Norman may be correct about those being Fuji guides but only if the rod was made before 1981. Looking at the finish on the wraps I believe that the Fenwick rod is newer than that . That wold mean that the guides are STG model PacBay guides with welded frames and black shock rings. STG guides are still a catalog item and can be purchased through your favorite PacBay dealer. If the rod has a ser
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The fishing tackle business world will not be the same without Dick Posey. I had the pleasure of knowing Dick for 44 years and during that time I was a consumer, customer, competitor, coworker and finally a vendor of Dick’s. He was always one of the most considerate, kindest, most thoughtful and honorable men that I’ve had dealings with in the fishing rod business. Dick never failed to spend time
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The plasticc(nylon) Fenwick Lunkerstik handle were molded by a southern California plastic injection molder using Fenwick's own molds. Lunkerstik handles were designed in-house at Fenwick by David Myers with input from Hank Parker and other Pro Bass fisherman. These handles did not use ferrules like most of the Fuji models. The butt of the CA & GCA series blanks were ground to the specific O.
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If you're hunting for the screw locking device for a molded Fenwick LunkerStik pistol grip style handle the part is called a skip and screw assembly. You will have to locate an identical Fenwick molded handle. The skip and Screw assemblies were never sold separately although Fenwick did provide them for repairs to some larger dealers. The Lunkerstik pistolgrip handle was molded for Fenwick in So
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PacBay has 3000 yard spools of metallic thread in sizes A & D in 12 different colors. They are listed in our catalog and available through any of our dealers. Most dealers don't stock the large spools but they can all order them for you.
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The Aetna Products & Manufacturing Co. of Burbank, Calif. manufactured the Foulproof guides for many years starting back in the 1940's. The company held at least two U.S. patents on fishing rod guides from 1949 and 1956. I believe that Gudebrod distributed the Foulproof for Aetna from the mid 1960's until the Aetna Company ceased operations sometime in the late 1970's. Fenwick stopped using
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Travis , I would recommend that you not build that Fenwick Mooching blank into a Spey rod. When Jim Green, Tim Grennan or Vic Cutter designed the Mooching blanks we did not design them for the stresses and strains of Spey casting nor were they designed to be used as any kind of fly rod. My experience tells me you would not be very happy with the performance of a mooching blank built into a Spey r
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The original Fenwick Trolling butts were turned Hickory with Varmac Chrome Brass reel seats in the 1960's. By the 1970's Fenwick had changed to a stainless cored molded plastic covered butt with Varmac reel seat and then to a swagged stainless steel butt with Varmac r/s. These swagged SS butt were discontinued in the early 1980's in favor of the AFTCO butt with Varmac r/s. When AFTCO introduced t
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Hi Jason, I also am a big fan of the Fenwick FS 55 having bought my first one in 1965. I've fished with it in more than 25 states and caught some impressive fish on it. When I wore out the guides I replaced the Aetna Foulproofs with more Aetna Foolproofs because the alternative at the time was ceramic ring guides and they were just too heavy for this rods action. I can't emphasize enough that
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Robert, The Fenwick FL108-9 blank that you mentioned was an E-Glass Fiberglass fly rod blank that was offered by Fenwick until they discontinued selling blanks in 1985. If it is is a two piece blank then the proper model number is FL108-9F. The added F stands for ferruled. At various times in it's product life cycle it was offered in both Fenwick yellow and Fenwick Brown. I suspect that in t
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The question of Fenwick Blank availability has popped up several times recently and I feel the need to lend a little historical perspective to this question. I think that I'm eminently qualified to offer this info because I worked as a Manager at Fenwick from 1980 until 2000. Terry is correct in that the only true Fenwick Rod blanks that would be available for purchase today were made and sold b
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Tom, The guides that you pictured in the photos is a knockoff of a Minima in a TV frame. To my knowledge the maker of this imitation guide has never offered any guides for sale in the USA or Europe. As far as a replacement guide goes your best bet would be a Black Framed Hard Chrome Ringed Minima Guide. The PacBay Minima part number would be BTV3XG25 for a size 25 ring. They can be ordered
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Hi Gabriel, I think you have to consider 2 things, fishing method and rod length . I believe that pistol grip rods fell out of favor with many fisherman because of weight/balance issues and the change in fishing techniques/methods. When I was a salesman at Bullard International in the 1970's we sold tens of thousands of Fuji, Fenwick and Featherweight pistolgrip handles. None of these pistolgr
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Mike, We did not get your emails. We've checked our spam filters and there's no record of them being caught. Please resend them to my email address. vcutter@fishpacbay.com
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Bill, I think I was able to answer all you questions during our phone conversation last night? If not please let me know and I'll do my best to get them answered. You can contact me at PacBay via email address info@fishpacbay.com. Vic
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Hi Mike, We have not received an email from you and I'd like to discuss the problem you've experienced with our rod finish. Please email me your phone number to info@fishpacbay.com . Vic Cutter
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I've fished 2# and 4# mono on Minima guides for 12 years now and not had any problems with line wear. While I was with Pure Fishing we used Minima guides on thousands of Fenwick Ultra Light rods that were rated 2-6 Lb. Test . We never had any comments from fisherman about increased line wear.
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Seeker never made Blanks or rods for Fenwick. The only connection between the two companies was the fact that Wade Cunningham, the founder of Seeker, worked for Fenwick in the late 70's. The Crankshaft blank design was the brainchild of Jim Green/Tim Grennan. You'd been very lucky to find a true crankshaft blank because it been over 20 years since any were made. Vic
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I know of no way that a custom rod builder can determine the long term durability of EVA or similar materials. Reputable vendors test their EVA in environmental chambers to determine how exposure to heat, UV, Salt water will affect the material. There have been so many manufacturers of EVA grip material in the last 30 years and EVA is made in so many different Durometers (softer/harder), that
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Tom Good job! I think everyone will not only enjoy Gene's perspective but will gain not only lots of information about the past but a continuing creative and entrepreneurial spirit. You've pulled off quite a coup, considering everyone thought Gene Bullard had moved on to greener pastures. Vic Cutter
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