Shakespeare "Wonderod" Fans?

[WildTigerTrout]

Recently I found an old white Wonderod in brand new unfished condition. It is 3 piece 8'6" Model No. FY-230 from the "Executive " Series. Made in September 1965 and weighs 4.9 oz. Seems to be a grade above any Wonderods I have seen in the past. The wraps are black and tan and really nice. It has a down locking black anodized aluminum full CORK reel seat. It also came from the factory with a felt lined zippered case.

I know they made a lot of Wonderods but I think this one was limited to one year in Shakespeare's Catalog, 1966.

I tried several fly lines I have laying around here and settled on a Cortland Classic SYLK 6WF and a Medalist 1494 reel. This is not your average soft and/or slow fiberglass rod. It is fast for fiberglass. I can cast it with ease. I worked with the rod on the lawn but have not fished it yet. May give it a go later this week.

Wondering if anyone here has a Wonderod and what your opinions are about them. Any comments? Thank you for any input. WTT

 

[ColdBore]

My first fly rod was a 6' 6" Wonderod.

My father bought it for me in probably the mid-70's.

It caught a ton of fish for me for a lot of years.

It's still here; I keep meaning to take it out and play with it on a stream again, along with my late father's old Fenwick rod of the same era.

 

[tomgamber]

I have one of these at home. I'll try to remember to take pics. This one is signed with custom wraps. It came with an identical version with less flashy wraps. I think one was for fishing and one was for looking at.

 

[redietz]

My first rod back in '63 was a Wonderod. That one is long gone, but I've since acquired a 7'6" six weight that's hard to beat for what I paid for it. I'm definitely a fan.

 

[tomgamber]

here is the rod i mentioned earlier.

would be interested to hear any comments on this rod.

anyone know any of these guys?

thanks

 

[afishinado]

tomgamber wrote:
here is the rod i mentioned earlier.

would be interested to hear any comments on this rod.

anyone know any of these guys?

thanks

Phil Harris >

 

[redietz]

Who knew that Baloo the Bear fished?

Bare Necessities

 

[springer1]

Wondering if anyone here has a Wonderod and what your opinions are about them. Any comments? Thank you for any input. WTT

About 1/2 of my fishing over the last 5 years has been done with 7’ and 7’6” Wonderods. The versatility of these shorter versions is amazing. I’ve also rebuilt numerous examples of these versions for people.

In general, the shorter examples of the quality vintage fiberglass are a joy to fish with.

 

[Bamboozle]

WildTigerTrout wrote:
Recently I found an old white Wonderod in brand new unfished condition. It is 3 piece 8'6" Model No. FY-230 from the "Executive " Series. Made in September 1965 and weighs 4.9 oz. Seems to be a grade above any Wonderods I have seen in the past. The wraps are black and tan and really nice. It has a down locking black anodized aluminum full CORK reel seat. It also came from the factory with a felt lined zippered case.

I know they made a lot of Wonderods but I think this one was limited to one year in Shakespeare's Catalog, 1966.

I tried several fly lines I have laying around here and settled on a Cortland Classic SYLK 6WF and a Medalist 1494 reel. This is not your average soft and/or slow fiberglass rod. It is fast for fiberglass. I can cast it with ease. I worked with the rod on the lawn but have not fished it yet. May give it a go later this week.

Wondering if anyone here has a Wonderod and what your opinions are about them. Any comments? Thank you for any input. WTT

The FY-230 8’6” “Executive” was only offered in the 1966 catalog for $58.00. It is described as rated for an HCH or C line, a 7 weight in today’s world. If you are using a 6wt line, that may explain why it feels fast to you.

The description in the 1966 catalog read:

FY-230 EXECUTIVE FLY WONDEROD
The finest fly rod ever built. For all ‘round use with bugs, spinners, streamers and dry flies. Three-piece tubular construction. Prestige Wonderod white blade with grey nylon winds, black extended trim and two decorative bands. Has 6-3/4 inch extra select specie cork cigar-shaped grip with black skeleton-style screw locking reel seat; stainless steel stripping guide and snake guides, with rust-proof tip-top. Packed in super deluxe padded black leatherette carrying case. Weighs 4.9 ounces.

No. FY-230 Length; 8’6” Guides: 7 Lines: C, HCG & 6MH

As far as my own Wonderod experiences go, I have an A-1280-T from 1950 which is a 2pc 7’9” 6wt with the spring loaded reel seat which is sweet. I also own a 1390 from 1956, a 3pc 8’6” 7wt rod in the super beefy aluminum tube that I have been using with a vintage Shakespeare automatic reel for old time’s sake.

 

[tztrout]

Jim Zumbo was the hunting editor for Outdoor Life magazine iirc

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Bamboozle wrote:

WildTigerTrout wrote:
Recently I found an old white Wonderod in brand new unfished condition. It is 3 piece 8'6" Model No. FY-230 from the "Executive " Series. Made in September 1965 and weighs 4.9 oz. Seems to be a grade above any Wonderods I have seen in the past. The wraps are black and tan and really nice. It has a down locking black anodized aluminum full CORK reel seat. It also came from the factory with a felt lined zippered case.

I know they made a lot of Wonderods but I think this one was limited to one year in Shakespeare's Catalog, 1966.

I tried several fly lines I have laying around here and settled on a Cortland Classic SYLK 6WF and a Medalist 1494 reel. This is not your average soft and/or slow fiberglass rod. It is fast for fiberglass. I can cast it with ease. I worked with the rod on the lawn but have not fished it yet. May give it a go later this week.

Wondering if anyone here has a Wonderod and what your opinions are about them. Any comments? Thank you for any input. WTT

The FY-230 8’6” “Executive” was only offered in the 1966 catalog for $58.00. It is described as rated for an HCH or C line, a 7 weight in today’s world. If you are using a 6wt line, that may explain why it feels fast to you.

The description in the 1966 catalog read:

FY-230 EXECUTIVE FLY WONDEROD
The finest fly rod ever built. For all ‘round use with bugs, spinners, streamers and dry flies. Three-piece tubular construction. Prestige Wonderod white blade with grey nylon winds, black extended trim and two decorative bands. Has 6-3/4 inch extra select specie cork cigar-shaped grip with black skeleton-style screw locking reel seat; stainless steel stripping guide and snake guides, with rust-proof tip-top. Packed in super deluxe padded black leatherette carrying case. Weighs 4.9 ounces.

No. FY-230 Length; 8’6” Guides: 7 Lines: C, HCG & 6MH

As far as my own Wonderod experiences go, I have an A-1280-T from 1950 which is a 2pc 7’9” 6wt with the spring loaded reel seat which is sweet. I also own a 1390 from 1956, a 3pc 8’6” 7wt rod in the super beefy aluminum tube that I have been using with a vintage Shakespeare automatic reel for old time’s sake.

Thank you so much for the additional information. I thought it may be a 7 weight but it casts really nice with the Cortland Classic Sylk 6WF line. I am going to fish this rod tomorrow. Heading to Spring Creek to try it out. Will let you know how it works out.

 

[Bamboozle]

WildTigerTrout wrote:
Thank you so much for the additional information. I thought it may be a 7 weight but it casts really nice with the Cortland Classic Sylk 6WF line. I am going to fish this rod tomorrow. Heading to Spring Creek to try it out. Will let you know how it works out.

Whatever line works for you is the right line.

Enjoy!

 

[tomgamber]

tztrout wrote:
Jim Zumbo was the hunting editor for Outdoor Life magazine iirc

yes, i wishfully read it that way too the very first time. I have several of Zumbo's books. He's freaking hilarious. But It actually looks like "Ziembo". Who knows.

tom

 

[gulfgreyhound]

My era show! Thanks, Afish. Tom, how did you get that rod? GG

 

[tomgamber]

ebay... came with a bunch of bamboo and parts that needed refurbished. There was all sorts of stuff in this lot. When I freelanced from home I built and rebuilt some rods. It was fun. I also taught my self a whole bunch of chords on the guitar and tied a ton of flies, fished every other day or so but I don't do any of those things any longer. It was like retiring but with a slot limit.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear WTT,

I have two, a 7'6" 5 weight and an 8'6" 7 weight Presidential Series Wonder-Rod. I enjoy using them with a Pflueger Medalist and a JW Young Speedex multiplier reel respectively.

I just bought some Cortland Sylk lines to use on them. As far as I am concerned they cast and fish OK with Cortland 444 peach lines but the guides are tiny compared to the guides on more modern rods and I am hoping that the thinner diameter of the Sylk proves to be beneficial?

I'll be interested to hear how your rod worked with the Sylk line today?

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Bamboozle]

TimMurphy wrote:
Dear WTT,

I have two, a 7'6" 5 weight and an 8'6" 7 weight Presidential Series Wonder-Rod. I enjoy using them with a Pflueger Medalist and a JW Young Speedex multiplier reel respectively.

I just bought some Cortland Sylk lines to use on them. As far as I am concerned they cast and fish OK with Cortland 444 peach lines but the guides are tiny compared to the guides on more modern rods and I am hoping that the thinner diameter of the Sylk proves to be beneficial?

I'll be interested to hear how your rod worked with the Sylk line today?

Regards,

Tim Murphy

I own more than a few old rods with smaller guides from the mid 1940's to early 1950's including a couple of 7 weights and the only time the size of the guides and a modern plastic line presented more of a problem versus larger modern guides was with icing in the winter.

There is also the Tom Morgan school of thought that smaller guides are better.

Regardless...

While there are differing opinions, I am not a fan of the Sylk on any rod I tried it on. It has a very soft coating which is gets even softer in hot weather and in my experience it is not a great shooter like real silk and isn't a great floater either.

A better option for older rods may be a 406 Fly Line from a company in Montana. They are made for 406 by SciAnglers with all of the bells & whistles and a thinner coating versus a standard SciAngler line. They also have a harder coating than a Sylk and shoot great.

People who use them rave about them.

As usual YMMV

 

[redietz]

Bamboozle wrote:

I own more than a few old rods with smaller guides from the mid 1940's to early 1950's including a couple of 7 weights and the only time the size of the guides and a modern plastic line presented more of a problem versus larger modern guides was with icing in the winter.

...

While there are differing opinions, I am not a fan of the Sylk on any rod I tried it on. It has a very soft coating which is gets even softer in hot weather and in my experience it is not a great shooter like real silk and isn't a great floater either.

I do have problems smaller guides with some lines. It's not necessarily the thickness of the line, but the memory. A kinked line doesn't go through small guides very easily.

I'm a huge fan of Sylk. It stays limber even in winter, and I have no problem shooting line with it. And it's true to weight. I use it pretty much on everything.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear redietz,

Your comments echo my experience with Sylk though I've only used it on a South Bend 290 bamboo.

I have a Fenwick Fenglas, 857FF is the model IIRC. It's an 8'6" 7 weight. The guides on that rod are so small it would struggle to cast with a spinning reel and 2 pound test. Even WF7 444 peach is like trying to cast a rope.

I'm more than a little bit confident that Fenwick, a South Bend 24 bamboo, and my Shakespeare Presidential 7 weight will benefit from Cortland Sylk.

We shall see.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[WildTigerTrout]

TimMurphy wrote:
Dear WTT,

I have two, a 7'6" 5 weight and an 8'6" 7 weight Presidential Series Wonder-Rod. I enjoy using them with a Pflueger Medalist and a JW Young Speedex multiplier reel respectively.

I just bought some Cortland Sylk lines to use on them. As far as I am concerned they cast and fish OK with Cortland 444 peach lines but the guides are tiny compared to the guides on more modern rods and I am hoping that the thinner diameter of the Sylk proves to be beneficial?

I'll be interested to hear how your rod worked with the Sylk line today?

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Tim, I did not get out today to try it. The first chance I get I will, and then let you know how I make out. WTT