The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Hi

I recently bought this old Milwards rod. I would like to restore it but am struggling to find comparative photos or work out what the model name is. If anybody has any information on it I would be extremely grateful.

Kind Regards

Rob

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum.

What length is the rod.

Wal.

Hi Wal
It's 10ft -two sections at 3.5ft and one at 3ft. I think it's age is between 1905 and 1930 but that's all I've got so far.
Cheers
Rob

Hi Rob,
In my 1938 catalogue there are a few rods with wooden handles, mottled cane butt and middle sections and wooden tops.
I will photograph the pages with mottled cane rods tomorrow so you can read the details yourself and perhaps make a better decision by comparing the pictures with the rod.

Wal.

Hi Wal
That's brilliant thanks very much I really appreciate it.
Cheers
Rob

Here you are Rob, these are the pages listing rods with wood handles, plain brass butt caps, mottled cane butt and middle sections and wooden tips. There's nothing exactly matches at 10ft long but it may be part of a combination rod like the 1101. It could of course be an earlier model not in my catalogue.

Wal.



If you want a larger picture, right click on the image and select, open link.

Hi Wal
That's absolutely brilliant thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I reckon it might be No.912. I'm assuming this rod is a general course fishing one from 1938 then ?
Cheers
Rob

No problem Rob, glad to help.

The thing that shocks me is the amount of similar rods they made, though some are obviously built to a keener budget. The cheaper rods noticeably have a shortage of rings on them. I always thought this was a 1960s thing but it obviously started long before then.

It's nice to have a couple of these older wooden rods in your armoury and to take them out now and then to see what angling was like in their day. They do still catch fish too.

Wal.

Hi Wal
It's by pure chance that I bought it - my mrs was taking so long in an jumble shop that I had to have a dig about and saw it. I've never seen the mottled cane effect before and thought it looks pretty good.
I've sanded it all back ready for varnishing and got some dark red mahogany stain for the butt but can't seem to find any eyes for it (eBay is my usual place to look). I found a similar snake ring fitting online from America priced up at 3.5 dollars per eye ! At this rate it would've been cheaper to buy one in good condition ha ha.

I wouldn't fancy getting into anything too big with this when it's finished as I have images of all the eyes pinging off + me winching it up the bank ! Time will tell....

Hi Wal
It's by pure chance that I bought it - my mrs was taking so long in an jumble shop that I had to have a dig about and saw it. I've never seen the mottled cane effect before and thought it looks pretty good.
I've sanded it all back ready for varnishing and got some dark red mahogany stain for the butt but can't seem to find any eyes for it (eBay is my usual place to look). I found a similar snake ring fitting online from America priced up at 3.5 dollars per eye ! At this rate it would've been cheaper to buy one in good condition ha ha.

I wouldn't fancy getting into anything too big with this when it's finished as I have images of all the eyes pinging off + me winching it up the bank ! Time will tell....