info on vintage rod

[bootheeltechy]

Good grief! tried editing the pictures and wound up deleting my original post. I'm really wanting some info on this rod given to me by my father-in-law. It's two piece fiberglass, 8' long rod with the markings "Coast to Coast" "Total Hardware" with the numbers 640-4131-8' stamped underneath. Any info regarding manufacturer, approximate date of manufacture, or line weight would be great.




Snapbucket Photos by bootheeltechy | Photobucket

 

[random user]

pics aren't working

 

[bootheeltechy]

Hello everyone! My name is Eric and I've been lurking around the site as a guest for sometime and finally decided to join a few days ago.
I'm completely new to the fly fishing game and have this site to be a gold mine of information. I'm hoping that someone can help me out with some info on a rod my father-in -law gave me. Its an 8' two piece fiberglass rod, marked "Coast to Coast" Toal Hardware. Underneath that its labeled with the numbers 640-4131-8'.
Pics are below and if anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it.
http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...own-star-rod-picture4444-20130715-182436.html
http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...star-rod-picture4445-20130715-183256-hdr.html
http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...rown-star-rod-picture4446-20130715-182112.jpg

Sorry, i'm really new at all of this. Not sure what i've done wrong. I can click and see them. How do I post them so that they can be viewed without having to click on the link . They were uploaded out of my user cp and pictures-gallery feature on here.

 

[williamhj]

Many of us here use photobucket or a similar site. Photobucket has a 'direct link' for each picture and you click the picture button in the tool bar above the text box for the thread on the forum and paste the 'direct link' there.

Welcome by the way!

 

[bootheeltechy]

Ok, hopefully the photos work now using my photobucket. If not I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[williamhj]

I wonder if 'Coast to Coast' and 'Total Hardware' are a store that had its own name on a line of fly rods made by a major manufacturer? I googled Coast to Coast Total Hardware History and came up with links to Tru Value Hardware, looks like Coast to Coast is part of the companies history?

Does the text under the numbers say 'Brown Star'?

Hopefully someone with particular knowledge about this rod or line of rods will chime in with more info. Perhaps the numbers will yield info on line weight but I'm not sure how to interpret it. If you have fly reels around (or know someone who does) line it up and see what casts well.

 

[Hombre06]

Good grief! tried editing the pictures and wound up deleting my original post. I'm really wanting some info on this rod given to me by my father-in-law. It's two piece fiberglass, 8' long rod with the markings "Coast to Coast" "Total Hardware" with the numbers 640-4131-8' stamped underneath. Any info regarding manufacturer, approximate date of manufacture, or line weight would be great.
Snapbucket Photos by bootheeltechy | Photobucket

 

[itchmesir]

Imho I'd head over to the fiberglass fly rodders forum... They'll probably know more...

Like william said...it's likely a rod made and labeled for a retail store... This ain't necessarily a bad thing as sometimes these stores had their rods made by some well known rod makers of the time...

 

[Rip Tide]

I've never heard of Total Hardware but the reel seat and the plastic cap on the grip look much like a Garcia Conolon to me.
Garcia rated their rods by the number of stars too with the brown series being their 4 star (out of 5)
Are the 2 sections the same length, or is the tip longer than the butt ?

 

[dean_mt]

No idea on the rod manufacturer, but Coast to Coast used to be a hardware store chain, like True Value or ACE is now, hence the "Total Hardware" stamped onto the rod. I imagine this would be like a "Sears" rod, manufactured for the store.

 

[biggie_robs]

I've never heard of Total Hardware but the reel seat and the plastic cap on the grip look much like a Garcia Conolon to me.
Garcia rated their rods by the number of stars too with the brown series being their 4 star (out of 5)
Are the 2 sections the same length, or is the tip longer than the butt ?

To follow up on Rip Tide, how many guides does it have?

 

[bootheeltechy]

I wonder if 'Coast to Coast' and 'Total Hardware' are a store that had its own name on a line of fly rods made by a major manufacturer? I googled Coast to Coast Total Hardware History and came up with links to Tru Value Hardware, looks like Coast to Coast is part of the companies history?

Does the text under the numbers say 'Brown Star'?

Hopefully someone with particular knowledge about this rod or line of rods will chime in with more info. Perhaps the numbers will yield info on line weight but I'm not sure how to interpret it. If you have fly reels around (or know someone who does) line it up and see what casts well.

Thanks for the info williamhj.

Yes, directly below the numbers in parentheses is says "Brown Star"

The only line that I have available to me at this time is a SA WF5 labeled as Air Cell I believe. This line doesn't seem real compatible with the rod. Just seems to require too much work to get good casts.

 

[Rip Tide]

The only line that I have available to me at this time is a SA WF5 labeled as Air Cell I believe. This line doesn't seem real compatible with the rod. Just seems to require too much work to get good casts.

I have 2 of the brown Garcia rods that I suspect that yours actually is.
My 6 1/2 foot rod is a 6wt and the 8 1/2 foot is a 9/10
Vintage fiberglass rods that cast line lighter than 6wts are rare

 

[bootheeltechy]

I want to thank everyone for the info. Especially Innes for making my pics viewable to everyone.

I'll post section lengths and eye count in a little bit when I get back home.

---------- Post added at 06:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

I have 2 of the brown Garcia rods that I suspect that yours actually is.
My 6 1/2 foot rod is a 6wt and the 8 1/2 foot is a 9/10
Vintage fiberglass rods that cast line lighter than 6wts are rare

Ty riptide! Do you have any idea when a rod like this would have been produced? In the 60's or 70's?

I really like how the rod feels. It seems to just want to "cast" for a lack of better words. Would really like it to shine with a good 7 wt line. I'm wanting to target some local smallmouths.

 

[Rip Tide]

Ty riptide! Do you have any idea when a rod like this would have been produced? In the 60's or 70's?

I really like how the rod feels. It seems to just want to "cast" for a lack of better words. Would really like it to shine with a good 7 wt line. I'm wanting to target some local smallmouths.

If it's what I think it is, it's pre-1964.
I think that you can count on it being a 7wt.

 

[bootheeltechy]

Ok riptide, went home and took the rod apart. It appears that the tip section is just slightly longer than the butt section. By slightly I mean just an inch or so.

Biggie robs it has 6 guides including the tip.

 

[Rip Tide]

5 guides plus the tip top isn't good. Should have 7-8.
Don't count on it being a good casting rod.


You could always rebuild it

 

[biggie_robs]

5 guides plus the tip top isn't good. Should have 7-8.
Don't count on it being a good casting rod.


You could always rebuild it

Yeah, I was hopeful it would have more guides. I learned to "cast"* on a 6/7 wt Garcia Conolon with five guides--not a pretty sight. I'm slowly rebuilding mine now.

*more like flail

 

[bootheeltechy]

5 guides plus the tip top isn't good. Should have 7-8.
Don't count on it being a good casting rod.


You could always rebuild it

So do you still believe this rod to be a garcia?

 

[tbum2020]

The rod was made for "Coast to Coast Hardware", the fly rod was manufactured by Berkley and is a true temper blank which was branded by Berkley. When trying to find the history of these "multi-branded" vintage rods is to completely look past the writing or label on the rod and break it down by construction. The ferrule type/artistic design and the natural glass finish are a few properties unique to this rod.