Bamboo Fly Rods
Goodwin Granger began making bamboo fly rods after World War I and officially started his business in the early twenties out of Denver Colorado. Goodwin was the Henry Ford of fishing rods, standardizing many aspects of the rods across each model. This revolutionary process allowed him to mass produce very high quality rods, typically only seen from the custom craftsmen of the time. In addition, this meant even the lowest grade rods received the same quality finishes of nickle silver ferrules, silk windings, and premium cork. Only the quality of the bamboo significantly varied within the models, leaving us today with many very high quality rods still capable of landing trophy fish. Unfortunately Goodwin died at a young age in 1931, and Bill Phillipson took the helm guiding the factory to many wonderful rods. The plant was shut down at the start of WWII.
|
From the HL Leonard Rod Company website:
"In 1869, Hiram Lewis Leonard designed and built his first fishing rod of ash and lancewood in Bangor, Maine. A friend suggested he send it to a sporting goods house in Boston, Bradford and Anthony. They were so impressed with his work that they commissioned him to build four-strip cane rods for them. Leonard subsequently adapted the six-strip principle to his cane rods and thus was born the first commercially built six-strip cane rod as we know it today. In 1881 the Leonard factory was moved to Central Valley, N.Y. Many famous rod makers learned their trade under apprenticeship to Hiram Leonard: Ed Payne, Fred Thomas, Billy Edwards, and the Hawes brothers." Once you have held a Leonard you come to realize why all his apprentices and their subsequent apprentices are such renowned rod makers. The craft of quality is reflected in all aspects. |
From the RL Winston website:
"Robert Winther and Lew Stoner started what is known today as or the R.L. Winston Rod Company. Originally calling their company the Winston-Stoner Manufacturing Co., they later combined elements from both their names, and renamed it the R.L. Winston Rod Company. Technicians at heart, they began the Winston tradition of archiving each rod with a journal entry and a serial number. Almost immediately, the bamboo rods these two men built earned a reputation for performance and exceptional quality" These are truly incredible rods to fish. |
The original Granger company was forced into closer at the beginning of the war effort due to lack of supply in raw materials. Wright McGill purchased the rights to the Goodwin Granger Company after World War II ended and began replicating the Goodwin process. There are many detailed accounts as to what changed and what remained the same, but the simple fact is Wright McGill carried on a tradition of making high quality bamboo rods. The only marked difference is that there were many more Wright McGill rods manufactured and hence less rare.
|