Parker-Hawes Fly Rods

[Tom Flanigan]

Nevertheless, a Parker Hawes is leaps above a Montague...
.[/QUOTE]

You'll get no argument from me Dean. I have never fished a Parker-Hawes or a Hawes. All I know about them is the couple I have seen on the market and the general opinion of collectors such as myself. In defense of Montague, their "premium" rod the Manitu was a well finished rod. My grandfather's Manitu rod fishes well and I've always liked it. It certainly is not on a par with my Leonards, but it is a decent fishing rod and I like to play with it from time to time on the Housatonic River in Connecticut, my eastern home river.

[Wild Skies]

Just so there's no confusion . . . H.L. Leonard rods were not hand-planed, the strips were produced with a beveler. A beveler is a little different from a milling machine -- a beveler utilizes two blades cutting with one pass as opposed to a milling machine that has one blade cutting with two or three passes. The old Leonard beveler is now owned and used by former Leonard rod builder Bob Taylor.

[Big D]

Years ago, I bought a blank allegedly made by Bob Taylor. I have no way of actually knowing if he built it. I finished the rod and enjoy it today. It's an 8 foot for 4.

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Greg Baehman

Just so there's no confusion . . . H.L. Leonard rods were not hand-planed, the strips were produced with a beveller. A beveler is a little different from a milling machine -- a beveller utilizes two blades cutting with one pass as to opposed to a milling machine that has one blade cutting with two or three passes. The old Leonard beveller is now owned and used by former Leonard rod builder Bob Taylor.

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That's exactly why I call them the Parker of cane rods. There was some non-manual work done on them but they were, like Parker, pretty much a handmade product that was built with great care. I consider the early Payne rods akin to the older London best doubles, all hand work. Parkers are not the equal of a London best double and Leonard is not equivalent to an early Payne or Garrison, but I love them both.

The beveler you mentioned was kept in a locked room at Leonard and few had access to it. Ted Simroe was my favorite builder at Leonard and I like the rods from his period the best. Others might disagree with that but I have a fondness for his actions. My collection of Leonard's are all Simroe rods except for a light salmon rod that I use for Atlantic salmon. I have fished Ted's rods from coast to coast. I no longer fish Oregon since I have added the coastal cutthroat to my quest to catch each sub species of cutthroat trout in their aboriginal drainages. But I will have a couple of Ted's rods with me this September on my quest for West Slope cutthroats and Bonneville cutthroats to complete my cutthroat slam.