Upgrade my bamboo?

[drift111]

I have an old, but not particularly valuable, J C Higgins 6’ 6” rod of my fathers that I am thinking about upgrading. Pretty sure it began life as a spin casting rod because that is the only type of tackle my Dad had and it has an 11” cork handle with two sliding metal rings and a metal butt. The guides are all heavy two foot guides and the finish on the guide wrappings is kind of granular.
I’m thinking of taking the guides and cork off and converting them to fly guides and reel base. The action is moderately fast. Should I go for it or just refurbish it as a nice old boo casting rod? Don’t want to insult my dear old Dad.

 

[joe_strummer]

This is doable but to do it in any way that might halfway work out as a usable fly rod, you gotta strip the varnish, re-wrap new guides, then re-varnish it, preferably by dipping rather than brushing. And who knows what the condition of the splines in the blank is. You may have separations you'll need to re-glue and/or overwrap.

Very likely to need to re-set the ferrules. If you're going to that trouble, might as well pin the ferrules too.

Hardware you'll need to acquire in appropriate sizes -- reel seat/spacer, grip, stripping guide, snake guides.

And you're not starting with a fly rod. I will say this about every cheap convertible spin/fly split cane rod I've ever seen: they make great tomato stakes. JC Higgins was Sears' sporting goods brand back in the day. This will not turn into a nice old boo rod without magic.

If you need a winter a project, you got one. If you want a usable bamboo fly rod, the vintage market is very soft right now. All the boomers are unloading their collections. Buy an 8' Granger Victory from one of them.

Edit: Or Phillipson. Those never had the cachet the Grangers acquired and they're out there for not much more than the cheap Chinese glass rods people are so geeked about these days.

 

[drift111]

Great info, just what I was looking for! Maybe I’ll just hang it on the wall and have a cold one to Dad! Thanks.

 

[Ard]

Have you put a reel and a 5 or 6 weight line on it yet to see how it acts casting a fly line?

If it works well enough you are on the right track. I have restored some old rods and would be happy to share tips on how I ended up with good finished work. If you go forward with it and have questions you can drop me a line through the message system.

 

[joe_strummer]

Great info, just what I was looking for! Maybe I’ll just hang it on the wall and have a cold one to Dad! Thanks.

That's what I would do if it were my old man's old rod.

You could leave it alone for the moment if there's sentimental value, and pick any old post-war bamboo hardware store rod - a Horrocks-Ibotson, a Montague, something unlabeled - for a few bucks and experiment with that first. Strip it down to just the blank and put it back together, see how it goes.

 

[drift111]

Yes, did put a fly reel on it, I believe it was a 4 wt, and it did cast all right. A bit stiff, but I landed a couple trout on a small Smokey Mt stream. Was a great feeling.

 

[drift111]

Right now I think I am leaning toward leaving it alone until I have a better understanding of what I might want the rod to be. I’m in the process of building a couple graphite rods for my boys so I’ll prolly wait until those projects are done and see how I feel. I just don’t want to end up putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[ggriffi]

Have you put a reel and a 5 or 6 weight line on it yet to see how it acts casting a fly line?

If it works well enough you are on the right track. I have restored some old rods and would be happy to share tips on how I ended up with good finished work. If you go forward with it and have questions you can drop me a line through the message system.

Ard,
I have my grandfathers Montague 9ft 3/2 that I am thinking about refurbishing, I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Yes, I know this thread is a couple of years old, but if my grandfather was here, he would say fix it and fish it! Other than one of tips has a set to it, the rest of the rod looks like it is pretty good shape. So any words/advice you have would be greatly appreciated. I have also looked at proof fly fishing's video about this and it hasn't dissuaded me yet. Not that I'm going to start tomorrow but I am looking for hints/tips on this but I want to get a good idea for what I need and how to go about it.

tia
g

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Tia,
I say redo the bamboo rod and make grandpa happy! Carefully and slowly heat the set over a hot stove element and bend it in the opposite direction. Do it several times instead of once.....but sometimes olds sets will come back. I put the guides on the bottom of the curve.
What kind of fishing are you planning on using this rod for? Lakes, big or small rivers? Just wondering because 9’ three piece bamboo rods are heavy to cast/fish with for long periods of time.....my .02 I prefer bamboo rods 7’6” and shorter, most of my fishing is in lakes.
I’ve redone 70+ blue collar bamboo rods so far and fish them 95% year round! Just another fishing tool but fun! Glad to help with any questions.
Steve

 

[ggriffi]

Steve,

Thanks for the info about the set. Not sure where I would fish it at just yet but I'm leaning towards using it for lake fishing. There is a nice conservation area not to far from me that has several lakes that I don't need a boat for and that seems like a good place to use it.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Cool! Is there decent backcasting room at these lakes? Your bamboo rod is probably fairly stiff....so it’s good for dry lines and wet lines. Soft slow whippy action bamboo prefer wet lines. I chironomid fish lakes, so casting an indicator, swivel and two flies and trying to set the hook when the bobber goes down on soft action rods results in a lot of bad words! I have three bamboo rods with me on my pram and pontoon boat. One indicator, one wet line and another dry line with emergers.
I’ve made several shorty rods with using either the mid/tip and also using part of the butt section. Now instead of ferrules I scarf joint/glue the sections to make one piece bamboo rods. Way lighter, no ferrules to loosen, guides to line up and the casting/bending is far superior! They actually feel comparable to fiberglass or graphite. Just a thought.....