Posted on June 27 2013
Several years ago Andy Manchester of Old Yankee Rod Smiths was able to purchase a bundle of vintage seven foot long Hardy Sceptre fiberglass blanks which were designed and imported by Anglersmail. After building many of these for clients, he found himself this spring with one last blank which he was asked to build by Mike Bowser.
Created with flickr slideshow.
Besides the normal cleaning up, removing of tape, and slightly trimming up this forty year old blank, Andy also put this blank through his propitiatory infused flex enhancement which helps with dampening and casting accuracy. One of the most interesting aspects of these vintage blanks is that through testing and time spent on the water, it's been found that these blanks are quite versatile and will handle fly lines from three to six weights.
Andy was kind enough to add me to his email correspondence with Mike and he sent frequent updates and photographs of this build, which they decided to name "The Tail Out". This build came together step by step over the last couple of months and I was able to get a real sense of commitment that Andy has with his customers. This final Sceptre build really turned out to be something special and in the end passed final inspection from Andy's 90 year old father who looks over every build that leaves the Old Yankee Rod Smiths shop.
More of Andy's work can be found on the Fiberglass Flyrodders website as well as visiting his Old Yankee profile page. Andy can be contacted by email at andymanyankee@yahoo.com if you'd like to discuss a custom fly rod build of your own with him.
Besides the normal cleaning up, removing of tape, and slightly trimming up this forty year old blank, Andy also put this blank through his propitiatory infused flex enhancement which helps with dampening and casting accuracy. One of the most interesting aspects of these vintage blanks is that through testing and time spent on the water, it's been found that these blanks are quite versatile and will handle fly lines from three to six weights.
Andy was kind enough to add me to his email correspondence with Mike and he sent frequent updates and photographs of this build, which they decided to name "The Tail Out". This build came together step by step over the last couple of months and I was able to get a real sense of commitment that Andy has with his customers. This final Sceptre build really turned out to be something special and in the end passed final inspection from Andy's 90 year old father who looks over every build that leaves the Old Yankee Rod Smiths shop.
More of Andy's work can be found on the Fiberglass Flyrodders website as well as visiting his Old Yankee profile page. Andy can be contacted by email at andymanyankee@yahoo.com if you'd like to discuss a custom fly rod build of your own with him.
