Kushner, Morris - "Exelereme" Bamboo Rod - 9' 6wt

For sale here is a very rare Morris Kushner "Exelereme" bamboo rod -- 9 feet, three sections and two tips, for a 6 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. He was also known to not make normal rod bags for many of the rods he made for himself and his friends, but merely clear plastic/cellophane compartmentalized ones such as this one comes with.

This rod is in excellent+ condition. Parabolic and very powerful medium fast action. The rod is lightly tempered and features the classic Kushner spiral wraps in black silks, which I consider simply stunning. The rod has bright Super Z ferrules and blued snake guides, and a rosewood reel seat with aluminum down-locking reel seat hardware. The pocketed butt cap is an open-ended ring which exposes the rosewood end grain beneath it. All sections are straight - no sets. Rod weighs 5.6 ounces. Ferrules are size 10/64 and 17/64. Rod does not come with a tube but the rod does include a hand-sewn clear plastic compartmentalized "bag". The rod was recently sent for a minor repair to Bob Summers. He filled in an exposed glue line seam in the butt section and re-varnished that section. Bob's work is simply superb and this minor repair is indistinguishable.

This rod and a few others listed here at Vintage Fly Tackle come from a client in Michigan. In the early 1970's, my client, himself part of the fly-fishing industry, bought these rods directly from Morris Kushner at a industry event in Southfield, Michigan (right outside of 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.