Since the rod-building forum I frequent isn't very local, I figured I give you guys a look into what I have going on at the rod bench here where it's a little more pertinent to our fisheries.

This is a 1970s vintage solid fiberglass St. Croix Musky fishing rod. The model number and year of production are not evident and I neglected to contact St. Croix about it since that info doesn't mean jack to the owner anyway. One of my co-workers brought this in to me and asked me to overhaul it. It was his dearly departed Father's pride and joy. I asked why even tinker with it, it should be hung on a wall somewhere... His response was "Dad would shit hornets if he saw it not being used and hung on a wall like some antique."

So I will fix it up to as near new condition as I can so that my co-worker can affix the old Ambassador reel I cleaned and repaired for him, and take it out fishing with him once in awhile. Kind of cool I think, and definitely a great way to remember his Dad.

Here are the before pics:


As you can see, the guides are very old ceramic ring insert/rubber cushion/stainless steel frame type with very faded brown wraps.


This is a sticker (cheap design) of a diamond wrap between the reel seat and the first guide. It's also very faded and will need to be replaced.


For whatever reason the entire stainless steel ferrule was wrapped in black thread and urethane finished over... I guess it keeps it from falling apart or off? Also, the orange trim bands you see are actually old faded red paint lines for decorative purposes... I'll have to fix that too.


Yep, that's a solid oak rear grip. It's sun and water damaged, warped, and completely fixable. Also you can see here that the tip-top is missing the ring and cushion insert. Neat thing about the old tips is that they were crimped on at the rod tip. You have no idea how hard it was to get that thing off without breaking the rod...


So it's been on and off my bench for a few weeks now. New guides like that were hard to find, and took some time to get shipped. The new diamond wrap above the reel seat is done and epoxied, turned out fantastic, and although not exactly the same as the original, I think it looks MUCH better. The final coat of finish is drying on the rear grip today. It will need another quick hit with scotch brite, and another thin coat of finish before I hand the rod over, but for the most part I am done.

*AFTER PICS* - to be loaded in the next post.

So what ever happened to the AFTER pics?

Sorry about that... I put up a blog post with them, but forgot to update here. Instead of linking back... here you go:
















Link to the full write up: St. Croix Rebuild *Before & After*

Wow. I really like seeing these restros by the way. Fascinating.

When I have the cash I should put you to work. I have a couple of old things that need touching up. One is an old rod made from the surplus antennas used on jeeps and tanks from WWII. Needs a new handle.

One is a 9 foot bamboo rod I picked up, not a fly rod. Interesting piece.

Nice work you did here.

Thanks guys.

Ken, if it's a new wood handle it needs just give me a chunk of wood to fix it with and I'll trade you the work for a bit of information.

It needs guides, refinishing and a new handle. I just like the way it looks. Would look good hanging on a wall.

What possible info do you need from me that I already wouldn't give you?

Ken G wrote:What possible info do you need from me that I already wouldn't give you?

Some locations of certain wild goodies like asparagus and berries. I'm not looking to gather enough to set up a stand at the country market, but my wife and kids would love to go wild berry picking. Especially if it means pie will be made!

The asparagus is for me, love the stuff and wish I had the room to grow my own.


I have a decent slab of lightning kilned white oak in my garage, it's not much for grain character, but it would make a solid wood handle. Guides are easy to come by, and the old stainless guides are really cheap, couple bucks will get you a full set. You should have taken me up on the offer to stop by last weekend, It ended up just being me and my Dad screwing around making beer. He learned a lot and I worked hard trying to keep his hopes up of finding a job...

Special Ed wrote:Some locations of certain wild goodies like asparagus and berries.

I have a few gallons of black raspberries and blackberries in my freezer. I owe you anyway for the fish. Arrange to come by and you can have a bunch. You'll be surprised to find out where I'm getting them from. Nobody picks them cause they cost a quart of blood each time you go. Not for the feint of heart. The wife and kids can stay on the edges and get quite a few. You want a lot, you have to bleed.

I've been driving the roads keeping an eye out for the seeded asparagus plants. Found a mile long stretch where the damn things are everywhere. More on some other roads. You'll be surprised at this too. Remind me in the spring.

Sorry for not reading this till now. Would have been a pleasure to meet your dad. Should have stopped by.

If you enjoy old mushy salmon flesh I can bring home a giant wad of fillets for you tonight, although I would advise against it in order to preserve your delicate taste buds...

Definitely save me a quart of berries.

I should be able to start fishing the rivers again come mid October. We'll meet up for some berry/fish swapping then. Maybe fish too.

November will be a great month to brew some American Pale Ales. I'll have you over one night for a brew night bash. A couple guys, a couple beers, a few cigars... we'll burn shit and boil strange aromatic ingredients that when subjected to microorganisms will make you stupid when consumed... real 21st Century caveman shit.