Jump to content

Supreme Rods - Tony Miles


arbocop

Recommended Posts

Reading Search for big Chub by Tony Miles at the moment (excellent book), and he refers to the use of rods from 'my own Supreme range, marketed by J. Weaver and Son. under the Sharpes Scottie Rods banner'.

 

Now, as far as I am aware the Sharpes Scottie (and a quick Google search verifies this) is a valuable range of cane fly fishing rods. I have tried searching on supreme, and J Weaver and Sons, but found nothing that might refer to a rod made with Tony Miles dedicated or designed by him. In this and another book by Tony, he does name drop a few manufacturers but I suppose that is the business.

 

The book was written in the mid 1990's but what rod is he referring to? Is it under a different name?

 

Mike

"I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Arbo, are they float rods or ledger rods ?........Brian (Lutra) will tell you the best float rod for chub...he's collecting 'em :).

Hmm I might have missed out here, I've had a Sharps Scottie rod with reel in my collection the last 30 years and never bothered getting it wet. Bet it would grow great beans.

 

A tiger does not lose sleep over the opinion of sheep

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, that seems to explain it. There must be some available somewhere - I'd be interested to see a photo or see a list of the range.

 

Mike

"I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike, whilst I was there, I had a very strong impression that their (Sharpes) interaction with the public was extremely good ... I'd landed on their doorstep unannounced, doing nothing more than enquiring whether they even allowed organised public tours (as many of the 'rural' businesses up there do). Their immediate reaction was to welcome me into the premises, then pull a foreman away from whatever he was doing, who subsequently gave me a personal walk-around tour that took over an hour of his time.

This guy was an absolute mine of information, not only on their own products, but also on many of the local waters, and chatted freely throughout ... I'm of the distinct impression that a telephone call to then could pay dividends.

Search Google for 'Sharpes of Aberdeen', and it will flag up their website, and contact details in Huntly. From memory there is also some very good stuff on the site (and links elsewhere) about there range of older reels and rods, though I believe that they currently no longer make split cane (officially!).

They MIGHT admit to still having available split-cane landing nets (at a fraction of the price you might expect to pay!) ... and their ball-bearing swivels are unbelievably good, if a bit pricey :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...

ALL,

INTERESTING SITE IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE

www.thomasturner.com › Shop › Rods

J.S. Sharpe’s of Aberdeen, makers of the famous ‘Scottie’ range of split cane fly rods, were established in 1920 and manufactured under their own name until 1971 when they were taken over by Farlows. They continued to manufacture under the Farlows name until the late 1970’s. They are still trading today, back under the name of Sharpe’s of Aberdeen and still manufacturing for the likes of Orvis.

Also found this article to be quite, both interesting and BRITISH

https://www.thomasturner.com/jamie-maxtone-graham-did-he-break-or-make-the-mould/

Phone

and . . . https://splitcaneinfo.com/?page_id=653

 

100% cut and paste

 

 
Edited by Phone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes plenty of eccentric people about even today ,it was a nice obituary i can visualise the guy!

Fishing used to be the top pastime and the amount of makers for both rods and reels shows this.

If your into old reels get yourself a copy of "fishing reels ,collecting for all" theres two editions hopefully a third appears eventually. Not found anything similar on  rods though but i expect there will be something on lists refined to makers out there ,i like lists !

Spotted the Chapman list in your link ,my Shelford wasnt listed so i presume it was later ,i bought it in about 66 with money left to me by my gt granny ,i still have it but its shorter the missing bit snapped by a tree and re-whipped so many times nothing but the butt and badge is original!

 

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/21/2020 at 8:31 AM, chesters1 said:

If your into old reels get yourself a copy of "fishing reels ,collecting for all". . . . . . . . . . .

I can understand why folk collect old reels but not so sure about using them when modern ones, some centre pins excluded, are so much better! After very many years languishing in my tackle cupboard  my once much loved Intrepid Standard came out for an airing. It had served me well, sixty plus years ago! In truth it worked today just as well as it ever did but why did I bother? Nostalgia perhaps, but in practical terms all I was doing was in hampering myself so why do it? My old reel has gone back where it belongs, in the cupboard. My old rod back in its bag, maybe I'll put it on E-Bay. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.