I just got a blank froma customer that he has had for a while. It is a Fenwick Fenglass SP 1263 F, brown 2-piece. I'm guessing spey rod, but wondered if anyone had any more insight, as to line weight, age, etc. I am going to do a CCS test, but was curious if anyone knew of these blanks. I'm not familiar with spey rods.

Fran,
Over here on the west coast they were used as mooching rod blanks. They made them in a 2 thru 5 power range if I remember right, and the 4 power was very popular used on 20 -25 lb line. The 3 power was a harder blank to come by for some reason, at least around my area. Again this is all coming the top from a head that hasn't ingested enough coffee yet.

Fran, the Fenglass SP1263 was designed and marketed by Fenwick as a 10-1/2' spinning blank for steelhead/salmon on larger rivers. It was popular in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia for a number of years until graphite blanks took over the market, in spin, levelwind float and mooching configurations. A very nice blank, still sought after by some for its softer action.

Fran Park: Your rod blank is a Fenwick Fenglass SP 1263 F, brown 2-piece.

I found this information, not on YOUR rod blank, but on the NEXT Model in the series, the SP-126-4-F: in the 1982 FENWICK ROD BLANK CATALOG, page 7.

Fenwick's FENGLASS is a blend of "E" (Electrical) Glass and "S" (Structural) Glass, according to the Catalog description.

SP-126-4-F: 10'6" FENGLASS, brown. 2-piece.
MODERATE Action. MEDIUM Power. SPinning (SP).
3/8 - 3/4 oz. No line rating given.
Butt OD: 0.730". Tip-tube 7.5 / 64ths inch.
Blank Weight: 5.5 oz.

NONE of these SP-126-x-F Series is even listed in the 1983 or 1985 Catalogs, which seems to imply at least a discontinuity in availability, if not that 1982 was the last year that the SP-126-x-F Series was offered.

The only other similar length & style listed was:
SH-126-2-F: 10'6" FENGLASS, brown. 2-piece.
MODERATE Action. MEDIUM Power. Steel Head (SH).
1/4 - 1/2 oz. No line rating given.
Butt OD: 0.735". Tip-tube 7.0 / 64ths inch.
Blank Weight: 4.875 oz.

From these two rod blanks, I would guess that this
SP-126-3-F had a LURE RATING of 1/4 - 5/8 oz. IMO, ...

This FenGlass SP-126-3-F is an uncommon,
if not rare, rod - Handle with care!
... -Cliff Hall+++, Gainesville, FL-USA*****



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2006 12:05AM by Cliff Hall.

Gentlemen, thank you for the outstanding information on this blank! I am always in awe of the wealth of knowledge available on this forum.

Fran- I suspect that the blank must be from the 70's. None of my Fenwick brochures from '81-'91 have that blank listed and the SH1262 was listed as "new" in the '81 brochure. Like Mike replied earlier "till graphite blanks took over".