I was not aware that Leonard made single piece fly rods, but looking through a 1957 William Mills catalog there were three models offered, a 7',8' and
a model 150 1/2 eight and a half foot weighing in at 3 1/2 to 4oz. With bag and aluminum tube you could buy any length rod for $185, the highest priced rods
offered. By contrast a 6' Baby Catskill (lightest rod made) was yours for $120. These must have been incredible rods, if a bit hard to transport. At
that price they should have been well cared for. I am wondering how many have survived? Must be pretty rare rods. By the way, for an extra $4.35 you could
purchase a 3inch Hardy St George in LHW for $26.35. Fun looking at these old catalogs. Alan
This forum began as Clark's Classic Bamboo Rod Forum, founded by Clark Davis for all who share a passion for classic rods. The forum is now owned by Whitefish Press aka Dr. Todd Larson - banjo.
For those who don't use English as their primary language we now have a translator for your language of choice hosted by Google.
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Leonard Single-Piece Fly Rods
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 Grandhogair |
Leonard Single-Piece Fly Rods |
Lead | ||
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Posts: 81 04/04/2009 11:12 |
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Booman2 |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 564 04/04/2009 20:17 |
I have only seen one, and that was about 30 years ago. The tube was a work of art, it was about 1" in diameter and swaged to about 1 5/8" for the
grip and seat end. This kept rod from sliding forward in the tube and potentially fracturing the tip. I have a couple Howells and Talbot 1 piece 8' rods
and there is nothing like them.
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El Capitan |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 1 04/05/2009 08:54 |
Leonard also used to make a 9 ft. one piece but this model was later dropped. I have never seen a Leonard 1 piece in person but have heard of 1 or 2 in
existence. Would be a nice find.
T&T offered these also and early on in the 70's catalogs they listed some really long ones. In the 1976 catalog they list models of up to 10ft. I wonder if any this long were actually ever made? Someone should call Tom Dorsey and ask. I have seen a few of the shorter (7'6" or less) Sans Pareil rods that were very nice. |
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 Tom Smithwick |
One piece Leonards | #3 | ||
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Posts: 489 04/05/2009 09:00 |
The Catskill Fly Fishing Center has one, I believe an 8 footer. The swaged portion of the tube is joined to the 1" body of the tube. No one seems to know
where they got them, and the equipment necessary to make them would have been beyond the capability of a small shop like Leonard. Even if you had the
equipment, making small quantities of such a thing would be prohibitively expensive. I have always thought that there is a commercial application somewhere
that they could tap into for a few pieces, but have never been able to locate it.
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Grandhogair |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 82 04/05/2009 09:40 |
Thanks all. I will be fishing the Beaverkill this June and will stop at the Museum to take a look at the rod. Had not thought about the difficulty with
making the tubes for such rods. Just getting the strips tapered for an 8 1/2 foot rod must have been difficult enough. Let alone a nine footer. Alan
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Tom Smithwick |
One piece Leonard | #5 | ||
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Posts: 490 04/05/2009 10:01 |
Alan - To the best of my knowledge, Leonard made the one piece rods by splicing sections together. The taper sticks for the beveller were about 5 feet long. I
don't know how long their tempering oven was, but I doubt it was 9 feet. A splice done right is almost undetectable. I have an 8 footer built that way, and
even I have trouble finding it.
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Grandhogair |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 83 04/05/2009 10:55 |
Tom, thanks. Got it now.
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grizzly |
single piece fly rods | #7 | ||
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Posts: 72 04/07/2009 05:29 |
Hi Tom, realy enjoyed your ferrule making class at the catskills gathering, do you have any tapers for single piece rods? or any ideas as a starting point? I
am finishing a oven shortly that will fit 7 ft. blanks and will finish one by fall to do 9 ft. blanks. have only seen a 7 ft. T&T rod in the past but wasnt
building then so didnt get taper but have never forgoten it!
Thanks Grizzly. |
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Tom Smithwick |
One piece tapers | #8 | ||
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Posts: 491 04/07/2009 08:10 |
Hi Grizzly - An unmodified Garrison 202E is a great 7 foot 4 weight. Any of the Garrison tapers are very smooth and would make great one piece rods. I also
have a very powerful 7.5 foot 6 weight taper that can be made with a 7 foot blank spliced under the grip. My favorite is an 8 foot 4 weight based on an F. E.
Thomas taper. Contact me at tsmithwick@mac.com if you want those.
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upstatetrout |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 278 06/10/2009 19:14 |
So! did you get to see the rod?
That museum has some incredible pieces. |
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cdmoore |
I asked them for pictures to post here | #10 | ||
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Posts: 2839 06/15/2009 17:59 Moderator |
They replied twice that they would send them. Never did. I made a third effort. Never heard a reply. Bon chance!
"If you finish in 7 days, I'll pay you for 10. If you finish in 10 days, I'll pay you for 7." ~Ballykissangel
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Tom Smithwick |
One piece rods | #11 | ||
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Posts: 506 06/15/2009 19:35 |
The museum has limited resources. I will be there for sure for the gathering in September, maybe for heritage days in August. ASAP, I will look the rod over
and post some photos.
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william |
Leonard Single-Piece Fly Rods | #12 | ||
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Posts: 2 06/19/2009 15:19 |
Leonard offered a single piece fly rod in the early 1980's. I believe it was a 6' Catskill that came in a rod tube made out of bamboo.
Thanks, Bill |
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- Members Corner
- Forum Announcements
- Collecting Bamboo Fly Rods
- Fishing Bamboo Fly Rods
- Rod making, restoration, repairs and discussion on those related topics concerning bamboo rods.
- Rod and Reel Makers Forum
- Information About Makers & Manufacturers
- Taper Exchange
- Appraisals & Identification of Bamboo Fly Rods
- Ephemera, empherma and Ephemerella.....
- Book Talk
- Photos, paintings, written stories and talents.
- Classic Reels
- Collecting and Tying Classic Flies
- The Cooks Kitchen
- The Classic Fly Rod Classifieds
- Technical Support
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