decent shape & casts a line very well. It feels pretty good in the hand & has a nice progressive action. The label is completely intact & other than a few cosmetic issues that I mention in it's listing, this rod is in really nice condition. It will fish very well. The other Berkley rod on the "Available" page is an 8'-0" fiberglass rod in like new, near-mint condition (pictured below). I don't believe this rod was ever fished. If it was, it couldn't have been used more than a couple of times. It has a nice medium action & also feels very comfortable in the hand. There is no line weight designation on this rod, but I think most anglers would get the most out of it with a 6 or a 7 weight line. It does have some scratches on the metal end cap probably because of how its been stored for all these years. Other than that, everything on this rod is like brand new!! It's rare to find one of these rods in as good condition as this one is. Please check it out. These are nice fiberglass rods. If you are a fan of fiberglass fly rods, I think you'll enjoy any of these. They remind me a lot of the rods I grew up fishing & still enjoy using today. If you have any questions about these rods, or anything else, please contact me. I will be listing even more rods in the coming days, so please check back often to see what's been added.
Over on the "Available" page, I've recently added a vintage True Temper 1505 fiberglass fly rod. It's an 8 ft - 6 in rod with a very nice action in nice condition. Personally, I have a lot of experience with True Temper fly rods & this one is one of the better feeling True Temper rods I've had the pleasure to cast. Unique to this rod is its oval shaped stripping guide. This is rare (as far as I know) on any True Temper fly rod. To enhance this offering I've added a custom made rod bag & tube in colors to complement the rod. Both the bag & the tube are made to a custom fit specifically for this rod. I've also added a bonus reel offer. For a few dollars more you can add a vintage fly reel that I have available to the rod. These two go together quite well & would make a very nice set-up for anglers looking for an extra rod & reel or for an angler on a budget. I've not modified this rod at all. I only gave it a good cleaning. It's got only a few minor signs of light use & is in very good condition. Even the ferrules still have a nice, tight fit. The line guides show no signs of use & the cork grip is in great shape. I believe this rod was hardly, if ever, used. To see more photos & to read more about this rod, please go to the "Available" page. If you have any questions about it, please contact me. Overall I think this is a nice casting, quick-recovering, vintage fly rod that would serve any angler well. In the coming days I'll be listing even more vintage fly rods so check back often. Also, there will be some changes coming to my rod offerings that I'll be announcing soon, so please check back here for updates.
Jim Hardy, the man who was the last direct link to the original Hardy fishing tackle company, has passed away. This is a loss to not only the British fishing community, but to anglers everywhere. Born in 1927, Jim would study engineering before going to work for his family's legendary company. Even though his family owned the company, Jim started out at the bottom, working his way up through the ranks. This allowed him to learn all the aspects of the Hardy Tackle company. He joined the company's board in 1959 as "Works Director". In 1967 he became Hardy's marketing director. It is no secret that through Jim Hardy's efforts the company expanded & grew both domestically in Great Britain & throughout the globe - especially in America. New products & advertising campaigns had new anglers discovering the company & older anglers coming back to them. Jim was a masterful & knowledgeable angler as well. Having started fishing at age seven, Jim was a world class fly casting champion. He won three professional casting championships at world championship level & took 35 British & all-comers professional casting records.
He retired in 1992, after 44 years, but stayed busy with the company as a consultant. He was (rightfully so) proud of the Hardy company & it's legacy of success & quality. In 1998 his book "The House The Hardy Brothers Built" was published in which he chronicled the history & legacy of the world-renowned company. He can also be seen at length in interviews in the movie "The Lost World of Mr. Hardy." Jim Hardy was a quiet legend in the fly fishing world. He will be sadly missed. To read more about Jim Hardy, please go HERE. From time to time, someone will contact me who is attempting to repair or restore a fly rod themselves. I'm always glad to hear from these folks & help them out. I think if you have an old rod that only needs minor work done on it, like new line guides or just a good & proper cleaning, than you'll get more out of it by doing that work yourself. By doing simple repairs on your own I think you'll find the process of learning how the work is done both rewarding & fun. One of the questions I get asked the most is how to clean a cork grip. Any rod that's seen any use fishing will have dirt & grim built up on the cork handle. Years of use will result in a grip that has a patina covering its entire surface. Many folks who have recently bought an older vintage rod would like to have that patina removed, so that they can start with fresh, clean cork as they begin using the rod. Well cleaning a cork grip is easy & it doesn't involve any dangerous chemicals or special tools &/or supplies. All you need to clean a cork grip is a sink with running water & some mild dish detergent. Here's how it's done: Holding the rod grip under the faucet, run some room temperature water over the grip in your sink. Get some mild dish washing detergent (the powdered kind like you use in the dish washer) & rub the detergent gently into the cork as the water pours over it. Don't rub too aggressively, just enough to work into the surface dirt of the grip. This will loosen all that dirt & grime build up on the cork. As the powdered dish detergent washes away, sprinkle some more on the grip. I suggest working around the grip & also working from one end to the other. Continue rinsing & washing the cork as you work. When the cork's all clean, rinse it thoroughly to get all the detergent off, pat it dry w/ some paper towels & let it sit overnight. That's it. Pretty simple, huh? There are just a couple of points to consider when doing this: 1.) Never do this to a bamboo rod when there is no varnish on the rod, or the varnish is in bad shape. The varnish protects the bamboo & the glue holding the rod together. Depending on the rod you have, the water & soap may harm the rod's glue. 2.) If you're going to be taking sand paper to the grip to re-shape it, or for any reason - NEVER do any sanding of the cork until the cork has completely dried. This means letting the grip sit to air dry overnight at least & maybe a couple of days in a humid environment. Even though the cork may look dry an hour or so after washing it - it's not. The fresh, exposed cork surface has absorbed the water & the cork has swelled somewhat in size. As the cork dries it will take on it's original size. If you go sanding the grip while there's still water deep within it, the next day you may find that the grip is much smaller than you wanted. Cleaning the cork on your fly rod is easy & after years of heavy use, it might not be a bad idea. Then again, there are folks who want that dark patina on their rod's grip as it's proof of a well used, experienced fly rod. Either way, if you want a clean grip, don't shy away from doing it yourself. As you can see, it's not hard to get good results when cleaning a cork grip. Below are two photos of the same cork grip on a vintage fiberglass fly rod. The top image is from before the grip was cleaned, as described above. The bottom photo shows the grip after it was cleaned.
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The Pliant RodNews from the shop of Chris Lantzy, Custom Rod Maker along with industry news, profiles of interesting characters, reviews, history, & whatever else strikes our fancy. Your comments & feedback are welcome. Please email me your thoughts. Celebrating two decades of making custom fly rods!!
leather accessoriesCases, bags, wallets, & other fine leather angling accessories.
See more photos from the rod shop & stream sides!
SEE MORE ROD PHOTOS!!!Please visit my Flickr pages to see even more rod photos including those available for sale, different rod features, & more. I'll be continuing to add photos there, so check it often.
Watch Some Videos!!Take a look into the rod shop & see some rods in living color motion pictures!! Check out my youtube videos.
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