Old rods reborn..

Started by MauiWes, August 28, 2012, 02:49:33 PM

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MauiWes

Just got done re-wrapping my set of Fenwick 16810's. Man, if these poles could talk...
They've served me well over the past 20 years, so it was about time to pamper them a little. I recently bought a set of Shimano Tallus ULC13MH's, so these will probably only come out on special occasions.





Dominick

Wow!  Pretty cool.  I never saw guides like that.  They must be stainless.  Great idea whichever company puts them out.  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

MauiWes

Hi Dominick,

You're right, they are stainless. I think they originated on the Big Island (Hawaii island). We just call them Hilo guides. Made of SS spring steel. The need was for a guide that would 'give' while casting big knots through them. While slide baiting for ulua in rocky areas, a lot of us use the 'bullet-proof rig' below. #80 main line with a Bimini, then an Albright to 30' of #300 mono. Crank the knots into your reel, then cast the whole mess out. Works great. Having the #300 rub line has landed me so many fish that would have cut themselves loose on the rocky bottom.


Bryan Young

Aloha Wes,

Yup, those 16810s were made specifically for fishing in Hawaii.  I've built and sold many of those back in the day, probably almost 30 years ago.  That was when the major choices were Fenwick or Sabre.  Fenwick was much lighter and became the choice.

I think I still have one of each at home... hmm, I should give it away when I get back home.  I'm sure someone could wrap it for a newbe to get started.

Thanks for sharing.  Nice rods.

Bryan
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

CapeFish

Nice rods! I thought our knots and leaders were bad, but this takes the cake. You don't even have to bother with a wind on leader as the darn bimini knot is huge in any case. How long does that springsteel guide last? Does the line not cut it? Braid will probably groove it rather quickly?

MauiWes

Hey CapeFish,

The mono will eventually groove the first couple of guides after a while, but these rods just turned 20 years old and it's the first re-wrap for them. The original guides were the same type. I don't use braids for slide-baiting. Here's what one of my 114HLW's looks like with the leader cranked on and another showing the size of the knots. No need to cast too far at the spots where I'll use this reel. I can probably hit 60-70 yards into the wind with a 12oz sinker and my Fenwick 16810. Far enough. Like they say, "the fish got a tail..."  ;)





redsetta

Great stuff Wes - gonna have to try slide-baiting this summer.
Cracker pics too.
The Newell line-up in the background was a nice touch ;)
Cheers, Justin
Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

MauiWes

lol, Justin...I just got done installing Tiburon frames and spools on my Newell 550's and was thinking about listing all the parts I won't be needing anymore on ebay or craigslist. They just happened to be laid out in the background. I know that Newell parts are really hard to come by nowadays and maybe someone would be interested. Two of the sets are complete. The 3rd set is missing a couple of the thru-bolts that hold the frame together. I have a lot of friends that run 550's, so I haven't decided if I'll list them or not.


MauiWes

Brian,

What company did you wrap for? The ones in the pics were from Fishing Rods of Hawaii. Not sure if they are still around or if their name has changed. I've also had poles wrapped by Joe and Ken Kimura, besided the ones i wrapped myself. I had 5 Sabre's just before switching to the Fenglass 16810. Lighter, more durable and more backbone than the Sabre's I had, which were really fast tapered. A little too much tip action for my taste. I was sold once the 16810's came out.

Tile

Your rods remind me of my first rod that had home made stainless steel guides.
In solid fiberglass we trust

Alto Mare

Nice rods Wes, they don't need to talk I can hear them just fine ;).  I also have Fenwicks, I have a few posted here " a few vintage rods" I'm not sure if you've seen them.
Thanks for showing them.
Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Bryan Young

Wes, I had my own company.  BAY Custom Rods, but wrapped for several stores under their own branding.  Many of which are no longer around, unfortunately.  One, Waipahu Bicycle Sporting goods is the only remaining company around.  Funny, I used to deliver to Buster and some of the rods would then end up at the McCully Bike and Sporting Goods.  I wish I could have dropped them off there to his son but Buster wanted to inspect every single rod...maybe because I was 16 at the time.

Funny though, some of my favorite rods are the glass bottom, calcutta bamboo tipped rods.  Just a different, but good feeling.  My other favorite lighter rod was Fenwick's 10' Live bait blank.  Light, extra fast tip, and a lot of back bone.  Added a 4-5' aluminum but with Stainless steel 16 AWG butt cap, and this was a winner 30-50# rod.  I should have made and kept a set of those, but they sold fast.  Couldn't make them fast enough.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

Alto Mare

Impressive Bryan, 16 years old and you already had your own company ;)
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.