Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - July 14, 1985
By Georgia Jones
Vigo County Historical Society

A fish story: How rod-reel evolved

Grover Cleveland, angler and twice president of the United States, once stated: "The community of fishermen constitute a separate class or subrace among the inhabitants of the earth."

This "subrace" lives part-time in a world of streams and rivers where its members cast or troll, and with skill and luck land fish.

In the late 18th century and early 19th centuries, wealthy American fishermen bought tackle from English firms -- J. Cheek, Ogden Smith and Foster Brothers. The first notable American maker was George Snyder, a Kentucky jeweler who began making reels about 1810.

The evolution of the fishing rod in the United States was slower than the reel. Until the mid-19th century, all American rods were made of solid wood, usually Central American greenheart or West Indian lancewood. They were stiff and ill-suited to fly casting, which requires a flexible rod.

English rod makers began to use Calcutta bamboo (also called cane) for the tips of their poles to gain resilience. An American, Sam Phillippi of Pennsylvania carried the idea one step farther in about 1846 and made an all-bamboo fly rod by gluing together four long strips of split bamboo.

Most hand-made rods have the maker's name stamped on a metal cap at the base. Factory products usually bear glued-on labels.

"The Encyclopedia of Collectibles," Time-Life, states that one way to date rods made before World War I is through the bindings of silk thread wrapped around every few inches to hold the strips together. The thread bindings were not needed after this period when strong glue was developed.

Another clue is the guides for the line. Rods of the 19th and early 20th century have "ring and keeper" guides that fold up against the rod when not used. These gave way after 1910 to "snake" guides, immovable metal coils still used today. Also, most rods before 1920 were 10 to 12 feet long; those made afterward were 6 to 9 feet.

The rod from the collection in the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St.., has three sections plus an extra tip. The rod fits into the grooved sections of the circular piece of wood -- each section having a groove of an appropriate size. Remnants of a cord are attached at two places on the carrier to be tied to hold the sections securely in place. This possibly was then put into a canvas carrying bag.

There are no marks or labels on the rod, but the 1902 edition of the Sears Roebuck Catalog has a rod pictured in the Fishing Tackle Department with a similar description, although no storage carrier is described.

The "Twin Lakes Lancewood Bass Rod made of genuine lancewood throughout; three pieces plus an extra lancewood tip, nickled mountings, raised telescope ferrules, silk wound tie guides and silk wrappings at mountings, solid reel seat above grip, with corrugated zylonite butt. Length, about 8 1/2 to 9 feet. Weight about 14 ounces. Put up in a neat cloth bag. A fine looking rod and one which will please you. Price each -- $1 -- if by mail, postage extra 18 cents."

You'll find the museum's fishing rod "for sale" in the Country Store. You'll notice the extra tip has been broken -- perhaps there is an unknown "fish story" about the one that got away in the unknown history of this rod.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.