For the Fly Fishermen!

[Jerry Andrews]

Those rods are from Occupied Japan, most of them were called " Sakura Rod Kits". They made it into this country in pretty decent numbers at one point, a lot of hardware stores handled them. Nice find. Jerry

[Roundsworth]

Dad said he bought 3 of the outfits. He was in Korea for about a year and a half and managed some R&R in Tokyo. How long or often, I don't know. It was quite an expedition getting from his base to Japan, he said. I bought my house from the folks and they left a few surprises for me. I had to call Dad to get the full story on the fly rod when I found it.

Mark, if your father bought this in about 1952- that was still in the silk fly line era- and the alpha lettering system for weight and taper- about 1954 in Midland MI the Scientific Anglers Co. got started and revised fly lines. If you have some friends who fly fish,I'd suggest trying their lined fly reels on this rod and lawn cast- find the combo that seems to be best for you- remembering the mantra- "Casting ain't catching"--

When you assemble the rod with the ferrules, I use a dab of waterless hand soap on a Q-tip to lubricate them- and always wipe any moisture off the varnish before you put it away. A proper length of PVC tubing makes a good utility rod case for transport-

Hope you take up fly fishing- it is a great sport and many avid bird hunters are also fly fishermen.