Page 32 - tmp

Page 32 The Antique Shoppe June, 2018
FISHING POLES

BY: JEFF FIGLER

There is an old saying that you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make European woods as lance-wood or greenheart. By the 1900s, fishing poles made
it drink. That expression has been used to describe many situations, but I’m not of bamboo were being manufactured, and silk was replacing horsehair. Bamboo
sure if it has ever been applied to a fishing pole. Fisherman would love to be rods would give way to fiberglass or carbon fiber, and nylon replaced the silk.
able to just stick their poles in the water and fish would continually bite. Wishful Soon, plastics were used to mold lures to replicate natural fish food.
thinking. However, it can’t be denied that fishing poles have come a long way. Nowadays, poles have become very lightweight, which enables a fisherman
A very long way. to feel the slightest tug. Lines are now designed to prevent breakage, or fish with
The earliest record of anything even remotely resembling a fishing pole is teeth from biting through it. Lines come in all sizes and shapes. Most poles are
from written Chinese records in about 2000 B.C. There were mentions of “rods”, made of carbon fiber, and reels have been developed for every type of fishing
which were actually pointed sticks or bones. They were referred to as imaginable, including fly fishing and deep sea fishing.
gorges, which were used to fish from boats. A line was attached with a Certainly, fishing pole collectors have not been disappointed. Try these sales.
short appendage, and the first recorded bait was, you guessed it, rice. •President John F. Kennedy’s monogrammed fly
After all, these were the Chinese. fishing rod which he presented to White
Longer poles were later devised from tree branches, therefore House chef Rene Verdon,
allowing for fishing from a shore. It was also believed that Egyptians sold for nearly
also started fishing, possibly around 1000 B.C., and used bamboo poles. $1800 at auction. →
Around the time of Plato, 400 B.C., there were writings that indicated •Bing Crosby’s ↓ three fishing rods
that fishing had evolved to the point where there were now barbed hooks went for nearly
used, as well as rods and lines. However, the rods needed to be sturdy, $600 at auction.
but also flexible, especially to catch large fish. Mediterranean fisherman
devised a solution for the pole by using a plant known as ferula. The line •Glenn Ford’s fishing rod and
was made of horsehair or woven flax, and the top of a bronze hook was travel case went for almost $500.↓
put over the line to protect it from breaking.
Fisherman were quick to learn that fish would rise to the
surface of the water to eat new hatches of various flies.
Soon, the first fly fishing of bait was devised, which was •An historic J.C. Conroy and
most likely a piece of red wool with rooster feathers Company antique fly rod sold
attached. Therefore, the dual purpose of simulating a fly, for $8250 at a Lang’s auction
as well as keeping the lure afloat, was achieved. However, in November 2007, while a
no reels had been invented, so fisherman had to pull the line •Rare early Norris antique
by either using the stick, or fishing pole, or their hands to set the rod sold for $16,000. The rod
hook. They would then need to pull in the line with their hands. belonged to John Moores,
North Lake Blvd.
The fishing pole would not be significantly improved for more former owner of the San
1
than a thousand years. A book was written in 1496 in England by Diego Padres baseball team, and fly fishing companion of former President
a nun Dame Juliana Berners, titled Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Jimmy Carter. Blue Heron Blvd Greenwood Ave.
Angle. This book described artificial flies, as well as discussed the MLK Jr Blvd.
extending of fishing poles to as long as 18 to 22 feet. Woven
horsehair became the most popular form of fishing line until
the advent of the filament line centuries later.
It was in the 1600s that the reel was added to the rod. Congress N. Ocean Blvd.
The first reels were wooden spools with a metal ring
which fitted over the fisherman’s thumb. But through the
late 1700s common were reels made with such heavy Palm Bch Lakes Blvd. Flagler
↖Hardy-Classic Lightweight Fly rod ↑Bamboo Can Fishing Rod 1920s
Okeechobee Blvd.
BULLDOGGERS LAKE WORTH Flagler Dr.
BKG ANTIQUES Belvedere Blvd.
Antique Mall Southern Blvd
Come in and see all our A1A
Antiques & Collectibles Summit Blvd
Open 7 Days A Week - Call For Hours 95
•••• Jog Rd Dixie Hwy.
WE MAKE THE PAST A 10th Ave. Congress Ave. Federal Hwy.
PERFECT PRESENT! Antiques, Fine Collectibles 2
and more...
Vendor Display Cases 205 N. Federal Hwy 2nd
Lucerne
Available for Rent! Lake Worth, FL 33460 Lake Worth Road . Lake
Ave
32 Dixie Highway 561-312-6732 1
Lake Worth, FL 33466 We buy 1 item or entire estates! Malaleuca Ln
(561)533-7707 Fax (561)533-7578 Call for Summer Hours Advertise Your Shop!
janetdesigns@gmail.com www.bulldoggersantiques.net
1 BUY-SELL-TRADE 2 Lantana Rd Ocean Ave Call 352-475-1679

Hypoluxo Rd
.