Kushner, Morris -- 8' 5wt Bamboo Rod

For sale here is a very rare Morris Kushner bamboo rod -- 8 feet, two sections and one tip, for a 5 weight line. Kushner rods are very scarce as he made less than 200 rods (most people say ~100) in his Michigan shop from the early 1950's until his death in 1973. Kushner was a Russian immigrant who had a metal working operation not far from the Paul Young Rod Co. shop. He built all of his own rod making equipment. Bob Summers eventually acquired his equipment and then began making rods of his own. Kushner experimented with odd lengths and uneven sections to move around the ferrules in seeking perfection in his actions. Many, if not most of his rods came with just one tip.

This rod is in excellent condition. Parabolic and very powerful medium fast action. The rod is medium flamed/heat-treated, featuring the classic Kushner spiral wraps in orange variegated silks, which I consider simply stunning. The rod has Super Z ferrules (the female wrapped in silk for its entire length) and slightly blued snake guides, and a rosewood reel seat with aluminum down-locking reel seat hardware. Bakelite winding check. Rod weighs 3.95 ounces. Ferrules are size 13/64. Rod comes with a brilliant rod bag, very indicative of the late 60s/early 70s style-wise : ) No tube. This rod also comes with a hang tag noting details of the rod, written by Morris Kushner himself. I had Bob Summers fill in an exposed glue line with epoxy on the butt section and apply a new layer of varnish.

This rod and four others listed here at Vintage Fly Tackle come from a client in Michigan. In the early 1970's, my client, involved in the fly-fishing trade, bought these rods directly from Morris Kushner at a industry event in Southfield, Michigan (right outside Detroit) at the Southfield Civic Center. Kushner had stopped making rods at this time and had a batch of rods for sale at this event. Many of the rods were new, but my client saw some with slightly dirty grips and asked Morris if those were for sale. Due to several factors, age being one, Morris decided to make my client a deal on all of these rods, his personal fishing rods.