On Friday, whilst having the first coffee of the morning, I was idly browsing the 'market' area of a popular social media site. There I noticed two vintage rods for sale, one of which looked interesting, especially as they were reduced from £30 to £15 for the pair. They had been on offer for a while and it was hard to tell what the were as there was only one photo, which had been taken from a distance. I live in the Midlands and the rods were collection only from the south coast, but as luck would have it the south coast was where I was heading for the weekend
To cut a long frustrating story of miscommunication short, the rods were eventually collected on Sunday lunchtime. One proved to be an un-named Martin James rod that has so much 'set' it will be useful for fishing around corners
The other, as you've guessed, is a Chapmans 550
Apart from a small amount of corrosion on the tip ring it is in superb condition and looks hardly used. At full length, dead straight and with the original stoppers, the whippings are green and have twisted copper wire on the lower leg of the butt guide and on the ferrule wrappings. According to the Chapman's site this makes it an early model! I'll try to post some pictures by the weekend assuming I can stop grinning about the bargain price
'The Chub is a very controversial fish. He has a strong army of supporters, but he has an almost equally strong army of detractors. The trouble is that the detractors do not know what they are talking about'. L. Vernon-Bates
