Greetings all..I have just finished my 3rd spinning rod build and decided to take on a bamboo fly rod rehab/rebuild. It is a 9' 2 pc. Montague rod. Does anyone have any idea as to what weight this would translate into? I fish smallmouth on the Shenandoah and would like to use it there as well as for farm bond bass.

Can you find the line diameter/taper code on the rod? These were made in many different lengths and powers.

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No I can't sadly...seems to have worn away with age. I did find this method of using length divided by the drop to the floor on bamboopurists.com though. Is there an easier way than that?

The Common Cents System would certainly dial you in (see link to left). Or, you can take a guess and try a line or two and go from there. Most likely it'll be a rod that was designed to work with from a 4 to 7 weight line. You didn't find too many that were extremely light or heavy line rods. You'll just have to fine tune to determine which line will be best.

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Many times a bamboo rod will feel different to two different people. the same rod may cast a 6 wt for me but you may feel it needs a 7. the easiest thing to do is to see if your local fly shop(there are still a few of those around ,right?) has a few different lines you can try. Having cast a lot on Montys my guess is that you are looking at a 7 wt or even an 8 wt due to it being 2 pc. Actually I'd like to see a picture of the rod if you could. I don't think I've ever seen a 9' 2 pc Monty.

Montague built most of their top end rods in three different actions that they called "light trout", "medium trout", and "bass action."

As a general rule for 9 footers, the light trout is 3/4 in silk and a 4/5 with plastic. The ferrule sizes are 10/64 and 16/64.

The medium trout fishes a 5/6 in silk and 6/7 in plastic. The ferrules are 11/64 and 17/64.

The bass action fishes a 7/8 in silk and 8/9 - at least. The ferrules are bigger than 11/64 and 17/64. I have two examples. One has 12-18. The other has 13-20. I have not tried a 10 wt line on it yet because I don't have any line that heavy. It handles the 9 effortlessly.

Note that I said that those three classifications apply to the high end models. I don't think the built three different actions for all 70+ models that they sold during the "labelled" (post 1928) era. I think most of the cheaper rods were built only in the 9 foot medium trout action.

If you can provide pics, I Might be able to help you with figuring out the model. The ferrule sizes will, at least, get you close to the correct line weight.

Edit: I just re-read your post and saw that you said 9 ft 2 piece. Wow. That's rare. Let me do some research and get back to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2016 09:10AM by Mark Redden.

Joe Barauskas Wrote:
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> Greetings all..I have just finished my 3rd
> spinning rod build and decided to take on a bamboo
> fly rod rehab/rebuild. It is a 9' 2 pc. Montague
> rod. Does anyone have any idea as to what weight
> this would translate into? I fish smallmouth on
> the Shenandoah and would like to use it there as
> well as for farm bond bass.

Joe:

I am not a Montague expert, but I am a fairly knowledgeable novice. I have never heard of a two piece, nine foot Montague FLY rod. I did a bit of quick research and have not come across any reference to one. I have alerted the guy generally considered the leading Montague expert of your find.

If truly 9-0, 2/1 or 2/2 this is a wonderful find. If you have stripped it, I hope you took some "before pics." If you haven't stripped it, PLEASE STOP. The rod could be of value to Montague collectors in it's original (even ratty) condition. Even the pictures of the original condition would be of great historical (not monetary) value to Montague lovers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2016 10:41AM by Mark Redden.

I'm just going to ask a few questions to maybe help with the 2 pc mystery. Is the rod 6 sided or is it round? How heavy is the rod? a rod that size should have some weight to it. It the rod is round then my guess is that it's early glass painted to look like bamboo. We all need to see pictures.

Okay...it is actuallt not 2 bu 3 pieces - thats what I get for relying on E Bay pictures! The written description said Montague, but there were no apparent Montague markings...there was the tail end of a decal that ended in "....OE" Googled that and came up with Old Joe.

We still want to see pictures.

Working on those pics - with work and coaching three days per week and matches on Saturdays time is crushed...

No rush. If you want to send the pictures direct to me also I'd be more than happy to look at it.

If you can send a LINK to the one you are looking at Then we can look also

Bill - willierods.com

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I guess links are not aloud to that place

Bill - willierods.com

Joe:

Cut and paste the Title Line listing here

We can then do an advanced search for sold items on that site and see the pics there.

or if you have the listing number.

It seems he is looking at this rod - but - has not yet bought it
He may be better to get a blank and then build a rod -- Hint Gary

Bill - willierods.com