E.C. 'Buddy' Powell 10 ft 3pc/2 tips 5¾ oz 'solid cedar center'
E.C. 'Buddy' Powell 10 ft 3pc/2 tips 5¾ oz 'solid cedar center'. Buddy was E.C.'s oldest son and a fly casting prodigy before he was killed in a car crash in 1936 at the age of 23. E.C. must have had great respect for Buddy as he allowed him to build rods in the Powell shop with distinctive actions and details of construction that differed from E.C.'s standard rods. You can read more about this in my book about E.C. A Fly Rod With a Soul as well as about Buddy, his friendship with Herman Hittenberger, and his casting prowess. This is a 10 ft rod that would be at home as a long single hand rod for salmon or steelhead and it remains in lightly used excellent condition. It is oil finished and beautiful as is typical of Powell rods from before WWII. I asked Walton Powell, who was Buddy's younger brother, if they made many rods in the early years that were cedar core, but without the hollow scallops that the Powell patent called for; he said they made a lot of rods that way and called them 'solid cedar centers.' The cedar / bamboo laminate can be seen with a flashlight to illuminate the inside of the female butt ferrule, as there is no moisture plug on E.C. Powell rods in the female ferrule. You will note that this rod has black tipping throughout on all wider wraps at guides, grip, tip tops and wider intermediate wraps; if the rod were semi-hollow it would have black / white tipping at all these wraps (on Buddy Powell rods only). The action feels like a subtle, moderate 'A' taper, quite pleasant in hand for such a long rod and I would suggest a reel such as a Hardy wide drum salmon in the 3½" size, or perhaps a Bogdan 50 or 0. This rod has been in my personal collection for over 20 years, coming to me originally from a large collection in California which included 23 E.C. Powell rods. I am leaving the original Jim Adams descriptive label from a prior sale. This rod is pictured in my book on E.C. at the start of chapter 8 and page 75. In original olive bag and proper Powell tube. SOLD
