Trying to find a "true" ultralight fly rod in vintage glass can be difficult. Only a very few of the vintage glass rods were built at less than a 5 weight. However, glass is a very forgiving material, and many rods will work pretty well with a range of 3 to 4 line weights. I don't know of any glass rods that were rated for less than 3 weight, and I can only recall one that was designated as a 3/4 weight, and that was the Vince Cummings Ultimate, a 6'8" rod. The Ultimate was built on the St. Croix Imperial Ultralight blank which was also 6'8" in length but was rated for 5/6 weight line. Cummings would take the stock blank and lightly sand the blank in various spots along its length to obtain the action he wanted, which meant with thinner walls he had a softer lighter action. A friend of mine has the St. Croix Ultralight, and although it is rated for heavier lines, it will cast a 3 weight line pretty smoothly. I also have a Horrocks-Ibbotson Model 1200 Queen Elizabeth rod built in 1953 that is 6'9" in length. A line rating is not given, but it was probably designed for what would be considered a 5 weight line today. However, I have used it mostly with a 3 weight line, and it has worked quite well with that line weight, though would probably be more full flexing with DT4 or 5. My Vince Cummings Ultimate was broken by a previous owner and repaired by Chris Barclay, and it will cast a DT2, but is better with a 3.

Larry

Larry and Les,

Thanks to both of you for the replies to my inquiry.

As far as vintage, I was thinking post WWII. Say late 40’s to 1950. I have a 6 1/2’ St Croix that is an unfinished Mahogany hued blank that fishes a 5 wt very well and not having seen a vintage ‘glass one got me looking.

I will continue the hunt.

If you trying to find an ultralight glass rod built from 1947 to 1950 you are pretty much out of luck. My H-I Queen Elizabeth is the first rod I have heard of that was described by the manufacturer as an ultralight and it was built in 1953. Most of the early rods were designed for lines that we would grade as 7 to 8 weight today. The other rods that I mentioned in my first post were built in the 1960's.

Larry

The 6' 6" Winston Stalker was rated as a 2/3 weight rod, and I believe this was the first factory rod to be designed for lines that light. These rods were built to Tom Morgan's specifications by the Fisher rod company who built blanks for quite a few companies at that time. Incidentally, Fisher also came out with a series of rods that essentially copied the Winstons, although I don't know for sure if the tapers were the same. Either of these rods would be difficult to find, and if in good shape, would certainy be quite expensive. The lightest glass rod built by Orvis was the 6' 6" Golden Eagle 4 weight which came out in 1976. Orvis was pretty much out of the glass rod market by 1978.

Larry