I was given the rod by a family member and it needs some guide repair and ferrule repair. The rod cloth says Montgomery ward, sport king model 34 , 60-6655 lenght 9 foot. Is the rod worth repairing, except for guides and ferrule it looks good and has two tips. Tonka cane.
What weight is it ?
Any info is apprciated
Philip
Hey Geezer,
Is there any marking on the rod such as “HEH or E”? That is usually how the older rods were marked for line weight (old silk line). There are equivelant charts on the net that let you adjust from silk to plastic.
REE
Ree, on the rod but section it reads genuine tonkin cane then M/34, the middle section has no markings and the two tips are blank also.
It must be a real M. Ward special, but the rod would be special to me (great Uncle).
Philip
Well I know that if it were my great
Uncle’s rod that I would repair it and take that baby fishing . I can’t say for sure , but most of the 9 footers were made for a 6 or 7 weight line .
Life is like a fly swap…You never know what your going to get.
I agree 2 Bead, I will fish it. The guide tip is the bad one the others look ok, and the ferrules are loose.
Geezer
Geezer,
If you like the way the rod casts, you can get replacement ferrules, or even try squeezing the female ferrules with a ferrule pullers or similar tool.
I picked up a copy of “Handcrafting Bamboo Fly Rods” by Wayne Cattanach. It has a pretty good section on repairing and refinishing old boo rods.
Either way, if it’s a nice casting rod, it would be a shame not to repair it and fisih it.
REE
Howdy old geezer, somewhere in all the library is the reference to whom built Montgomery Wards fly rods, but it’s oblivious to me at this time. What you might want to consider is that Heddon made fly rods for Shakespeare, Weber, E K Tryon ( Jay Harvey & Kingfisher rods ) and Lyon & Coulson; so the rod you have might be well worth restoring. Ferrules will need to be repinned if they’re loose & guides will need to be replaced &/or rewrapped with the appropriate thread (s) & sealed. Tip tops are replaceable with the greatest ease. I’ll scan some info & send it.
Great info from all, the raps look great, could it be silk, they are so smooth. the end (tip) cam off, I have it.
If its a 6-7 wt I might rarely use it. I favor the lighter wt for the excuse the expression FRESH WATER.
Geezer
After searching thru some old catalogs, it seems alot of the bamboo rods sold by Montgomery Wards were made by Horrocks & Ibbotson; not Heddon, which also made rods for Sears. The only possibility of identifying the exact model of rod is by the color of the guide wraps, the reelseat composition ( solid colors were before the war & marbelized after ), the cork grip length & type & what the hardware is made from. The label also holds info to the rod, as rods from 1945 to 1950 had the words Genuine Tonkin Cane turquoised edged with black.
Does this help ??
Hey i just sold a rod butt and a few matching sections just like that one on the for sale board the other day…Had I known then, That it was a shakes…I’d have kept them…as I do not have any other shakes in my collection…Guess I really should have bought a copy of Sinclair’s book back when Cabela’s had em for 22 bucks…
You learn as you go!!!
Time to clear off your workbench in the garage and rebuild a fly rod.
God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
[This message has been edited by Wednesday Caster (edited 05 April 2006).]
Looks like black wraps with gold or yellow signature wraps, which from the 1930’s would make it an Oriskany model, as none of the H & I rods had black main wraps with gold / yellow trim in the 1940’s thru the '50’s; but since the reelseat looks marbelized, odds are it’s an after the war rod that may have been rewrapped. The NS RW shouldered ferrules with wraps up to the ferrules only in addition to the aluminum knurled locking nut on a gray marbelized tenite spacer with molded threads is more recognized as a 1951 rod. If the full wells grip is 6" long & made out of 1/2 " corks…we have dated the rod. H & I labels were a greenish color !
Dave, thank you so much for giving me a little history of the rod. I will do my best to finish it with the quality it deserves.
I hope to feel the energy of those before me and may be blessed with skills they transmit thru the rod.
I am grateful to all for your responces
The Geezer