With all the fantastic advances in fishing tackle technology in recent years, is it really worth buying a fishing rod from a bygone era? This problem has perplexed many avid fishermen, especially those with a fondness for fly fishing or spinning. Is it really worth all the effort of trying to find and buy a rod that is decades old?

Your preferred fishing discipline is an important factor in answering this question. There is no doubt that cf (carbon fiber) has revolutionized the fishing rod industry, and is much, much better than fiberglass. So buying an old fiberglass rod would be a waste of money. Another factor to consider is that an antique rod may not have been treated with enough care and been damaged to an unrepairable state. Such a rod would be a waste of money as it would be unusable for catching fish.

Split cane fishing rods and other poles created from bamboo, on the other hand, are a different kettle of fish. The view that a well-built vintage bamboo fishing rod is better than even the best of the current crop of cf rods is widely held by anglers, especially those who like fly fishing and spinning. They often point out that bamboo poles can cast better due to their action and flexibility. Additionally, instead of being just another item of tackle, a cane fishing rod is a beautifully crafted piece of equipment that can also double as home decor.

Are They Usable For Catching Fish?

So it seems that if you are into fly fishing or spinning, especially in estuaries, rivers, lakes, ponds and streams, or even from coastal shorelines, a quality vintage split cane fishing rod could be a worthwhile investment. Of course, the same rule applies: a damaged rod is no good for fishing. Therefore you must check the bamboo sections carefully. Check the entire rod closely for any sign that the cane has been compromised in any way, such as by holes, cracks or deep dings. If the bamboo is sound, and the price is right, the rod could well be worth purchasing. Remember that the cane (and cork) is the most important part of an antique rod, and that all of the other fittings can be replaced at a reasonable cost if they are not in good condition. If the vintage rod is in, or restored to, good original condition, then it should still be perfectly suited to catching the fish it was designed to catch even today, and even outperform current models.

One name widely associated with magnificently crafted rods is England’s Milwards. Vintage Milwards rods are sort after due to their exquisite craftsmanship, superb action and quality fittings. Standard Milwards fittings included brass ferrules, silver guides with agate rings, cork handles and silk threads. Tailored to suit a variety of specialized fishing scenarios, Milwards spinning and fly rods were successfully used by some of the best anglers of the time in competition. A good example was the Milwards Specialist Fly Rod, which had a lovely casting action and could handle a wide range of weights Milwards split cane fishing rods are highly valued but occasionally come on the market. One way of obtaining one is by enticing the owner to swap it to you in exchange for a vintage piece of fishing tackle of similar value.

In conclusion, while fiberglass rods have been surpassed by carbon fiber rods, bamboo rods are still very effective pieces of fishing gear that are unbeatable in their particular fishing niche. They also have considerable value as collector’s items and as pieces of art. The decision whether or not to go with a sound vintage fishing rod is not that difficult at all when it comes down to it!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at 6:05 am and is filed under fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Warning: file(http://www.factguide.info/cgi-bin/BBx2/feedsearch_ssi.cgi?cat=14&random=1&results=5) [function.file]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/fishing/public_html/wp-content/themes/AssociateSense/single.php on line 60

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/fishing/public_html/wp-content/themes/AssociateSense/single.php on line 61