The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I think I may have asked this question on other forums, but then again Im not sure.

Anyway I think BV used a 2 piece Milwards rod, maybe Craftversa? Did he catch that Perch in a Passion for Angling....you know the one under the Bobber( out fishing with CY and BJ )

Can any of you clarify, and was BV a one rod man?......I wonder?

It was a Craftversa.....who owns it now is a mystery...

I'm sure someone knows

It was indeed a Craftversa and it still belongs to the Venables family. He has also been photographed fishing with a Swimversa match rod.

I'd imagine that Craftversa would be just about the most valuable fishing rod in the World........

Craft versa 2 peice Avon style float rod, up about 5lb line eh Nobby?

Nobby wrote:It was indeed a Craftversa and it still belongs to the Venables family. He has also been photographed fishing with a Swimversa match rod.

I'd imagine that Craftversa would be just about the most valuable fishing rod in the World........

Interesting question that, would the most valuable rod be; VB Craftversa, Walker's MkIV that landed his Redmire 44, the Walker built Avon that Yates caught the Bishop with or another rod?

I'd put my bet on Walker's MkIV.

A Milwards Swimversa not had a Craftversa seems that is the rarer of the two rods.The rod I have is stunning.Mr Crabtree had good taste.

MILWARDS THE SWIMVERSA 12FT 3PCE THAT HAS BEEN REFURBISED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD THAT YOU CAN EXPECT WITH THIS RARE ROD.THE SPECIFICATION AS THE 1950s MILWARDS CATALOG.
REVERSE TAPER HEXACANE BUTT,TONKIN JOINT AND TWIN TAPER SPLIT CANE TOP,LARGE METAL BUTT RING,STAINLESS STEEL BLACK STAND OFF ROUND BRIDGE INTERMEDIATE RINGS,AQUITE END RING,DURALUMIN BLACK SLIDING REEL FITTINGS,SUCTION JOINTS AND CLOTH BAG.ANGLING TIMES SAYS OF THE SWIMVERSA (TACKLE TALK,15TH JUNE 1958) A ROD THAT IS TRULY REVOLUTIONARY.THE ROD HAS AS FAST A STRIKE AS ANY MATCHMAN COULD WISH,BUT EVEN THE LIGHTEST FLOAT TACKLE CAN CAST WITH EASE TO THE SORT OF DISTANCE THAT MATCH FISHING (AND OTHER SORTS OF FISHING) DEMAND THIS IS A REVOLUTIONARY ROD WITH A WIDE RANGE OF EFFICIENT APPLICATIONS.

Whoever did the restoration on yours did a far better job of colour preserving the thread than I did on mine. Either that or I had the wrong type of "Jasper" as mine came out considerably darker. I'm still undecided if the rod's a keeper for me or not, as I much prefer a firmer through action than the tippy action of the Versa. All told though a master-class in rod making from Milwards, what with all the complications: twin taper tip, reverse taper butt and the spliced middle joint. If you were being critical, on the other hand, you could say over engineered.

Any ideas on the number of Craftversas made? One would think we are talking single figures by the scarcity of ebay appearances. Just the one (a duff'n at that) in the last, what, six or seven years. Mind you, even if that last one was a duff'n I owe it a big thanks as it deflected a lot of attention away from the 12 foot hunter I bought that just ended before it. Guess there was a few holding out for the Versa but I knew it would end up way out of my league. Can't remember what it got now but it wasn't as much as what I thought. Probably because of the short tip.

Haydn Clarke wrote:Whoever did the restoration on yours did a far better job of colour preserving the thread than I did on mine. Either that or I had the wrong type of "Jasper" as mine came out considerably darker. I'm still undecided if the rod's a keeper for me or not, as I much prefer a firmer through action than the tippy action of the Versa. All told though a master-class in rod making from Milwards, what with all the complications: twin taper tip, reverse taper butt and the spliced middle joint. If you were being critical, on the other hand, you could say over engineered.

Mine came out darker as well. In hindsight I should have used cellulose rather than French Polish on that particular jasper thread (or at least carried out a trial first!) but usually cellulose results in too bright a finish.

I don't buy the over-engineered thing. I think the Swimversa was an example of Milwards thinking outside the conventions of the time and trying to develop a rod with both fast-striking and good casting qualities with the materials then available to them. The traditional match rod material of the time, Spanish reed, was light and stiff but hopeless for casting and would snap if over-stressed; split cane all through was best for casting but slowed the strike response down too much. The resulting blend of butt-action reverse-taper split cane, whole cane and fast (twin) taper tip was a pretty good effort.

Of course, compared to a carbon match rod the SV is a bit crude, but at the end of the 1950s it must have been a dream come true, especially for those fishing wider, slower rivers.