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Ahoy Fly Fisher Folks

4K views 31 replies 8 participants last post by  CCSteveL 
#1 · (Edited)
Just got a call from the Chairman of the board of the Fly Fishing Museum Of The Southern
Appalachians, to inform me that my Grandpa's E. C. Powell split bamboo flyrod is now on display in the museum.
I am pumped.
Of all my Grandpa's grandsons, he chose me to teach the art of the flyrod.
The picture is laying on its left side.
********** Quick fixed it for me ***********

On the bottom of the the case, the right rear is a small blue book written by the rod maker.
to the left of that is a picture of my Grandpa netting a trout in Arizona.
On the left rear, is my Grandpa's leather fly wallet showing the white felt that holds the flies.
In the foreground is my Grandpa holding some trout in front of his old Jeep wagon.
 

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#3 ·
Thanks, I had my first lesson on that rod on 7-4-48 at Bay Creek Illinois.
We caught rock bass.
It led to a lifetime of flyfishing. I am honored.

Because of that, I authored a book titled "When Grandpa Came To Town."
I'm gonna have a few copies made for family.
 
#4 ·
Looks a lot like my dad's rod that I took lessons on in the mid 50's. Unfortunately that rod was not preserved (my bad) and I've regretted that forever. It led me into a lifetime of fishing. Thanks for the memories, and thanks dad for the lessons. Back in those days it was what MEN did...bird hunting and fly fishing. I soon was raiding the chicken house for feathers and mom's sewing basket for other essentials to tie my own flies. You just never forget the elation acquired by catching your first fish on a fly that you tied. Doesn't matter that it was only a bluegill...bluegills on the fly remains my favorite still today. That reminds me, it's about time for my grandson's next lesson...come on springtime.
Walt
 
#6 ·
Keep them flyrods waving. :)
I tied my first fly using vise-grips for a tying vise, and I guess I've caught a jillion bluegills on the flyrod.
Your grandson is a lucky boy to have a flyfishing Grandpa.
 
#5 ·
Bug, I might be interested in a copy of your book if you have extras to sell.

Hopalong, when I was a kid the local tackle shop had a employ that was somewhat renound locally. He gave lessons on fly fishing and fly tiring. My uncle ran a eggs farm and he supplied me with chicken feathers and possum hides from the egg farm. Charlie my cat and taffy my dog both contributed on a regular basis. I did not have a commercial fly tiring vise but I improvised one using an exact carving knife. Life was good back in the 50s is the southlands.
 
#7 ·
I'm only going to make four copies. for my wife, daughter, niece, and baby brother.
It's an autobiography beginning 4-19-43, my birthday, and it covers trapping, squirrel hunting, rabbit hunting, killing hogs, my mom's cooking, and of course fishing.

So instead of reading mine, you should write one for your family, I'm sure they'd thank you for it. Once you start the first chapter, it goes like a house afire, and it'll be a very satisfying en-devour.
 
#9 ·
Well, it's not mine any more. I donated it to the museum. But it has my name and my Grandpa's name on the display case.
And when I get up there in the spring, I'm gonna have mine and my wife's name put on the aquarium as museum supporters.

Mike, I still have the first fiberglass rod I bought as a kid. 7' 9" 7wt
and I have a 12' high-sticking rod I built myself. 6wt.

All the others are in new homes, mainly to nephews.
 
#11 ·
I too used an old pair of vice grips for a vise and then put them in the big work bench vise. Tied the awfullest looking flies anyone ever saw, but the fish understood I was just a beginner with limited supplies and ate 'em anyway. There was one pond in walking distance and three more in bicycle or horse back range and I hit'em all. Rigged up a scabbard for my fly rod on the bike and saddle. Dang, I'm getting the fever, gotta GO!
Walt
 
#13 ·
Bugeye, I see said you still have your first fiberglass rod, that's neat. I will be 77 on Mar. 23, when I was about 12 I wanted a fiberglass fly rod. The one I wanted was 9.95 and I got the money for my birthday. That day we got a killer snow storm, I would normally walk to the sporting goods store but my dad drove me over to get it, I was very happy. They were still selling bamboo fly rods for 4.95 with an extra tip (I think they were made in the Philippines) they were not quality rods and broke easily. I still fly fish, just for bluegills, I'm a popper and spider man.

mike
 
#14 ·
You sound just like me, I'll be 76 in April.
I got my rod when I was 10 if my Dad remembered right, and when you clean the grip you can still see 6.95 on it. Ink must have been really good stuff back then. :)
As a kid I had permission to fish about every pond in the county and I dragged home some nice stringers of bluegills.
I can't flyfish any more because of my thumbs. My left one is pinned together in the large joint and the right thumb needs to be pinned.
But yes, I've done my share of trout and bass fishing, but I'd rather be "catching" bluegills than "casting" for trout. Besides, in the brains department, a big copper belly bull bluegill make a trout look stupid.
 
#15 ·
I have done some trout fishing in a drift boat in the upper part of the lower peninsula of Mi. Its fun but a lot of the good trout streams are catch and release. Well, I'm a catch and eat kind of guy. I don't think any fish fights harder for their size then a bluegill. Here where I live we have really good fishing, lakes, streams and rivers. We have a dozen lakes within five miles of my house. I see you live in Ga. your fish are bigger because of the warmer climate. I have always thought I would like go fishing in the south because I just know there some whopper bluegills down there. BYW my hands hurt most of the time (arthritis)too. This getting old isn't for the faint of heart!!

mike
 
#20 ·
The bass do grow bigger down here, but if a pond is not managed properly it is soon filled with 2" bluegills.
I actually caught more big bulls in Illinois than I have in Georgia.
I think a shorter growing season make bluegills more aggressive and they grow quicker as a result.
I fished some ponds up there where every fish I caught was a keeper, but down here you catch 10 little ones for each keeper.
 
#18 ·
If it is a quality rod and has been stored properly it’s worth restoring. I used to like fishing bamboo. Weather it was a cane pole or a fly rod. They seemed to bring you,closer to being a fishermen.

Today’s power rods and fast cranking reels with modern braid line where you can jerk a fish from under a Lilly pad and right into the boat just is not fishing. It’s like modern day NFL. No soul or ethics in the sport.
 
#24 ·
Thanks; I am really pumped about it being in the museum.
I can look at that picture and go back in time 70 years.

That rod is 84 years old.
 
#22 ·
you burst my bubble but it is the same here. We have big bluegills but as you said if a lake is underfished it is full of 2" gills. Here a 5# bass is a big bass (I have never caught a 5# bass and I have done a lot of bass fishing). I think you guys use a 5#r for bait. In the spring when gills are on the beds we can catch a lot of nice fish. Other times of year it is hit or miss. Doesn't matter fishing is fun.

mike
 
#23 ·
Yep, I love to fish.
My wife has to go with me now. I shake so bad that I can't tie on a hook, but I can still bait it up.
And she casts for me, with my tremor, I end up wrapping the line around the tip.:tango_face_grin:
 
#25 ·
Congratulations Bugeye! I myself am not a fly fisherman but if you go to the museum the drift boat that is on display belonged to a friend of mine. He was the first drift boat guide on the Hiawassee river.


Bruce
 
#26 ·
I saw that boat on my first visit there.
Just looking at it I'd say that he had to be a strong man to handle it in swift water.
I should have booked a guide when I could still flyfish to have that experience.
 
#27 ·
Yes He was a pretty strong guy. When he first built the boat I floated the river with him to do some photographs of him and the boat on the water. I watched him row up stream about 30-40 yards in a pretty good current to get into position for some of the photographs. I was impressed.
His ex-wife (also a friend) is also well known in the fly fishing world. She just recently set a world record for short billed spearfish on flyrod.


Bruce
 
#28 ·
Wow, this is interesting. I fly fished in the Tampa Bay Area as a young man. Caught some fish. Cast to tarpons but never could get them to bite. Don’t know how I would a landed one anyway in my canoe.

I did love trout fishing in Tennessee and North Carolina on vacations.

I’d like to see the museum someday.
 
#29 ·
Round up that son of yours and head up to Bryson City NC
Good BBQ and the museum is free.
 
#30 ·
Well folks, my wife and I just returned from a few days in the NC and TN mountains.
I finally got to stand in front of my Grandpa's flyrod on display in 'The Fly Fishing Museum of The Southern Appalachians.'
It was a very emotional moment for this old man.
It was difficult to keep from shedding a tear or two.
I was THE grandson that he chose to teach the fine art of flyfishing and I'm grateful that he did, I have wonderful memories of he and I fishing together.
So, if any of y'all get to Bryson City NC, drop in to the museum (free) and see the best examples of the bamboo flyrod makers art.
My rod is in a stand alone glass case since it's the only example they have of a E.C. Powell rod.
It contains the rod, a small book by the maker, my Grandpa's fly wallet, and two pictures of Grandpa using the rod and holding two trout taken in the mountains of northern Arizona.

Tight lines y'all.:tango_face_smile:
 
#32 · (Edited)
I got a bamboo from a neighbor who bought it in the 50's from a fellow who used it as a spinning rod for "salters" as the locals call sea run brook trout. The butt cap says " The Divine Rod" B927. Being in poor shape, I found online a guy in CO who restored all bamboo rods. Anyway, I sent it out to the restorer, and when he received it he called me, stating that he had for a few years a bamboo rod expert who lived a few hours away that Jeff would call whenever he got a rod he was not familiar with. Jeff stated he had never met the man, and when he told him about my rod, the guy said he would like to see it in person and was coming the next morning. Anyway, Jeff called the next evening, with an offer from the rod collector. When I told him it was a gift and I couldn't sell it, the restorer explained the guy had come and identified the rod as a Divine, with the B serial number being 1914. He also stated the rod was the Cadillac of bamboo and someone paid 40 dollars for it in 1914. Then the restorer started whispering in the phone,as he did not want his wife to hear, explaining he would love to restore it for less money than he had originally quoted. Anyway, when he finished in early spring he asked if he could keep it for a few more weeks to display at the annual CO fly fishing show. I told him definitely, and now it hangs on my wall.
251340
 
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