I had a friend show up with a couple of cool old split can rods. I have never actually had my hands on this type of rod before. One is a Chesepeake, and the other has the name decal scratched, so I am not sure the maker. I think it is a Schiggn??

I am going to restore these rods, but should they be wall decorations? I am going to re-do the Chesepeake for my friend and reinstall the original guides, but the other I am thinking I want to rewrap with new style guides, more of them, and fish this rod...

Are these rods fish able? Can anyone tell anything about a Schiggn?

They are both two piece with wood handles, but I am thinking about making mine a one piece. What if I drilled the center and bonded a glass dowel down the center and eliminated the ferrule?

If just seems like it would be so cool to fish this rod!!

Thanks for any input.

Not aware of a "Schiggin", could it be JC Higgins? That was Sears & Roebuck brand. Why make it a one piece?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2012 01:15AM by Phil Erickson.

Phil Erickson Wrote:
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> Not aware of a "Schiggin", could it be JC Higgins?
> That was Sears & Roebuck brand. Why make it a one
> piece?

Yep that's it.... The rod is about 5 feet long and only has one double guide. The tip top is missing, but I was told it had a double tip top too..this was a trolling rod, and I guess you would alternate which side of the top half, so the bamboo didn't get a permanent bend in it.

I was thinking if I make it a once piece I would. Be able to better distribute guides. That 5" long stainless ferrule does not flex, so I thought it might improve the action of the rod, and additional guides would also distribute weight. Nostalgia makes me want to make. It function for today's fishing if it is feasible.

Anyone? Bueller? Are these fishable or wall art?

They have minimal value, but whatever value they do have will be destroyed if you refinish them in a manner different than they were originally.

Sure you can fish them, but even most $30 rods are going to be better. The bamboo boat rods in my possession have been refinished, to original specs, and are on display.

............

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> They have minimal value, but whatever value they
> do have will be destroyed if you refinish them in
> a manner different than they were originally.
>
> Sure you can fish them, but even most $30 rods are
> going to be better. The bamboo boat rods in my
> possession have been refinished, to original
> specs, and are on display.
>
> ............

Thank you... Sounds like they may not be worth fixing to fish..... I don't think they have much value, so I was hoping there was more I ould do.... Wall Art it is!!

Good Morning John,
You didn't provide much information on these two rods. The length, the amount of force necessary to flex the rod, or the number of guides that were on it. You indicated they were two piece, but that doesn't explain enough either. For example, I have a 9 and a half foot two piece split bamboo rod made by Kingfisher. However, there is wooden handle that is three feet long and the tip section that is 77 inches long. There is a combination reel seat/ferrule that the tip section fits into the handle. When I picked this up at a yard sale, there were no guides on the rod and from the varnish residue I can account for only two guides. The rod I have is worth very little even if I could restore it to its original condition. However, this rod could be rebuilt into a serviceable fishing rod. One of these days I will probably do that.

I suspect that you can also make a serviceable fishing rod from yours as well. I'm guessing that like mine yours is a boat rod used for bottom fishing or trolling. You aren't likely to be doing any casting with it. As a result there is no reason to make it into one piece rod.

Without more information, I can't tell you much about your rods. However, I would be surprised if the ferrules are steel. It is more likely to be chrome plated brass which was commonly used on those massed produced rods. If the ferrule is in good condition, there is no reason to replace it or eliminate it. The ferrule could be made from Nickel Silver, but I doubt it because you would have noticed the color difference.

C. Boyd Pfeiffer writes a column on old time rods for Rodmaker Magazine. I would contact Rodmaker Magazine and/or Tom Kirkman. You might be able to get Mr. Pfeiffer to help you identify your rods and give you advice on rebuilding. Have fun.

Mike Blomme

They are both about 5' 6", including the wooden handles, the ferrule is about 30" up, not quite the center point. The ferrule is probably chromed brass like you said. They are both pretty heavy rods approx. 3/4" taper down to about 1/4" roughly usning my eye, no measurements taken.

The Chesepeake is a tad lighter weight than the other and has three guides plus tip about 24" from the reel seat to the first guide.

The JC Higgins has 2 guides plus tip top (missing tip top). The first guide is on the lower section, the upper section the guide(s) is a double one on each side, so it can be rotated.

Mostly based upon Tom's comment that most $30.00 rods would out fish it, I will probably just make wall art. I have some pretty noce rods I have wrapped up, Seeker, Super Seeker, American Tackle Viper series etc.... These are cool, bu maybe not for servicable rods...

I have done what you want to do to the bamboo rods , and have been well pleased withthe results. I have an old Montague that I redone
for sea bass fishing , I put modern guides and tip-top (Pac Bay) , on the rod after a close inspection of the wood making sure there is NO cracks , splits , or any other damage . I also mounted a 1 /0 Penn Senator with dacron line , it gets a lott of looks and a lot of sea bass , Try it yuo'll like it ! Larry