[Supreme Rods - Tony Miles]

On 3/10/2014 at 1:59 AM, philocalist said:

I'm not entirely convinced of the accuracy here, as much of it is from memory, BUT;

 

Sharpes (still) have a factory not too far from Aberdeen - I was in there for a looky-see maybe 5 years or so back, as much out of curiosity as anything else, as the premises materialised out of no-where, en-route cross-country to Aberdeen (I think from the general area of Aviemore?)

They do indeed make split can rods there, and are (quite rightly) very proud of their products, being primarily known for the manufacture of fly rods - not certain whether or not it's still the case, but they enjoyed Royal patronage too, having none other than Prince Charles as an avid fan and user!

 

This is where it gets a bit 'wooly' - the 'Scottie' brand was evidently initially theirs, though some sort of jiggery-pokery within the company involved part of the business heading south (to London, I believe?), along with the 'Scottie' brand name (which took a subsequent nose-dive - the 'new' Scotties were definitely perceived as being inferior to the originals within the ranks of their followers - primarily fly-fishermen).

 

I'm a fan of Tony Miles, and familiar with the book you refer to - I'd therefore hazard a guess that the rods he refers to are indeed built on 'original' Scottie blanks, a spec supplied by Tony Miles, and then marketed by Weaver & Son.

 

Somewhere prior to the 'Scottie' name travelling south, Sharpes diversified their range and began manufacturing a small range of very much sought-after coarse rods; I suspect their biggest hurdles in that respect were likely the fact of an almost total absence of local customers (as no-one up there goes after coarse fish, and if they do it's certainly not with high-class cane), and competition (further south) from a much bigger name within the same rarifies market: Hardys of Alnwick, who at that time were sat very firmly right at the top of the pile of rod and reel manufacture, and particularly with respect to split cane.

In any event, the Scottie branded coarse rods had a relatively short manufacturing life, and manufacure centered once more around fly rods (and also split cane spinning rods).

Trying to buy a Scottie cane spinning rod now at a decent price is crazy - they WERE available used, at give-away prices up until a few years ago ... now the carpies have cottoned on to exactly how good these rods were / are (being manufactured primarily for the persuit of salmon), and they are currently bought by them for daft prices, bastardised with a new set of rings and one of their many current trends, being put into service as 'stalking' rods for margin carp!

Just seen this, I might be able to help if there is still an interest. I designed it

[Supreme Rods - Tony Miles]

Hi, very late sorry. I designed the Tony Miles Barbel Supreme. We sold under the name of Purl Weaver made them. Had a row then cousin went to work with Weaver then left them