Hardy General Rod restored by me

[Paul F]

Late summer I picked up an 11ft Hardy General Rod dating from the mid 1950's, although the cane was in good order, the rings were totally rusty, and the whipping falling apart, so I recently set to work in restoring it.

It was the 1st full refurb I have done for a good few years, I took my time, and I am very happy with the overall finish.

The General was a slightly cheaper option from Hardy, it was designed for general bottom fishing and spinning, it has a lovely whole cane butt, and middle section, and a built cane tip.

The butt ring is a rather plain 500 style chrome ring, the tip being clear lined, I whipped the rings in a slightly darker shade of green than the original thread that tended to fade over time.

Tff's Allrounder got me onto this rod, having used it with lots success as an Barbel/chub rod for both float and ledgering, it certainly has some backbone to it during a scrap.

[Lea Dweller]

Well done Paul, a really nice job on a really nice rod!

[PershoreHarrier]

That looks to be a very fine effort and no doubt we shall see it again in some photos shortly with some fish who were delighted to be caught on it.

[Troydog]

Nice work Paul; i look forward to watching you use it on the Wye maybe before March 14th….

[Old Man River]

Looks very well indeed

David

[Liphook]

Always good to see an old rod brought back to life I like the green - what thread did you choose ?

[AllRounder]

I had a sneak preview of this a week or so ago and it really is a very nice refurbishment. The dark green whipping is visually an improvement on the original. The whole cane middle section is unusual for a Hardy rod but very efficient at steering fish away from snags or hit and hold situations and the fine palakona split cane tip section lends itself perfectly to touch ledgering. Given all that it’s quite a light rod for its power and can be held all day with ease.

All in all a very under rated rod that finds its way into my hold-all whenever chub and barbel are expected.
I’m sure you’ll have some fun with it Paul.

Nice job and well done

[Wallys-Cast]

Well done Paul, a lovely job on a great "General" purpose rod.
I was very impressed with one which came into my possession a few years ago. I had a couple of double figure carp on it while tench fishing and the rod was great for bringing them to the net without fuss.

Wal.

[Silfield]

That looks very nice, a job well done

[Paul F]

Always good to see an old rod brought back to life I like the green - what thread did you choose ?

I used Fuji ultra poly size A, it is a very strong thread you can yank on on the larger whippings of the ferrules, and butt ring, also delicate enough for the four turn inter whippings on the tip, it does not need sealing, just varnish straight on with no colour change.