Jarvis Walker Rods

[arpie]

Hi guys

I have just upgraded my kayak blackie rod from the 'old agate runner Black Queen with cork handles' to a nice new sleek one with the hyperlon handles (it is also a bit longer than my original one.)

I had seen a bloke who had had his old Black Queen given a Renovation & it looked terrific ...... and he mentioned that there were a series of rods - also a Black Prince & some others!

Anyone know any of the others? Check out your old rods in the shed/garage ...... I am sure you will find one!

Funnily enough, I had an old fibreglass rod in the 'parts bin' & had removed all the old stuffed runners & thought "this would make a nice safety flag pole' for my kayak, so I added the corner from my 'V sheet' to the top of the rod & have my safety flag! It sits in one of my rod holders.

I only just noticed that it is green Jarvis Walker solid fibreglass rod, called a Clarence! It would have been a good blackie rod in its day too! Must have picked it up in a garage sale, I reckon!

So, pull out the thinking caps & see who can come up with any others in the 'queen, prince range'?

Cheerio

Roberta

[slinkymalinky]

Hi Roberta,

Don't know about the others but my very first 'serious' fishing rods as a teenager were a JW black queen (black with red & black binding), a Black Prince that I used for trout spinning (black with green & black binding)... neither of which I still have. I also had a Jarvis Walker Gold Medal tubular glass fly rod that, short of a Hardy rod, was pretty special to have way back then. I still have this one and every time I think I should get rid of it, the sentimental side of me says 'NO!' so it's still in my cupboard with my other much newer, much better fly rods.

Cheers, Slinky

[arpie]

Thanks for that Slinky! My old Black Queen must be older than yours, I reckon - it is black but has red bindings & the runners were fairly thin wire (about the same thickness as you see on most fly rods, compared to the newer thicker runners) with dark brown/red translucent agate inserts. They are also really tiny, so even a bit of wool would get stuck in them when casting & those rubber stoppers never had a chance of getting thru!

So you reckon the Black Prince was also solid glass? Maybe a bit longer than the Queen? Just checked my old Queen - it must be about 6ft, so the new one must be 7 - 7 1/2ft.

Roberta

ps getting some more weed flies from Pete

[Hodgey]

Hi Roberta

The first two 'hand-me-down' rods I ever received were a Black Queen Deluxe and a Bonnie Doon. I had a Mitchell spinning reel on the Queenie, and a Crouch reel on the Bonnie Doon. The Queenie was my rod for throwing hogbacks and floppies , and the Bonnie Doon was used for angling. Both rods still reside with Hodgey Senior in Vic. Both rods would be roughly 40 years old now I reckon.

Cheers

Hodgey

[arpie]

ooooooh! Hodgey - an upmarket Deluxe Black Queen!!! Wonder what was different from the normal one (apart from the price, perhaps!!)

My brand new one was only $25 - so a terrific entry level rod for anyone considering blackie fishing, especially from a boat. You really only need the longer ones if fishing from the rocks!

Cheerio

Roberta

[zook2001]

Hodgey’s right on the money as to the age of those rods as the Clarence was my first rod back in the late sixties and early seventies, used to good effect trout fishing out at Wyangala and school holidays at Bonnie Vale Beach for whiting and tiny flatties.

I must of went though about five crappy Daiwa reels before getting a Mitchell, still can’t bring myself to buy a Daiwa after all these years.

My dad and uncle used the Bonnie Doon,a bit shorter If I recall correctly and the old Muldoon surf rod is still in the shed. It's really amazing you can still walk into ***** and buy a Solid Glass JWE rod after all these years

Regards

Charles

[Berleyguts]

I think my first "own" rod as a kid (i.e. apart from split cane hand-me-downs) was a Jarvis Walker Bonnie Doon. Did the job for me!

Baz

[arpie]

Hey Hodgey, I'd love to see a pic of the Bonnie Doon & even the Black Prince if anyone still has one in the garage!

What was a Crouch Reel? Never heard of that one??

Cheeiro

Roberta

[slinkymalinky]

Hey Hodgey,

My Black Queen was the 'Deluxe' too. Not sure it's too deluxe by today's standards. And purely by coincidence, my one 'really special' lure was an original tan/flesh coloured flopy. I never caught a fish with it... I used to catch most of my trout (before fly fishing took over) with either wonder wobblers (in either the 'frog' or red head colours) or with little hand made metal lures called 'smith's'. They were made from copper and hand painted... I guess they looked like tadpoles to a hungry trout.

I've got a piccie at home somewhere of an 8lb brown that I caught in Lake Botsford with my Black Queen using a little black Smith's lure. I may have a pic of the rod somewhere but I don't think so. Sorry Roberta.

Cheers, Slinky

[Hodgey]

Hi Roberta

Next time I'm down in Vic I will see if I can get a photo of the Bonnie Doon for you! Crouch Reels were manufactured in Dunolly (I think), which is about 30minute drive from my folks place. Back in 'the day' it was the ducks guts. This is pretty much what mine looks like (from memory )

Slinky

Those Floppys sell for a bloody fortune online now Tony. They accounted for many redfin and yellas when I was a young bloke Can you imagine how tired my arms were (considering I was 7 or 8 at the time) after flicking lures with my Queenie for 5 or six hours I don't think I have seen those Smith lures mate ... might have a look for them online tonight. I used to throw celtas, ondex and wigstons (yes, with my damn Queenie) at the trout in Eildon and our local channel

Cheers

Hodgey

[slinkymalinky]

Slinky

Those Floppys sell for a bloody fortune online now Tony. They accounted for many redfin and yellas when I was a young bloke Can you imagine how tired my arms were (considering I was 7 or 8 at the time) after flicking lures with my Queenie for 5 or six hours I don't think I have seen those Smith lures mate ... might have a look for them online tonight. I used to throw celtas, ondex and wigstons (yes, with my damn Queenie) at the trout in Eildon and our local channel

Cheers

Hodgey

Sadly, I no longer have the Flopy... lost to the mists of time. When I unpack all my fishing gear in February I'll take some pics of some of my old trout lures including the Smith's lures and put them on a post. I've got some old "Fish Cakes" that were a Tassie standby for surface fishing Lake Pedder in its heyday.

Cheers, Slinky

[nitefr8]

Hi guys and girls.

Gezz i can go further back than that , the very first rod i ever owned was a jw little jim it was about 5ft and solid glass , wooden butt and some hose clamp type set up for the winch.

The second was my very first blackfish rod , a 2 piece number called a Scarbrough also solid glass, and im pleased to say it still resides in my parents garage and gets the odd workout when the family decsend on Yamba , compared to what i use these days it was one heavy mother of a rod .

I have a butterworth blackfish rod in the garage as well that must be 30 years old and still as good as the day it was bought,though it never gets used

mark

[luderick -angler]

I still have Dads Jarvis Walker gold Medal 9ft blackie rod The Black Queen DeLuke from memory had agate runners all the lenght not the standard chrome ones now if you want history heres some rods that still reside at dads a Slazenger B38 and B15 the first tubular glass rods the bottom section of a B51, a Conlon theres a Silaflex loating around somewhere as well as countless Sportex and Butterworths all still used at some stage and i don't care what anyone thinks the fact they have outlived and fished modern graphite rods makes them a better class of rods than some modern loomis sticks yeah they are heavy and slow actioned but hell they are more fun than fishing with stiffer mid action multi tapers!

[Berleyguts]

I just bought a Jarvis Walker Black Queen rod this evening. Here's hoping I can christen it on Sunday at Narrabeen!

Baz

[spod]

I have three JW Black Queens, two with cork grips and red bindings, the other with foam grips with green bindings. They all get used. I read of a JW Scarborough 9foot rod in one of the earlier posts. I had one of these and really liked using it with a centrepin reel but stupidly sold it at I garage sale we had a few years ago. Regretted this ever since---should have sold the newer Black Queen.

Cheers,

Steve

PS If there's anyone out there who has a Scarborough they want to sell, please let me know the price and location. I live south of the border in Victoria.

Steve( The Mexican! )

[JimT]

I think my first "own" rod as a kid (i.e. apart from split cane hand-me-downs) was a Jarvis Walker Bonnie Doon. Did the job for me!

Baz

My first rod was a JW Black Queen and this was around 40 years ago. Remember spinning with a Baltic Minnow for Redfin in the Lachlan River.......now that was a while ago......

Edited April 23, 2011 by jot