Saw it and could not resist buying it. Wright-McGill President Series Penguin 88A-8 FT 2 piece Line 7. Jasper gold and black wraps. Rod is in very good condition. Can easily be fished as is. I really love these old fiberglass fly and spinning rods.
My question is what line weight to use? I am thinking a 5-7 wt. Oh yeah I did buy my license with trout stamp the other day.
Congratulations!
As far as line weight goes, you owe it to yourself to at least try it with a 7 weight line to experience what the designer had in mind when the rod was built. I personally love the slower rods of the past and always fish them with the stated line instead of fishing them in today’s context with a lighter line in an attempt to speed up the action. I also think too much emphasis is put on the “delicacy” of light lines. The old timers did just fine with 6 & 7 weights!
But of course it is your rod and I’m sure you will figure out what YOU like best.
Have fun with your new rod!
Thanks Bamboozle for responding. I prefer the slower action of these rods so I shall take your advice on the 7wt. That means I have to buy a new line. That means a trip to Bass Pro Shop. Isn’t that just awful?
NH
The beauty of slower rods is that it tends to push the caster towards a longer casting arc. This longer arc helps in targetting. Kinda like a longer sighting plane on a rifle is better for accuracy than the short sighting plane of a pistol. This is exactly why people using stiffer graphite rods will sometimes overline if they are using them predominately for short accurate casts on smaller streams. To lengthen the casting arc.
Seems a shame then, when you find a nice soft comfortable rod, to underline it to shorten the arc. Just go buy a stiff graphite rod if that’s what you are after.
If you want to get geeky, try measuring it with the Common Cents system (google same) and see where you are against other rods of the same rating. And add your data to the data bank over on Sexyloops.
Godspeed,
Bob
Hey Eric!
Post a picture I’d love to see it! Hope you catch lots of fish.
chris
Night:
If you have the time, give Bob Clouser a call and see if you could take a drive down to his shop before hitting BPS. I’d venture to guess he has a 7wt reel & line lying around you could try BEFORE committing to a purchase of a new line. His input on the rod would also be extremely worthwhile IMHO.
Thanks for the reponses! I like the slower action rods so I want to get the line it was designed for. Slower rods are easier to finess where as graphite soemtimes feels like you are just thrashing water. Guess that’s why I like the bamboo so much too.
Good idea about goign down to Clouser’s Fly Shop. I would rather buy off of him anyway. Did you know his son Bobby is the fishing department manager at Bass Pro Shop Harrisburg? Really nice folks those Clousers.
I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance. Too busy with work right now.