Besides farming, I can be equally boring about fishing (trout, grayling and salmon).
Anyway, I was recently gifted a hardy princess fly reel (an expensive reel in its day).
I'm going to pair it with a 9' hardy perfection split cane fly rod ( an expensive rod in its day) which was also gifted to me 10 or so years ago.
Been doing a bit of research on both, to see if they are contemporary.
The rod is easy enough from its serial number. July 1959, so about 5 years older than me.
The reel less easy. No unique number (or number of any kind) just features particular to construction, though features did overlap, partially because they'd use old stock parts on new designs until they were gone. Apparently, does the line guard have one fixing screw or two is an indicator, two is older.
So, got it dated to between 1965 and 72. The princess was made before and after those dates, but the features of my reel narrow it down.
Unfortunately, you won't get lines that age.
Most fly lines now are plastic coated. In the 50s, silk was still prevalent. You can still get silk lines from specialist boutique manufacturers. Might need to splash out. They're comparatively expensive (£200 compared to £60 for a modern line).
It wouldn't get a huge amount of use as modern equipment is far more user friendly.
I've used the rod on a number of occasions with modern reels and lines. It is heavy though.
It would nice to have a full set up of 'antique' equipment for occasional use.
Anyway, I was recently gifted a hardy princess fly reel (an expensive reel in its day).
I'm going to pair it with a 9' hardy perfection split cane fly rod ( an expensive rod in its day) which was also gifted to me 10 or so years ago.
Been doing a bit of research on both, to see if they are contemporary.
The rod is easy enough from its serial number. July 1959, so about 5 years older than me.
The reel less easy. No unique number (or number of any kind) just features particular to construction, though features did overlap, partially because they'd use old stock parts on new designs until they were gone. Apparently, does the line guard have one fixing screw or two is an indicator, two is older.
So, got it dated to between 1965 and 72. The princess was made before and after those dates, but the features of my reel narrow it down.
Unfortunately, you won't get lines that age.
Most fly lines now are plastic coated. In the 50s, silk was still prevalent. You can still get silk lines from specialist boutique manufacturers. Might need to splash out. They're comparatively expensive (£200 compared to £60 for a modern line).
It wouldn't get a huge amount of use as modern equipment is far more user friendly.
I've used the rod on a number of occasions with modern reels and lines. It is heavy though.
It would nice to have a full set up of 'antique' equipment for occasional use.



