Before starting this thread I did a forum search for any similar threads and did not find one.

 

So I would like to start a thread about rare fishing rods.

 

To clarify what I mean about rare, I am thinking of defining it as meaning first, one of a kind rods like custom rods, but also brand name off the shelf stock rods that are today extremely hard or impossible to find. So I would define "rare" as doing a google or AI search online- the world over- for any mention of your rod. And if google or AI can come up with 10 rods of same type and model to be found, or less, then I would say that is a rare rod.

 

But if your rod can produce search results finding hundreds of them out there or thousands, then I would not consider that as rare. 

 

If anyone has any other way to define rare, please post alternative ideas. I just came up with a basic definition for purposes of this thread discussion.

 

If you have a rod with 50 mentions it would also be a rare rod. So maybe anything under a 100 mentions found out there in the world is maybe a better definition. But for my part in this thread I will try and keep my input to less than 10 mentions of search results.

 

This thread should exclude any and all rods that are currently in production and commercially available today.

 

There is nothing I love more than searching for rare fishing rods all over Florida for the last 40+ years.

 

So I know I would greatly enjoy seeing some of your best rare rods in this thread. And I bet there are other members here who would also really enjoy seeing and learning about some really awesome rare rods, and even one of a kind custom rods, and why you have it, and how is it constructed type of thing, and why? Even the history behind your rare rods would benefit other members to learn from.

 

I hope this thread can be a rare rod super thread that goes on forever! Explain your rod preferences, and why you are attracted to particular rare rods. I hope many of you will share them, and show us all your rare fishing rods.

I have a Megabass Evoluzion 30th Anniversary Edition Super Diablo II.  I bought it used and for the most part it had never been fished. The guy that owned it didn't care for the looks, the color and the taper. When I saw these rods become available, I wanted one but they sold out almost instantly.  Its fun to fish and I like everything about it. 

 

https://jdmfishing.com/vault/super-diablo-ii/

 

 

If you want ultra rare.... I wish I still had it but my father brought back a signed, handmade bamboo rod from Cuba and it was a work of art. He used it to fish both freshwater and saltwater.  Over the years the components rusted and he threw it away.  I always enjoyed using it. It was as sensitive as you could get 40+ years ago.

Beautiful rod FishTank! Thanks for posting it! I have never purchased a JDM rod. The Japanese do fabulous work. Very high quality. My father came back from Korea with a similar bamboo rod in a box he purchased in Japan. He was going there for Nikon cameras, but did bring back one fishing rod.

 

This is a one of a kind custom rod that is not supposed to even exist. It is rarer than rare.

 

I call this rod my Nacho rod. And the reason for that name is the man who made this rod was nicknamed Nacho. He was a well known local central Florida fisherman who was a regular customer of the rod and reel repair shop I worked at in central Florida area for some years.

 

During the time I was working at the shop Nacho became terminally ill and his entire fishing rod and reel collection was put up for sale right after he died. This rod was one of the few I was able to get my hands because no one else wanted it. Since I was on the bottom of the totem pole, I got the scraps from that collection and everyone else got first choices on a lot of his really good rods. Heck I never even got to see most of them! Gone before I could ever lay eyes on them.

 

This rod piqued my interest because I love to fish for schooling bass on the St. Johns river in central Florida area. Where I fish there is no cover. Nothing for any fish to run into and hide or get tangled up in and the river bottom is scraped clean by the current. So in a fishing environment like that I can get away with using medium and medium light rods for having a blast with the all day chasing down of schooling bass up and down the river.

 

The lighter rods kind of balance out the fight more and for me makes it more enjoyable fishing rather than go out with heavy rods and crane them in. I prefer to use the rods to do battle with the fish. That is the fun of it all. Change that and the fun goes away.

 

So that is my reasoning behind choosing this one particular rod from what was left of his collection.

 

I paid his estate $40 cash for it since no one else wanted it, I thought I got a good deal on it.

 

I have considered stripping the guides off of it and turning it into a spiral wrapped rod, but as yet I cannot bring myself to touch it. This is Nacho's rod. And to date I have left it as is.

 

But what makes this rod so special to me now is that this rod does not exist, yet it does! I have contacted the company who made the blank to ask them about it and they have told me that this rod cannot exist because they said they NEVER sell or allow any of their whole full blanks to get out of their manufacturing process. And they mean never! As in not possible at all. So they balked when I told them I had one. They said "not possible."

 

The blank this rod is constructed on is a Air-Flo JourneyMan Nan-Tec blank made in the UK. They only make fly fishing rods and nothing else. And, they only make sectional fly rods, so that is all that they sell and all that is commercially available to purchase from them.

 

Yet here in Florida, some how Nacho got his hands on an intact complete full fly rod blank. How he did it is a mystery. No one at Air-Flo could adequately explain it or have any answer for how a complete rod blank found its way out of their tightly secured manufacturing process. I was told in no uncertain terms that this rod does not exist and is not supposed to exist because they have very tight security and do not allow anyone to remove or take full blanks out of there.

 

Yet I have one. And here is the Nacho rod! A 6'10" medium to medium light, more light, bass fishing rod custom cut from a full Air-Flo JourneyMan Nan-Tec fly rod blank.

 

This is a rod that is not supposed to exist! Yet it does!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest in peace Nacho! I won't change your rod from how you made it!

 

I just wish he was still around to explain how he got it, and why he chose this section of the fly rod blank to cut out. I have no details on it other than this.

 

And its kind of ironic and humorous a rod like this one came into my possession. I tried my hand at fly fishing when younger, and I just don't care for it at all. So its perfect that I now have a bass fishing casting rod cut out of a fly rod which for me gives it a new life better suited to me.

Well gee, FE Thomas Mahogany grade Special Bait.  

Tube and original tafetta sock, hang tag filled out by Fred, butt cap mark dates 1914.  

 

Appropriately matched with 1914 Talbot Niangua

  

Because of ivory grasp, I'm not supposed to sell this reel interstate or international without Commerce Dept. permit and provenance of age.  

6 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Beautiful rod FishTank! Thanks for posting it! I have never purchased a JDM rod. The Japanese do fabulous work. Very high quality. My father came back from Korea with a similar bamboo rod in a box he purchased in Japan. He was going there for Nikon cameras, but did bring back one fishing rod.

 

This is a one of a kind custom rod that is not supposed to even exist. It is rarer than rare.

 

I call this rod my Nacho rod. And the reason for that name is the man who made this rod was nicknamed Nacho. He was a well known local central Florida fisherman who was a regular customer of the rod and reel repair shop I worked at in central Florida area for some years.

 

During the time I was working at the shop Nacho became terminally ill and his entire fishing rod and reel collection was put up for sale right after he died. This rod was one of the few I was able to get my hands because no one else wanted it. Since I was on the bottom of the totem pole, I got the scraps from that collection and everyone else got first choices on a lot of his really good rods. Heck I never even got to see most of them! Gone before I could ever lay eyes on them.

 

This rod piqued my interest because I love to fish for schooling bass on the St. Johns river in central Florida area. Where I fish there is no cover. Nothing for any fish to run into and hide or get tangled up in and the river bottom is scraped clean by the current. So in a fishing environment like that I can get away with using medium and medium light rods for having a blast with the all day chasing down of schooling bass up and down the river.

 

The lighter rods kind of balance out the fight more and for me makes it more enjoyable fishing rather than go out with heavy rods and crane them in. I prefer to use the rods to do battle with the fish. That is the fun of it all. Change that and the fun goes away.

 

So that is my reasoning behind choosing this one particular rod from what was left of his collection.

 

I paid his estate $40 cash for it since no one else wanted it, I thought I got a good deal on it.

 

I have considered stripping the guides off of it and turning it into a spiral wrapped rod, but as yet I cannot bring myself to touch it. This is Nacho's rod. And to date I have left it as is.

 

But what makes this rod so special to me now is that this rod does not exist, yet it does! I have contacted the company who made the blank to ask them about it and they have told me that this rod cannot exist because they said they NEVER sell or allow any of their whole full blanks to get out of their manufacturing process. And they mean never! As in not possible at all. So they balked when I told them I had one. They said "not possible."

 

The blank this rod is constructed on is a Air-Flo JourneyMan Nan-Tec blank made in the UK. They only make fly fishing rods and nothing else. And, they only make sectional fly rods, so that is all that they sell and all that is commercially available to purchase from them.

 

Yet here in Florida, some how Nacho got his hands on an intact complete full fly rod blank. How he did it is a mystery. No one at Air-Flo could adequately explain it or have any answer for how a complete rod blank found its way out of their tightly secured manufacturing process. I was told in no uncertain terms that this rod does not exist and is not supposed to exist because they have very tight security and do not allow anyone to remove or take full blanks out of there.

 

Yet I have one. And here is the Nacho rod! A 6'10" medium to medium light, more light, bass fishing rod custom cut from a full Air-Flo JourneyMan Nan-Tec fly rod blank.

 

This is a rod that is not supposed to exist! Yet it does!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest in peace Nacho! I won't change your rod from how you made it!

 

I just wish he was still around to explain how he got it, and why he chose this section of the fly rod blank to cut out. I have no details on it other than this.

 

And its kind of ironic and humorous a rod like one came into my possession. I tried my hand at fly fishing when younger, and I just don't care for it at all. So its perfect that I now have a bass fishing casting rod cut out of a fly rod which for me gives it a new life better suited to me.

Very nice.  I don't think I've ever seen a reel seat like that.  Looks great.  

Time for another rare rod! 

 

This next rod is so rare that not only can I not find another one like it, but I cannot find or locate anywhere on the internet anything about Stiffy Rods other than what I have already written about elsewhere.

 

Stiffy rods began in Texas with a man named Kevin Shaw. When he first started his own business it was making his own rods by hand. The blanks and the completed rods were all made by Kevin Shaw.

 

But the sad part is that he was not able to generate enough business selling fishing rods to stay in business, so he had to change gears and switch over to making another much needed fishing product the push poles. Today his push poles are rated as some of the best made. And they are also made by hand.

 

I came across only one of his "Stiffy" rods in all of my years of being in and around the used tackle business. Just one. And I kept it. And I still enjoy using it to fish with when it should be in a museum somewhere. The Stiffy rod I have is a model MS7. A 7 foot long medium to medium heavy fast action rod.

 

It is real pleasure to use this rod and I used it in the last few days doing some bass fishing on a remote Florida lake. I put a Shimano Stradic 3000FI on it with 14lb braid line. It casts like a dream. And handles bass very well. And the name stiffy fits its character too. It has some great backbone and is a really great rod.

 

I have searched high and low for a second one, or even other Stiffy rods and I just can't find them. They are now that rare because Kevin Shaw and his brother have been involved in making their push poles for the last 30 years so that tells you this rod is more than likely between 30 to 35 years old now, and still easily rivals anything made today.

 

And one thing I have to say is that I surely wish Kevin Shaw would get back into making his great Stiffy fishing rods again. I know he has turned over his business to his brother to run and Kevin may have retired and taking it easier these days, but I can tell you that the fishing rod industry has lost one of the greats almost no one has ever heard of.

 

The name of Kevin Shaw should be right up there with Gary Loomis, Don Mook, Dick Kantner, Kistler, Batson, and Morgan McCain and others who deserve to be in the fishing rod hall of fame if there is ever one created- then Kevin Shaw deserves to be in it! His rods are exceptional judging from this one and only example I have in my collection. And I can tell you this is a prized rod indeed!

 

I hope one day Kevin Shaw will read this comment and maybe think twice about making his rod blanks again. What a shame it is to have lost him from the fishing rod blank designers and builders!

 

 

Kevin Shaw

 

 

This rod is now so rare that google and AI basically say it does not exist. And google and AI cannot find any others out there. They do exist! So if you can find one, you know you have something special! Thanks Kevin Shaw!

 

 

 

Guess my most rare rods are a couple casting rods made by Vinnie B that I picked up used.

 

I was able to find this information.

https://www.google.com/search?q=custom+rods+by+vinnie+b&sca_esv=a0d1b552b0cbf3bf&sxsrf=AE3TifP9KUkfU0--Kk8o40vjRZfckzmHNQ%3A1758913773369&source=hp&ei=7eTWaKnbE5qYwbkP8-SrgAI&iflsig=AOw8s4IAAAAAaNby_T91gDIkR2GeJjOqFpUGm9P2G7pY&ved=0ahUKEwjphZm1kPePAxUaTDABHXPyCiAQ4dUDCBo&uact=5&oq=custom+rods+by+vinnie+b&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhdjdXN0b20gcm9kcyBieSB2aW5uaWUgYjIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRirAjIFECEYqwIyBRAhGKsCSKBBUABYiDxwAHgAkAEAmAGFAaAB7xCqAQQxNy42uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIXoALLEsICChAjGIAEGCcYigXCAgQQIxgnwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxiDARjHAcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYxwHCAgsQLhiABBjRAxjHAcICDxAjGIAEGCcYigUYRhj5AcICExAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBGIoFGArCAgsQLhiABBixAxiDAcICCBAuGIAEGLEDwgIFEAAYgATCAgsQLhiABBjHARivAcICBRAuGIAEwgIGEAAYFhgewgILEAAYgAQYhgMYigXCAggQABiiBBiJBcICBRAAGO8FwgIIEAAYgAQYogSYAwCSBwUxMC4xM6AH0bMBsgcFMTAuMTO4B8sSwgcKMS4zLjE0LjQuMcgHowE&sclient=gws-wiz

 

2 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

This next rod is so rare that not only can I not find another one like it, but I cannot find or locate anywhere on the internet anything about Stiffy Rods

No offense, but no way I'm googling that 

Kinda rare megabass.  Arms 7208 and a craftsman hedgehog stinger

 

https://www.gassettfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Herbert-Pat-Vinzant?obId=14996343

 

I recently visited MudHole, and for some reason every time I am there I have to pull out an old friend just to examine it closely and remember the man who made this custom rod. Pat Vinzant. One of the legendary custom rod builders who is no longer with us. Pat was known the world over as one of the best custom rod builders specializing in the use of natural feathers and real snake skins. This rod shows some of that work.

 

Pat and I were friends before he passed. We were working on spiral wrap guide designs and this particular now "famous" rod was one that he had nearly finished before he and I got deep into spiral wrap guide designs. Pat was going to make more spiral wrap rods after this one which would have incorporated the progress we had made. Sadly he passed away before that progress could have made it to his next custom rods.

 

So this particular guide design was one of his own that he came up prior to our collaborating on improving upon it. And this particular rod is a now a snapshot frozen in time example of a custom rod builder moving forward, progressing in guide designs. Pat was excited and eager to try out the new guide design. But it was not meant to be.

 

Pat was also one of the authors and inspirations behind the published rules of custom rod building that I included in my 2020 published article on the subject of spiral wrap guide designs. When I wrote that article Pat Vinzant and Terri Cheatham were the only two custom rod builders that I named by name within the article.

 

This particular rod along with several others made by Pat were originally put on display within the MudHole showroom for sale. But when Pat passed away, the rods that had been for sale became the property of MudHole, and to this day are still left on display in the showroom, but are no longer for sale. They are a memorial testament to one of the great custom rod builders who left a legendary impression on all who were fortunate to know him and his incredible influence on custom rod building.

 

So without fail, every time I visit MudHole, I have to stop by and say hello to an old friend. This is the rod Pat was finishing up at the time of my writing of the article, and was the one he was working on at the time we were making progress on spiral wrap guide designs in late 2019. Pat died in February of 2020, and it would not be until December of 2020 that the article would finally reach publication. I made sure to include him in it.

 

This one rod is now not only on display in the showroom, but it is often selected by various people to include into their videos on custom rod building including this now controversial MudHole video that can still be found online.

 

This Pat Vinzant rod is prominently displayed in the video for ease of access, but is placed there because this rod is brought directly into the video at 29 minutes and 20 seconds into the video. MudHole is also honoring Pat Vinzant in their videos such as this one- which is somewhat controversial because it is ironic that suggestions contained within the video are not in alignment with the established published rules that Pat and others worked on for many years.

 

I made sure to include those published rules directly into my article.

 

Spiral wrap guide designs are all over the place to this day. There are many different ideas out there, and this video shows the digression of them, and is a source of endless chatter to this day even within the walls of MudHole, and online, and throughout the custom rod community.

 

We are trying to reach a level of uniformity on this subject. It is slow to happen, but progress is being made.

 

 

I think this rod should be given a name... "Old friend" because when any of us walk through the front doors of MudHole and into the showroom, waiting in there hidden among all the rods on the show floor is this rod- an old friend. One of the last rods Pat Vinzant completed before leaving this world.

 

And for those who may not be aware, this rod also contains something else Pat was working on before leaving us- "Pat Vinzant's "New Concept" handle" which predates the industry bringing in the new custom carbon fiber grips. Pat was working on it before others were, and you can see these results here. One of a kind for sure!

 

I make sure to pull out old friend every time I visit... its all we have left besides his legacy and passed on knowledge and experience. This rod is not just a rare Pat Vinzant rod, but this rod is one of a kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RIP Pat Vinzant!

--------------------------------------------------

 

Another legend I have to give credit to is another friend of mine named Don Morton. He was instrumental in developing the rules for custom rod building as published and agreed on prior to publication. Don and I worked together on guide designs as well, and he said to me that I finally "nailed it" on spiral wrap guide designs after reading my article.

 

I am sitting on unpublished "secret" ideas and designs of Don Morton to this day which may see the light of day one day... Don Morton is a rod design innovator who is more like me in seeking performance over the artistic side which Pat Vinzant excelled at.

 

One thing not well known about Don Morton is that he works directly with college students on campus in the engineering depts. He teaches and leads students to engineering better fishing tackle.

 

Online search:

 

"Don Morton" is not a brand of custom rods, but a renowned rod designer known for developing the "Equal Angle Theory" for guide placement, a technique used by custom rod builders like those at Classic Destiny Custom Rods. His methods help create a rod with maximum performance by determining the optimal number and placement of guides based on the blank's unique characteristics.  

 

Equal Angle Theory: 

Don Morton developed a specific technique for placing guides on a fishing rod blank to maximize performance and castability. 

 

Dynamic flex fixture: 

This theory is used in conjunction with a dynamic flex fixture to find the ideal number and position of guides for each rod. 

 

Rod building technique: 

The technique ensures that guides are placed correctly along the length of the rod blank, which has been spined and prepared to get the best performance from it. 

 

Community recognition: 

Morton is considered a highly respected and influential figure in the rod building community, and his methods are widely used by custom rod builders.