The Lee Wulff Midge Taper - paul.blakley
And first for a bit of background info.........
The original specification for 'Midge'rods was laid down by the
Federation of Flyfisherman during the early sixties.
The preliminary standards being set as 'Midge' rods must be 6' or less
in length and have a weight of 2 ozs or less.All this recent discussion
on the list of what does rod weight mean, i.e weight of the blank or
weight of the finished rod made me weigh the example I have had the
pleasure to measure and cast and I can state that the Farlows Lee Wulff
'Midge'weighs in at less than 2 ozs for the complete rod ( courtesy of
my wifes kitchen scales).
The rod I have had to study is owned by a Clive Harrison of Gainford and
to him I would like to say thanks very much in helping me to determine
this truly classic transatlantic taper (US designed and Brit built ).
What do we know about this rod;
The rod was designed by Lee Wulff and it was built by Sharpes of
Aberdeen for Farlows of Pall Mall in London.It was also marketed and
sold in the US by Norm Thomson Outfitters.The rod was in production from
at least the mid to late sixties , but possibly longer and from the
number of rods i have ever seen for sale( less than an handful in the
last ten years ) I would say that production was very limited ?
Catalogue cuts for the rod describe it as being built using Sharpes
Armourcane process which translates into the blanks being impregnated
and unvarnished.Legend has it that Lee Wulff 'killed'a 22lb Salmon on
the rod and trade literature says that the rod is capable of handling
fish up to 20 to 30lb................
The rod was fitted with Stainless Steel Snake Guides/Rings with a Hard
Chrome Butt Ring ( aka Stripper ).
The rod is two pieces with hand machined ferrules
Length is 6'
Weight is 1 7/8oz
Rod Whippings /tyings being Royal Blue Silk
Rod was available with one or two tips , complete with sack and
Aluminium Tube
Recommended line being HCF, WF7.
Note I have also found references to state that the rod for distance
casting should be used with a #5 weight line !
The above all said my initial impression of the rod was that the handle
was ridiculously small ( even with my tiny hands ) and that the rod
despite being light was quite stiff and 'clubby' .The owner of the rod
had me thread up a modern #4DT line on a Hardy featherweight reel and
once the rod was cast with this line ( note how this differs from the
recommended manufacturers line size ? ) the rods action softened up and
was very pleasant to cast. The rod action being a slow and
through...........
Within the constraints of Clives garden the rod could easilly cast a
DT#4 line 10 yards and gave the impression of having ample reserve
power..........Lee Wulff having been reported to be capable of casting
90 ' with the rod . Mmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder what size of line this was
with ?...........
All that said here are the dimensions of the rod ( flat to flat starting
at the closest juncture to the tip ring for the top and from the female
ferrule on the butt section and measured wherever possible in 5"
increments );
Tip section length 36 1/4 "
2 ( say 2"below the tip ring to allow for the tube and end wrap ), .079"
5, .090"
10, .106"
15, .118"
20, .134"
25, .154"
30, .165"
34, .181"
Then ferrule and wrap
Butt section length 37"
2 ( say 2" below the female ferrule to allow for the ferrule length and
wrap ) .197"
5, .200"
10, .213"
15, .217"
20, .224"
25, .236"
and then it's the handle.......
Handle and Reel Seat total length 7 1/4 " ( thats correct 7 1/4 " ! )
Length of handle 4" and shaped like a miniature Orvis Superfine grip
ranging from .453" at the front of the handle to .748" at the rear.
Length of reel seat 3 1/4" parallel cork of .410" diameter with a flared
/fish tail shaped end and fitted with two miniature aluminium sliding
bands , each 1/8" wide with a tiny aluminium end cap at the end of the
reel seat (to prevent cork wear when resting the rod on the ground
........)
The rod the above dimensions were extracted from was for the record
marked as follows;
Lee Wulff 'Midge'( on the top side )
#832 6' 1 7/8 ozs Armour Cane ( on the next indexed side )
" Made by Farlows" ( on the next indexed side )
Well thats it.............should any of you make the rod please me know
what you think of it ( and let me know what size lines you are using
)........now all you need is a 20-30 lb fish to try it on !
Tight lines.........Paul