Rod Received as a Gift

mcneishm

mcneishm

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Joined
Aug 15, 2011
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A friend who does not fish, nor does anyone in his family, has just given me a bamboo fly rod that belonged to his father. It is a 3 piece rod and is 8' 6" long. It's in generally very good shape though one of the two tips had been skillfully repaired by my friend's dad. The rod maker is Wright & McGill Rod Co. of Denver. There is a date on the reel seat, April 12, 1938, along with a patent number. Does anyone know anything about the rod or the company that made the rod? Is the date on the reel seat the date of manufacture or the patent date?

I'm planning on trying the rod out in the next week or two. Hopefully the WF5F line I have for my 9' graphite trout rod will work reasonably well with it.

Any information would be appreciated.
 
Patent date. Wright & McGill did not exist until the late 1940’s. I’m also going to assume it is a two piece rod with an extra tip section and not a 3 piece rod per se. There is a nice write up on these rods on the classic fly rod forum That should help you. I would post a link but I don’t think it’s allowed. Easy enough to google though.
 
mcneishm said:
A friend who does not fish, nor does anyone in his family, has just given me a bamboo fly rod that belonged to his father. It is a 3 piece rod and is 8' 6" long. It's in generally very good shape though one of the two tips had been skillfully repaired by my friend's dad. The rod maker is Wright & McGill Rod Co. of Denver. There is a date on the reel seat, April 12, 1938, along with a patent number. Does anyone know anything about the rod or the company that made the rod? Is the date on the reel seat the date of manufacture or the patent date?

I'm planning on trying the rod out in the next week or two. Hopefully the WF5F line I have for my 9' graphite trout rod will work reasonably well with it.

Any information would be appreciated.
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Dear mcneishm,

Granger Rods were built in Denver from the 1920's. Eventually after WWII Wright and McGill, of Eagle Claw fame, took over ownership and operation of the Granger Bamboo rod company.

I own several Granger and W&M rods. Most are similar to the rod you describe and are 8 1/2 to 9 ft in length. Except for one that is an obvious 7wt by the old letter inscription on the rod they are very nice rods for the average bamboo user. All of them except for the 7wt cast nicely for me with a Cortland Sylk DT5. A Cortland old style 444 Peach colored line in DT5 or WF6 will do great too.

Fish it and enjoy it!

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
poopdeck said:
Patent date. Wright & McGill did not exist until the late 1940’s. I’m also going to assume it is a two piece rod with an extra tip section and not a 3 piece rod per se. There is a nice write up on these rods on the classic fly rod forum That should help you. I would post a link but I don’t think it’s allowed. Easy enough to google though.
Click to expand...
It is indeed a 3 piece rod. See picture below. See also Tim Murphy's reply above vis-a-vis Wright & McGill. The rod case has the word "Granger" underneath Wright & McGill.

Gift rod 2
 
TimMurphy said:
Dear mcneishm,

Granger Rods were built in Denver from the 1920's. Eventually after WWII Wright and McGill, of Eagle Claw fame, took over ownership and operation of the Granger Bamboo rod company.

I own several Granger and W&M rods. Most are similar to the rod you describe and are 8 1/2 to 9 ft in length. Except for one that is an obvious 7wt by the old letter inscription on the rod they are very nice rods for the average bamboo user. All of them except for the 7wt cast nicely for me with a Cortland Sylk DT5. A Cortland old style 444 Peach colored line in DT5 or WF6 will do great too.

Fish it and enjoy it!

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
Click to expand...
Tim - The rod case does have the word "Granger" underneath the Wright & McGill name. Not sure how or when my friend's dad came into the rod. I have a picture of my friend holding the rod in which he looks about 9 or 10. That would put the time of the picture 65 or so years ago, say 1958. The date stamped on the reel seat is April 12, 1938. Do you think that is the date of manufacture or the date of the patent?
 
TimMurphy said:
Dear mcneishm,

Granger Rods were built in Denver from the 1920's. Eventually after WWII Wright and McGill, of Eagle Claw fame, took over ownership and operation of the Granger Bamboo rod company.

I own several Granger and W&M rods. Most are similar to the rod you describe and are 8 1/2 to 9 ft in length. Except for one that is an obvious 7wt by the old letter inscription on the rod they are very nice rods for the average bamboo user. All of them except for the 7wt cast nicely for me with a Cortland Sylk DT5. A Cortland old style 444 Peach colored line in DT5 or WF6 will do great too.

Fish it and enjoy it!

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
Click to expand...
Do you have any idea of the value of the rod?
 
W&M acquired Granger immediately after WWII. They stopped producing bamboo rods in 1954 (those by special order only) so you can fairly assume the rod was made in 1946 - 1953 time frame.

They're nice rods. Do you know which model it is?
 
mcneishm said:
Tim - The rod case does have the word "Granger" underneath the Wright & McGill name. Not sure how or when my friend's dad came into the rod. I have a picture of my friend holding the rod in which he looks about 9 or 10. That would put the time of the picture 65 or so years ago, say 1958. The date stamped on the reel seat is April 12, 1938. Do you think that is the date of manufacture or the date of the patent?
Click to expand...
Dear mcneishm,

I'm really not sure but I suspect it is the date of the patent for the reel seat.

I have a Granger 9050 Victory that is inscribed Wright & McGill made by Granger Rod Company Denver CO

I have a Granger 9060 Victory that is inscribed made by Goodwin Granger Rod Company Denver CO

I have a Wright & McGill Stream Boss inscribed made by Wright & McGill Denver CO

I can't find any dates on the reel seats but they are all the exact same style of reel seat common on Granger Rods.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Goodwin Grainger and W&M Grainger made rods in a number of quality grades on the same tapers. They're very good rods worth owning.

It appears to be a W&M Grainger "Special" grade rod based on the wrap colors, which were either gold or parakeet green depending on the production year. One of the common 8 1/2-foot models was the 8642, which was mostly fished with a HEH silk line, about equal to an AFTMA DT5 synthetic line.

Several members of The Classic Fly Rod Forum collect Grainger rods and are very knowlegeable. It's easy to register and ask questions. Do that in the Appraisals & Identification of Bamboo Fly Rods forum:

A thread from the forum:

I hope this helps.
 
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That rod appears to be in very good condition although it looks like one tip was broken and repaired.
 
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