Kushner, Morris -- "Exelereme" Bamboo Rod - 8'7 9wt

For sale here is a very rare Morris Kushner "Exelereme" bamboo rod -- 8 feet 7 inches, two sections and one tip, for a 9 or 10 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+ and all-original condition.The rod is richly flamed/heat-treated, featuring the classic Kushner spiral wraps, which I consider simply stunning. The rod has bright Super Z ferrules and bright snake guides, and a rosewood reel seat spacer with aluminum down-locking reel seat hardware. The pocketed butt cap is an open-ended ring which exposes the rosewood end grain beneath it. Both sections are straight - no sets. Rod weighs 5.7 ounces. Ferrules are size 17/64. Comes with original thick green bag but no tube. This rod also comes with a hang tag noting details of the rod, written by Morris Kushner himself. As rare as Kushner rods are, try finding another rod he made for a 9/10 wt line!

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.