Has anyone seen one of these before?

[conchydong]

I found this searching for Fenwick surf rods. A 9'er rated for 40-60lb class line. Interesting tip on it also. Too bad it is a local pick up only sale as it might make an interesting heavy snapper grouper rod for party boat fishing with a little tweaking and if the action is suitable for bottom fishing. Not sure what the action and taper is as I have not seen one before.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-FENWICK-SURF-CASTING-ROD-FENWICK-9-FOOT-ROD-SURF-LAKE-RIVER-552-/272061318803?hash=item3f581e4693:g:rvgAAOSwHmhV8brd

[thorhammer]

Never seen a tip like that; I think maybe Sal or Randy might be able to weigh in. Cool rod.

[whalebreath]

Older Sturgeon & Halibut rods from the 50's & 60's sometime had those tips I used to see one occasionally in second hand stores in/around Vancouver in the 70's & 80's.

[Ron Jones]

My grandfather had severl roller rods with those tips in the 70s. He didn't have custom rods made so they must have been a regular Fenwick catalog item.

As an aside, I learned to cast with a Fenwick that looked similar to that and am looking for one or more. I know Sal and others have them, the brown ones with the open diamonds. It is all the old man fished with. Unfortunately a less desirable side of my family has disposed of all of his before I could get to any. I'm wondering if there is a name associated with that line of rods? If you search "Fenwick" on the auction sights you get thousands of responses and I'd like to narrow the field. I'd love to take a 7 footer mated to the TANK on deployment.

Thanks
Ron

[Alto Mare]

I haven't seen one of those, but it sure looks cool.
Too bad he has it as pick up only.

Sal

[Classic Mako]

Very common rod tip used in the 50's  60's  and into the late 70's for salmon trolling in the Puget Sound area, Straits of Juan de Fuca and into western Canada.  The reel is on the bottom of the rod, rod is fished with the guides down, hence the need for the strange roller tip.   

It was a strange way of fishing to those not used  to the system:    Big rotating "flasher", trailed by a "Hoochie", a three way swivel 6 or more feet above the flasher, and a 2 to 4 pound weight hanging from the three way.

And the main line???    Single strand Monel wire, later changing to braided stainless 100 lb.

The reason for all this was to be able to put that flasher/hoochie combo way down in the deep water we fish for Chinook.

Most common reel was a 3178 or 3180 Pflueger Pakron.  Canadians across the way used the wood Peetz reels.

And the most important part of the "gear" was a sturdy rod holder allowing the rod to be held horizontal while under way trolling.

I have several of the rigs in my collection, I will try to take a few photos of a setup ready to fish.

Below is a roller tip rod used in a different way, fished as shown with the reel on the "wrong" side of the rod.   This one is strung with dacron.   The big plug is a 7 inch Tomic, a common salmon plug up here in the Pacific NW.  The rod is fairly stiff, a requirement for the heavy flasher drag and the big weight.

Back to that roller tip, the way it is made is required to run the line on the "bottom" of the rod.



Note the mistake in threading the line in the below photo.   It should go through the bottom tube instead of around it.   This is the way it was rigged when I found the combo in a local antique shop :   Interesting history, I actually saw this rod in 1977 hanging in the engine room of a big wood hull tug boat that was used to pull log booms in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.   The tug crew put the rod in a holder and trolled the plug when pulling a boom, speed was about 2 to 3 knots.





Typical flasher and hoochie setup using a plastic flasher.   Flasher is 11 inches long.   Back in the old days the flashers were made of chrome plated spring brass.



I will post more later after I take a few photos.

Where I fish, Straits of Juan de Fuca.    Vancouver Island, B.C. in the background.    600 feet deep out in the middle!!

[Classic Mako]

I found this searching for Fenwick surf rods. A 9'er rated for 40-60lb class line. Interesting tip on it also. Too bad it is a local pick up only sale as it might make an interesting heavy snapper grouper rod for party boat fishing with a little tweaking and if the action is suitable for bottom fishing. Not sure what the action and taper is as I have not seen one before.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-FENWICK-SURF-CASTING-ROD-FENWICK-9-FOOT-ROD-SURF-LAKE-RIVER-552-/272061318803?hash=item3f581e4693:g:rvgAAOSwHmhV8brd

On this Fenwick, it appears to have carbide guides.    So my guess it is is a wire line rod that was used in maybe Lake Michigan for deep trolling for Salmon.