EF Payne Bamboo Fly Rod 5'6" 1/1 #5/6 (A True Payne One Piece Rod!)

An EF Payne one-piece bamboo fly rod, 5'6", and built for what feels to me like a #5 or #6 line. This is not just an unusual rod but a once-in-a-lifetime find. In fifty years of rodmaking and handling thousands and thousands of rods, I've never see a Payne one-piece like this. The rod is in good original condition with some grip soiling and inner guide wear but the varnish is in great condition. Based on the perfection stripping guide and the taper tube tip top, along with the later "Payne, reg US Pat Off" butt camp stamp, I would estimate the date of manufacture to be late 1950's to early 1960's. The cane is a medium chestnut color with brown main wraps and yellow edges with an extra yellow and purple edge at the keeper wrap (there is no keeper). The stripping guide is a Perfection and the guides are black high speed steel as is the tip-top. There is one minor varnish imperfection, a 1/4" long scratch on the guide flat between the second and third snake guides up from the stripper. The grip is 5 1/2" long and styled to a standard Payne cigar. The reel seat is a cap and ring over a varnished and flatted spanish cedar spacer. The butt cap has some edge wear to the oxidation but retains 95% and the ring about 85%. The rod is perfectly straight and usable. A close friend of the consignor found this rod and purchased it for him, and the rod came without the original bag and tube, only in a plastic tube without a bag (!). Since it is not safely shippable this way, and considering the rod's rarity and value I was determined to make an appropriate tube that would do it justice and so have crafted a polished all-brass tube with classic styling. I also turned an inner sleeve of white cedar to act as a grip stop, keeping the grip from sliding toward the tube bottom and avoiding damage to the tip, as well as gluing a bag to the cedar plug so that the rod would not knock against the tube walls.

I've been lucky to handle some exceptionally unusual and rare rods during the course of my career, but this rod is absolutely up there with the best of them, a real coup for any serious collection.

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