Nostalgia gear

napawino said:

I'm on a nostalgia kick. I guess.

I just picked up this really nice FF70.

It's great when something this old, still holds up today as a nice rod. I like fast graphite, but there is something about fiberglass that makes me smile every time.

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I was new to fly fishing in the mid 90's, so we berthing back then was a race for lighter and faster action broom sticks. What time period is your glass Fenwick from?

Greg Price said:

I was new to fly fishing in the mid 90's, so we berthing back then was a race for lighter and faster action broom sticks. What time period is your glass Fenwick from?

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Looks like a late 60s/early 70s vintage.

I have always liked the older rods. They have a down locking reel seat. I had an old Cortland that was set up that way.

Greg Price said:

I was new to fly fishing in the mid 90's, so we berthing back then was a race for lighter and faster action broom sticks. What time period is your glass Fenwick from?

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It's an H serial number. I think it's 1967-68

FF70 is a monster with streamers!

Edit: that was the FF80.

Vintage stuff is great. What's fun is to think about when that rod first hit the market and all the buzz it created.

My favorite rod of all time is the Orvis 10ft 9 wt "salmon" i bought mine in 1985 along with a St John. My dad thought i was nuts spending 350 dollars on a rod and reel. Never once did i regret it and i still have the receipt.
The best cast i ever made was with that rod back when i was a better than average caster. I cast one of Joe Howell's starlight leeches the length of an SA steelhead taper plus the length of the rod and a 13 foot leader. Clean turn over backing coming out the tip top. All this with crap for back cast room.
I wish i could still do that. I know the rod can. Wimp stiff light weight things like they make now sure can't.

My everyday 5wt is still the G Loomis IMX blank that I built in the late 80s. I had the tip issue. Broke it at the Deschutes just pulling out line a little too aggressively. That was just a year or 2 after purchasing so they sent me a whole new blank. Been good since then all these years later. It's a great rod. It was a top of the line rod when I bought it. I also still use the Cortland LTD M-80 (Graphite) reel I purchased at the same time. It has a tiny wobble, but still works great. It's not in the starting lineup any more, but still holds my type III full sinker for dragging streamers around lakes. That reel has fought many fish and never let me down. An S-60 would actually be a sweet reel for a 2 or 3wt. They are crazy light.