I have a rod that was my great grandfathers, I believe it is split bamboo but not possitive. The rod is 6 sided, 7' long with a nice even taper all the way to the top, stainless reel seat and ferrel and the hand grips are wood with 1/8" deep criss-cross patters turned in the handle and butt. I would like to restrore this rod as close to original as I can so any info would be appreciated, my big questions are what type of guides (and who would have them) and what threads were typical of rods of this type and era?

Jeff Brinn

Jeff,

The description you give hints at either a very nice old bamboo rod, or a cheapy! How certain are you that the ferrules are stainless steel? Chances are good that they are either nickel silver, or chrome plated brass. If they are nickel silver then the rod is probably higher quality. Heddon made some rods with checkered walnut grips like one might find on high-quality gun stocks.

A good place to start is with someone who is knowledgable about bamboo rods. That may or may not be your local flyshop. Give them a call and ask if they can recommend someone who can take a look at the rod and give you an idea about what you have. Or it you can email decent close-up photo's, drop me a note.

If there is no chance of having someone knowledgable look at the rod, get a copy of Michael Sinclair's "Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook." That's a good basic guide to restoring older bamboo rods.

To answer your questions, most restorations are done with modern guides available from many of the sponsors listed to the left, and silk thread, also available from the sponsors. Russ Gooding at Golden Witch is a great place to start.

Hope this helps,
Harry Boyd

I sent you an email with photos. Also I got to taking an look at the rod and notice that the butt pad has Montegue printed on it, not sure if it is original ot not.

Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for the photos. Your second note helps a bunch as well. What you have is a Montague boat rod, probably originally used for saltwater fishing. I wish I could give you some specifics, but really don't know too much more. The rod is not highly collectable, and not worth a great deal of money, but that makes it no less valuable -- because it belonged to great-Grandad.

When we moved out of the flyfishing arena, we got far beyond my area of expertise. I don't know what kind of guides to use, or what color thread. Perhaps one of the other helpful guys on this board can be of more assistance.

Harry

I agree with Harry. Contack russ at Golden Witch.

Thanks for the info guys, I didn't think it was worth a bunch and hadn't even thought about selling it. Just think it will look good on the wall in my fishing room, when I build one that is.

Jeff