The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Fellows...Do any of you have either owned or used the Fred J Taylor Roach rod? Elsewhere I have heard it was more beefy than a roach rod ..

What was its history?

from its dimensions it seems like a good allrounder.

I have to say that along with many others I have alot respect for FJT. In 1980, as a 13 year old lad I wrote a letter to F J T (co The Shooting Times) , in it I asked him about various things to do with Rabbiting( Did it then , dont now)

Two weeks later... I got a handwritten letter from the man himself.Three pages, detailed, enthusiastic and best of all interested. Never forgot that, well you never would

Maybe I just would love a rod named after the great man.

So what do you know?

I'm sure one of the chaps here will be able to able you out with the rod information John. I do like the FJT story. :thumb: I do hope you still have the letter John.

There,s one on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OLD-VINTAGE-C ... 3f12e2474c

There's another on the Bay at the moment, a bit suspicious though :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180858717716? ... 6428wt_202

The seller says " THE ROD IS 12 ft LONG & HAS 10 EYES, THE TIP SECTION IS 5ins LONGER THAN THE MID SECTION AS WAS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED, LOTS OF THESE RODS HAD THE TIP SECTION EITHER BROKEN OFF BY ACCIDENT IN THE CLOTH ROD BAG OR CUT BACK TO MAKE BOTH SECTIONS THE SAME LENGTH BUT THIS ROD IS AS PRODUCED WHICH GAVE A SOFTER ACTION FOR USE WITH VERY FINE HOOK LENGTHS NEEDED WHEN ROACH FISHING."

I measured my FJT Roach and it is 12'6" in length with the butt and tip sections equal if you allow for the insertion of the ferrules. So, I had to phone John Chapman on another matter and I quizzed him about it. He confirmed none had been made with the dimensions stated by the e seller above. The mystery deepens!!!!!

colonelgsc wrote:There's another on the Bay at the moment, a bit suspicious though :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180858717716? ... 6428wt_202
.....phone John Chapman on another matter.... none had been made with the dimensions stated by the e seller above. The mystery deepens!!!!!

Agreed. There are (or were a couple of days ago) two on e-bay and the stated dims varied so wildly that I was going to bring it to the attention of here and another place, but ran out of time. Beaten to it by the sprightly Colonel.
The sizes quoted in the above description just make no sense and the remainder of the description is trying far too hard to justify......what, I wonder?! (a shortened mid-joint?)
The other one, now re-found, is:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fred-J-Taylor ... 19cf993596

colonelgsc wrote:There's another on the Bay at the moment, a bit suspicious though :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180858717716? ... 6428wt_202

The seller says " THE ROD IS 12 ft LONG & HAS 10 EYES, THE TIP SECTION IS 5ins LONGER THAN THE MID SECTION AS WAS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED, LOTS OF THESE RODS HAD THE TIP SECTION EITHER BROKEN OFF BY ACCIDENT IN THE CLOTH ROD BAG OR CUT BACK TO MAKE BOTH SECTIONS THE SAME LENGTH BUT THIS ROD IS AS PRODUCED WHICH GAVE A SOFTER ACTION FOR USE WITH VERY FINE HOOK LENGTHS NEEDED WHEN ROACH FISHING."

I measured my FJT Roach and it is 12'6" in length with the butt and tip sections equal if you allow for the insertion of the ferrules. So, I had to phone John Chapman on another matter and I quizzed him about it. He confirmed none had been made with the dimensions stated by the e seller above. The mystery deepens!!!!!

I sent him a message about that rod and this is the reply

Hi the lengths of the sections are as follows Cork Butt = 31 1/2 inches long, Mid Section = 55 1/8 inches long and Tip section = 60 1/4 inches long, that gives an actual rod length of 12 ft when together allowing for about a 3 inch overlap for the ferruls.

The old gentleman I purchased the rod from, who had owned it from new, did not say it was a limited edition, special or one off but that doesn't mean it wasn't. All he said was it had a longer tip section to handle lighter lines. When I got the rod all the eyes matched on each section, the ferruls are the same pattern and all the whipping was identical on all sections all but a bit tired which was why I had it restored. Unfortunately the old gentleman is no longer with us so I can't find out any more information than this. I hope this helps good luck Sadblokeuk

I owned a FJT roach rod in the 60s. Quite wrongly I thought is was a good tench rod and ruined the top joint by hauling big tench (5 pounders) out of beds of lilies.

I was lucky enough to win a F J Taylor roach rod at a auction a few years back and they do make good Barbel rods, if you match the line to the rod [6lb] and treat it the rod with respect it will last a long time.It has a progressive taper so you do have to look after the top section when playing fish. My first fish with this rod was a 9lb Dove Barbel a great scrap on a fabulous Rod.straight as a arrow.

Andrew J Davis

I have three Fred J Taylor roach rods. The first being previously owned by Peter Stone and restored by Edward Barder by it's last owner in 1995, probably the finest in existence bar none and a joy to use, first weekend of the season i landed a 6lb 12oz tench with it and it has power in reserve to cope with much more, my rod restorer uses his own F.J.T. for barbel on the Wye. The other two are specials, based on broken rods from eBay with only butt and mid sections being salvaged and combined with new original top sections and mk4 Avon top sections, short built cane mid sections and second short butt sections they make up a pair of combination rods that can be used at 9',10', 11'6" and 12'6" with both float and Avon tops, all with hardlon lined chrome guides and screw thread top guides to take swing tips. re-named 'the Chapman,Taylor, Walker specialist rod to highlight the influences in the rod.

So the story goes, as i heard it, Fred visited the Chapmans factory looking for a rod that didn't exist and tried parts from other existing rods to come up with what he wanted, the result being the Fred J Taylor roach rod. It turned our to be a very versatile rod, even in it's standard form, and is perfect for trotting with a W R Spedia and general medium float work, but it's not so much of a float rod that it can't be used for a bit of touch ledgering, or even tench and bream at 40 yards plus, my modified ones are easily capable of casting a 45g feeder loaded with groundbait well over 60 yards, and a straight lead nearly 80, a lot for a cane rod and i confess that was with a modern reel but 50m with a Mitchell 300 is not overdoing it either.

greentura wrote:I have three Fred J Taylor roach rods. The first being previously owned by Peter Stone and restored by Edward Barder by it's last owner in 1995, probably the finest in existence bar none and a joy to use, first weekend of the season i landed a 6lb 12oz tench with it and it has power in reserve to cope with much more, my rod restorer uses his own F.J.T. for barbel on the Wye. The other two are specials, based on broken rods from eBay with only butt and mid sections being salvaged and combined with new original top sections and mk4 Avon top sections, short built cane mid sections and second short butt sections they make up a pair of combination rods that can be used at 9',10', 11'6" and 12'6" with both float and Avon tops, all with hardlon lined chrome guides and screw thread top guides to take swing tips. re-named 'the Chapman,Taylor, Walker specialist rod to highlight the influences in the rod.

So the story goes, as i heard it, Fred visited the Chapmans factory looking for a rod that didn't exist and tried parts from other existing rods to come up with what he wanted, the result being the Fred J Taylor roach rod. It turned our to be a very versatile rod, even in it's standard form, and is perfect for trotting with a W R Spedia and general medium float work, but it's not so much of a float rod that it can't be used for a bit of touch ledgering, or even tench and bream at 40 yards plus, my modified ones are easily capable of casting a 45g feeder loaded with groundbait well over 60 yards, and a straight lead nearly 80, a lot for a cane rod and i confess that was with a modern reel but 50m with a Mitchell 300 is not overdoing it either.

Hats off to you , Sir. So, you are the lucky owner of the Stoney FJT Roach with the Barder refurb. And you got her at a bargain price from the Bay, if my memory serves. I kicked myself for not putting in a bid at the time, believing that such a beauty would go for way more than just the starting price. Enjoy her in good health, my friend.
Still, I'm lucky enough to own another which is straight and true, so I've put her on Andrew Davis's waiting list for him to work his magic later in the year ( think I've already mentioned that in a previous post.....senility, apologies)
The 'combination' set sounds splendid..........well done, that man :hat: