RE: Fly rod question -- Shakespeare Wonderod
2008/05/27 00:50:38
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Elondo,
The Shakespeare Wonderrods had a life span from the late 50's to mid 70's when fenwick introduced graphite rods. Most Shakespeares had a line weight designation on them such as GDF or EFC which thru study will decode to give you the weight of the rod and what type of line the rod was ment to carry. Their named rods usually had "P" names, presidential, professional, perfectionist ect.
Interestingly the "presidential" was supposedly named after Dwight Eisenhower the president who was an avid fly fisherman. Most of these rods usually run in to 35-60 dollar range with a premium being given to the shorter rods in the lighter weights. Many people don't like them because they were considered "a tacky white finish", as opposed to the Conolons, Browning Silaflex and some Wright & McGill rods. There are a few that were made in a bamboo like finish which didn't sell well at all.
A good tell - tale is whether your rod has metal ferrules or is a fiberglas to fiberglass connection. The glass to glass rods are very light weight and can be prone to cracking on the female end of the tip section.
These are still fine fishing rods in all lengths and yours should be right at home for brookies and general trout on small to medium streams.
Your rod should fall just at the upper edge of the "short" catagory and should be in a lighter weight BUT Could be had in 7' the whole way up to 7 wt.
So look for a letter code on your rod to determine wt. And probably the rarest of these rods would be a 6.5 foot, faux bamboo, in a 4 wt dry fly action. Check e-bay for some current prices. (that's selling prices not some reserve price from someone who thinks they have a rare rod.) Shakespeare made about a million of these in various weights and lengths.
Most of this info came from my old books - - - hope it helps.
Illegitimis Non carborundum