Mystery boat rod

[EricW]

I've just been gifted a motley pile of old tackle which contained a rod I would like to find out more about.
The label is missing. It appears to be made from solid timber, probably beech, and has fittings that look not dissimilar to rods of the 1940s. It is almost unbendable but I can't decide whether that means it was designed for large game fish or whether the wood has lost its flexibility with age.



The rod rings seem rather unusual but not really what I would expect on a game rod. The frames seem elaborately robust but the eyes not particularly large or heavy duty. Any info or suggestions would be gratefully received.

[BoltonBullfinch]

Tuna rod??

Thanks
BB

[EricW]

I did wonder.

[Duckett]

Lovely find! Surely it has lost flexibility with age and lack of care? I find it hard to believe that a rod with no bend at all could cope with a 500-800lb Bluefine Tuna without snapping like a dry stick.

Phil

[EricW]

I will certainly be restoring this as best I can at some stage, not for use, but just for interest's sake. It doesn't really look as though it was ever varnished, so liberal applications of oil may restore some suppleness. I think the wood fibres are probably going to have degraded too much to make it usable for anything. How about a suitable reel? Some kind of large wooden centrepin?

[Catfish.017]

I got a big game rod in a job lot some years back. It had those rings too but was three piece 15' long! The butt section was whole cane about an inch and a quarter diameter, the top two timber? My brother collected the lot for me in Southampton. He said the guy had a huge plaster cast of a Marlin on his wall. I always wanted to team it up with my 8" Scarborough reel and take it to Swansea Marina on one of my boat trips with Dave. That would have raised some eyebrows!

[EricW]

15' !!!!
I wonder what the thinking was there. I shudder to think how hard it would be to land a big game fish applying all that leverage on the angler. Angling has thrown up some strange ideas over the years hasn't it?

[Liphook]

I've seen a number of wooden UK Tunny and overseas 'blue water' big game boat rods and they've all been shorter than 7ft, some as little as 5ft. Modern 'stand-up' rods are around 5 to 6ft precisely because of the leverage factor. 15ft defies belief as a boat rod! More likely a beachcaster or perhaps an outrigger? Or the choice of an utter masochist!

[SooperClooper]

Is it a converted pool cue???

[EricW]

Good question SC! Even as it stands, it is probably marginally more flexible than a cue and the handle is the reel McCoy. I shall dig it out and have another look with that idea in mind though. Many rods have been made from unrelated items over the years. Think garden canes, tank aerials and whalebone pole tips made from umbrella ribs.