What Penn Reel to Pair with Vintage Bamboo Rods?

[Fen]

"New Jersey Bank Rod" tells you everything you need to know about an appropriate reel.  A 1/0 would look good on it, but I wouldn't fish with them. 

Split bamboo dries out and gets brittle with age.  Keeping the wood oiled will help prevent further degradation but will not bring it back to new condition.

Thank you for the tips! Is " New Jersey Bank Rod" a website?

[JasonGotaProblem]

You went down an interesting road with this. In theory you're not far off. The reality is in fighting from shore your rod is rarely 90° away from the fish and if it is, you're probably cranking hard. Usually it's pointed more at the fish though there's obviously some pumping while you're reeling.

Bottom fishing from a boat your rod stays probably level with the water a lot so 90° is the starting angle, before you start pumping and reeling. So the angles involved are quite different. Not many worry about whether a surf rod will see line rubbing the blank in a bend because they don't usually see a deep bend. Not the same for boat rods.

[Fen]

Split bamboo dries out and gets brittle with age.  Keeping the wood oiled will help prevent further degradation but will not bring it back to new condition.

oc1, thank you for the advice but I think I will hold off on oiling the rods since they look to have a lacquer finish on them that is in excellent condition; possibly because they were stored in a sock in a wooden box that was nailed closed.

[Fen]

I think maybe this dead horse has been flogged enough.  Again, thanks for everyone's input. I certainly have a greater appreciation for these bamboo rods.

I do have one lingering question though:

Does anyone have any idea what the reasoning was for building a rod with just a tip top and ONE line guide near the tip?




Take care,
Fen



One of my son's photos:

[jgp12000]

How much did that guy weigh Fen ? I have to ask what lure that is,looks like a huge plastic worm?

[Fen]

jpg12000, I am not sure, we did not weigh it.  It was my first striper. I would guess it was between 25 and 30 lbs. I was fishing with my son in the stretch of water between Woods Hole and Martha's Vineyard. I will ask my son about the lure.  He does some work for Hogy lures so I suspect it was one of theirs.  I will get back to you😊.

[Fen]

Don, it is an Amber Hogy Original, 10".

[oldmanjoe]

https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=15315.0


https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=14650.0

[Fen]

https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=15315.0


https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=14650.0

Thank you! I followed both links and left a brief inquiry at the second thread on vintage big game rods regarding the unusual placement of the line guides.  The thread has not been active for a while but hopefully it will catch someone's eye😊.

Thanks again,
Fen

[oldmanjoe]

 Supposedly when lining line was wet and went through algite guides , there was a water fall  at each guide .  This make sense with the longer sticks used for surf casting to reduce guides  for a further cast .    The 5 foot trollers did make sense ,only that it made it easy to flip the stick over during the days fights to avoid bend set .

[Fen]

Supposedly when lining line was wet and went through algite guides , there was a water fall  at each guide .  This make sense with the longer sticks used for surf casting to reduce guides  for a further cast .    The 5 foot trollers did make sense ,only that it made it easy to flip the stick over during the days fights to avoid bend set .

Makes sense. Thanks!

[Fen]

Hello All,

I'm just giving you guys a little feedback. 

After about a half dozen or so suggestions from all of you I decided to go with a pair of old Penn 4/0 Senator reels with post frames that I found on-line that look to be in like-new condition. They are not as old as the rods but I don't think they will look out of place: 






Also decided to not use the rods and put them on display in my shop. 

I thought I would put some old linen line on them if I can find some. 

Thanks to everyone for your input!

Fen

[Fen]

Just a little more feedback and a request.

The first Penn 4/0, post-frame reel arrived from England today.  Looks to be unused like the rods.  I think it has all come together pretty well:








Cleaned up and re-glued the tip-tops:





The metal I believe is an alloy called nickel-silver or "German Silver".  Very nicely made, I think.

Now the request: I would like to put some linen line on them, anyone know of a good source?

Thanks again everyone for your input!

Fen

[Gfish]

I like it. The reel goes well with the rod, both are in great looking shape.

[Fen]

Thanks Gfish, I am happy with the 113's; I was lucky to find a couple in very good condition.  My next quest for this project is to find some linen line for the reels. 

Fen