Hi to all and thanks for reading and hopefully affording me with a little background. A very good (and obviously very generous) saltwater fishing friend just gave me a Kencor PAC 73 (7ft, 2-8lb) in pristine condition after only being fished once. I cannot wait to fish it in the Sierra as it appears to be a perfect match to my trout rod desires. In my limited rod building experience, I have already heard many anglers and tackle store employees / owners praise Kencor rods and blanks. I am having difficulty locating / obtaining information on these beautiful old FG rods and would appreciate any help from those of you in the know and willing to share. I am more concerned with information on the company and their products rather than the value, as I seriously doubt I ever would sell the rod since I have become so intrigued, fascinated and appreciative of the old vintage FG rods along with their history. But I will graciously accept appraisals as well simply because I really do not know. Wa-Cha-Got?

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Kencor is no longer in business. It was a company that was based in Gardena California. The owners name was Kenny. Sorry, I only met him a few times long ago and do not remember his last name. He was importing his blanks from Japan and built the rods in his small shop on Rosecrans Avenue in Gardena. The fresh water rods were golden yellow in color. They also had a blank called the zebra stick which had a zebra like black stripe spiraling up the blank. Not sure that it would ever be considered a collector's item though. I think that they were mostly sold in Southern California area. I still have a few saltwater surf rods in the 12 ft length but do not use them any longer.

Kencor was started in 1975 by Kenny Kawakami who died in 2006. I have seen a few Kencor rods and I remembered them as being bright orange although they made other models which where different colors such as the zebra model mentioned above. From what I remembered Kencor imported a special type of Fiberglass from Japan that was advertised as being superior to other types of fiberglass that where in use back then. Because of this their rods where more expensive than many other brands. I do think that Kencor rods had a loyal following so there may be some collector interest in them.
Norm

Mel and Norman,
Thank you for taking the time to respond. The additional information both of you have afforded me is appreciated very much. The blank is, indeed, a rather bright orange or possibly golden yellow with extremely simple (yet perfect) guide wraps along with exceptionally nice quality cork grips on either side of, what appears to be, a Fuji composite reel seat, but with no name. While the action of the rod is typical of an old FG unit, as in generally more “full-flexing”, the tip is sooooo light, it acts as if it is 2Xextra fast rod. A 2lb trout may tie this thing in a knot. I love that!!!
The special FG Norman referred to is probably “S” glass rather than the typical, less expensive “E” glass. The era is right, as S-glass was introduced in the early-mid 1970s in an attempt to go head-to-head with the new wonder fabric, Carbon fiber. I have difficulty considering the Japanese to be ahead of the U.S. in developing S-glass at the time, but who knows? While S-glass is considerably stiffer yet lighter than standard E-glass, it still pales in comparison to CF in most respects except two; overall toughness and that awesome vintage feel.
As a side note, I was born, raised and still live less than 30 minutes from Gardena, CA, so these Kencor rods / blanks may have a special interest to me. Mel, I would entertain the thought of adding a saltwater Kencor as a stable-mate to my newly acquired freshwater Kencor.
Thanks again, Mel and Norman. Hopefully others can / will add to your gracious information.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

An additional side note; if I am not mistaking, didn’t both Conolon and Roddy Built Rods hang-up their shingles in Gardena, CA at one time or another? It makes sense as SoCal was a Mecca for aerospace technologies and industries back then.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

The Kencor rods were labeled with a decal that said Tenu Magnaglass. I don't believe it had anything to do with the S-Glass of the day. However,I could be wrong. They seemed to have a great deal of flexibility compared to other S-Class rods of the same time frame.
Occasionally discussions pop up on bloodydeckoutdoors.com around the Kencors.

Mark Talmo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mel and Norman,
> Thank you for taking the time to respond. The
> additional information both of you have afforded
> me is appreciated very much. The blank is, indeed,
> a rather bright orange or possibly golden yellow
> with extremely simple (yet perfect) guide wraps
> along with exceptionally nice quality cork grips
> on either side of, what appears to be, a Fuji
> composite reel seat, but with no name. While the
> action of the rod is typical of an old FG unit, as
> in generally more “full-flexing”, the tip is
> sooooo light, it acts as if it is 2Xextra fast
> rod. A 2lb trout may tie this thing in a knot. I
> love that!!!
> The special FG Norman referred to is probably
> “S” glass rather than the typical, less
> expensive “E” glass. The era is right, as
> S-glass was introduced in the early-mid 1970s in
> an attempt to go head-to-head with the new wonder
> fabric, Carbon fiber. I have difficulty
> considering the Japanese to be ahead of the U.S.
> in developing S-glass at the time, but who knows?
> While S-glass is considerably stiffer yet lighter
> than standard E-glass, it still pales in
> comparison to CF in most respects except two;
> overall toughness and that awesome vintage feel.
> As a side note, I was born, raised and still live
> less than 30 minutes from Gardena, CA, so these
> Kencor rods / blanks may have a special interest
> to me. Mel, I would entertain the thought of
> adding a saltwater Kencor as a stable-mate to my
> newly acquired freshwater Kencor.
> Thanks again, Mel and Norman. Hopefully others can
> / will add to your gracious information.

Hi Mark. I also grew up on the West Side of Los Angeles and frequented the Gardena area especially at the old tackle shops such as Yo's Custom Rods and Arts Fishing Tackle both of which are no longer in business. I was not a big fan of Kencor but I still have a couple of surf rods that I got from Kenny.

Chuck,
Thank you also for responding. You are obviously well informed or at least familiar with the Kencor rods and are correct concerning the label except it is actually “ Tenlew Magnaglas” rather than “Tenu Magnaglass”. Please do not be offended with the correction as it is simply intended for your information. I am certainly no expert concerning which type of FG Kencor rods used, only speculating it may be S-glass due to the similar time frame of the introduction of S-glass / manufacturer of Kencor rods / blanks and the action, feel and lightness of the rods as compared to others such as Conolon. The color of the Kencor is a bit bold for my liking, and the COF guide sizing and spacing may be outdated, but it is still a beautifully pristine example of a quality rod of that era. I certainly will not change a thing!
Mel, if you ever get tired of owning your saltwater Kencors, I would be a gratefully respective recipient and would entertain the possibility of purchasing one from you.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

By the way, for your information and possible bore many of you further, the rod also has a decal near the butt guide “Gig’s (or is it Jig’s) Finger Rod”.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

The rod I tried while stationed in So Cal back in the 80's was a nice stick, back than the Kern River still had Golden trout in it's upper reaches, a picture of a friend holding one shows the rods label, it looks like it says ES PAC 73. The only catalog info I still have is on the Zebra saltwater blanks.
I still fish the Fenwick glass trout rods I've had since my teens, and I rebuilt one of my grandpa's Sabre bass rods and use it all the time. Glass still has it's place.

Mark, I took no offense to the correction.
Back in the early days of tube jigs,there were several styles of jig heads used with tube jigs,in addition to the standard style jig heads. Of the tube style heads,one was a simple round core with the eye of the hook at one end of the head. The other Style had the eye of the hook in the middle of the round lead core. The former was used for a more traditional jigging action. The latter was used to give that jig a spiraling helicopter action where it would rotate on the downward fall prompting a strike.
Finger jigging was a matter of casting out and when retrieving the jig, the index finger on the hand holding the rod was extended so as the bail on the spinning reel turned,the line would strike the finger giving the jig a little hop or twitch. If my memory serves me correct, a clear casting bubble was often used to suspend the jig at a fixed depth. Again, to the best of my recollection, this technique started in some of the stocked lakes in Orange County and LA. Those being stocked with larger rainbows.