Re-Collecting my Grandfather's Bass Rod

[Paul Roberts]

Since I started re-collecting some of my grandfather's old tackle —most of the originals having long since been lost— I've kept my eyes open for an old translucent solid glass casting rod like my grandfather's "bass rod". But I haven't been willing to go too far out of my way to acquire one, most of them being so heavy and clubby. As much as I'd like to re-collect my grandfather's bass rod, I will want to fish it. Which means the rod has to hold up its end of that challenge. And, let's face it, early glass rods often leave a lot to be desired in terms of fishability. I haven't been willing to purchase one, sight-unseen, online. But they do show up in antique and thrift stores here and there, appropriately bargain priced, and I will give them a good shake to see if they might be fishable. No bites so far, until just a couple of days ago!

I was in a thrift store and found, buried in a corner, a box with old, mostly damaged, glass rods sticking out of it. There were four translucent solid casting rods. Three were heavy clubs, but one had a nice, surprisingly crisp, Mod taper. "I'll be darned...", I said out loud. "This one's... fishable!" And I took it home for 75cents. It was rough, the guides corroded, one missing, the tip-top bent, and the handle simply needed restoration.

Back home, I found I already had a replacement handle —another thrift store find I'd squirreled away. It was a nice looking handle with a quality screw-lock type reel seat, but was missing the collet and chuck. My thinking was that I might be able to creatively fit a blade to it somehow. Turned out, I wouldn't have to. It was the same handle the new old rod I'd just brought home had. Both were Actionrod's (of Hastings, Michigan) and I was able to swap the collet and chuck to the nicer handle. And that translucent glass blade fit perfectly.

The rod is likely from the mid-50's. The chuck shape agrees with those I found in a 1954 Actionrod advertisement, and different from the 1952 models. The nicely tapered 5ft glass blade is labeled "Actionglas". From what I could gather, most pre-1950 casting rods were steel or bamboo. By 1954, the ad's suggest that both solid and tubular Actionglas blades were available. Mine is solid glass, although it's fairly light in weight compared to many others I've handled, the blade weighing in at 2.5oz.. The power feels to be a L to ML (6-10lb) with a Moderate taper or "action".

"Restoration", or more accurately "refurbishment" to fishable condition, was to be minimal, keeping existing "patina", leaving existing "character" —marks, dings and scratches— intact. I left the cork as is. (I never have liked new cork and will even scrub mud on to a new cork grip to knock that shiny smile down!)

The original handle had been a burgundy red with a dark navy blue chuck —fitting for the time period, being the color of the Navy's top late WWII fighters: the Corsair, Hellcat, and Bearcat. This matched the rod blade's burgundy wraps with painted navy blue trim ring. The replacement handle is unpainted aluminum, nicely tarnished a gunmetal color. I chipped and sanded off the remaining blue enamel from the donor chuck to match the rest of the new handle. The white butt cap, now aged off-white, was scrubbed clean. The fiberglass blade was scrubbed and lightly steel-wooled.

The boat-rod style guides needed replacement, or work, and I decided to see if I could refurbish them. The missing guide I found I had in my rod-building parts stash. The rest of the guides (all two of them) I decided I could save by polishing the rings with a dremel at high speed, leaving the frames with their existing beauty marks (corrosion). The tip-top I bent back to shape and buffed the ring.

For wraps I went with a pale gold-olive, simple, unadorned —a nod to what I remember my grandfather's "bass rod" had. This rod was a workhorse bass rod, costing about $10 in its day (about $90 today). The only fancy thing I may do for it is to adorn it with a nice Pflueger Summit with off-white handle grips (appropriately period). My grandfather had used a Bronson Mercury on his bass rod, and I found that any nickel or chrome reel looks good with that aluminum handle. My Coxe 10C looks pretty nifty on it. And a Marhoff looks good on it too. Still deciding on painting the chuck, possibly black to complement a Langley StreamLite or Coxe 25, or go with a metallic gold-green like the wraps. Hmmmm... lotsa cool options.

When the epoxy dried on the guide wraps I walked it down to the pond (with a Pflueger Nobby affixed), in 30F weather, and pitched a jerkbait around some, on 20lb PE braid. It cast the 5/16oz plug easily as I expected it would. The tip is, unsurprisingly, a bit soft/rubbery. This made detection a bit "flaky". Yeah, I'm a rod snob, long spoiled by graphite. I'm an angler first, and nostalgist, further down the line. That said, I plan to make good use of this nifty little rod in some form or another. Perhaps it'll be a light topwater, crankbait, and open hook soft plastics rod for largemouths in the ponds and smallmouths on the creek. I do have a few of my grandfather's old late 40's bass plugs too. Very much looking forward to it.

Top photo is of my grandparents in their boat on Black Lake in northern New York in the 1940's.

[Reeltyme]

Paul, Thanks so much for the story. I was smiling throughout the whole thing. Very enjoyable. The picture of your grandparents on Black lake is fantastic! What a beautiful memory to have. By the way, I have fished Black lake several times in the past, great fishing still.
Randy
Reeltyme

[JasonGotaProblem]

Very nice I wanna see what these guides look like finished

[Paul Roberts]

Hey, Randy. Thanks. I'd fished Black Lake a couple of times myself, 3 decades after my grandfather had passed. It was still a great bass lake, and probably still is. We also had some large channel cats hit crankbaits while bass fishing; A surprise getting walloped and then have line peeling off your bass reel!

Jason, LOL, those are finished!   All I did was polish the inside of the rings to minimize the braid fraying. I left the frames with their "existing beauty marks".

[JasonGotaProblem]

Nothing wrong with maintaining the rusted rustic look. It's an interesting aesthetic. I guess to be more clear I'm curious how those look after being wrapped back onto the rod. I wanna see the end result.

[Paul Roberts]

Here 'tis. Yes, This flavor of aesthetic comes along with...cataracts; When corrosion becomes "patina". Heck, once upon a time I wouldn't have even messed with a solid glass -or any glass- rod. But we do tend to soften as our hair whitens.

[steelfish]

nice rod and excellent story

[Midway Tommy]

I've got a couple of those things standing in the corner. One is a 4'6 Rava Glass casting rod. It was my Gpa's and has a Shake 1924 Direct drive mounted on it. The other one is a 6'0 early St. Croix spinning rod with a Tennessee slip ring type handle.

I used them when I was a kid so the nostalgia is there but my memory tells me they weren't that great, so I have no desire to break them out again. 

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks, steelfish.

I hear you, Tom. More brain cells may have to die before you get the nostalgia bug I suppose. I don't have any of my old glass rods, although I remember each of them well. Jettisoned them in 1981, after I bought my first good graphite, a Skyline spinner, that is still a GoTo for me today. 

[Midway Tommy]

Thanks, steelfish.

I hear you, Tom. More brain cells may have to die before you get the nostalgia bug I suppose. I don't have any of my old glass rods, although I remember each of them well. Jettisoned them in 1981, after I bought my first good graphite, a Skyline spinner, that is still a GoTo for me today. 

Yeah, my main rod for years was a 6'6" Heddon Lifetime Pal w/ burnt cork handle & SS wire wraps. It was like new and I gave that thing away to my once best friend when I went to graphite. That friendship ended up going by the wayside and I sure wish I had that Lifetime Pal back now.        

[Paul Roberts]

That hurts. Bitter irony there too: "Lifetime Pal". Prob best to just take solace in the spirit of the time.

[Reeltyme]

By the way Paul, here in Crystal River I have been corrected that it's not grey it's Crystal River blonde. I have salt and pepper brown and "blonde"!

[Paul Roberts]

Ah yes, our descriptors all age beautifully don't they. Except maybe the fishing rods we end up with?