Best cane rods?
The top ten/eleven all time bamboo fly rods for fishing (as identified by the members of this forum and who thoughtfully responded to this post) are:
Rod # of responses
Granger 8040 8' 10
FE Thomas 8' 8
Leonard 50 8' 8
PH Young Perfectionist 7'6" 8
Payne 100 7'6" 7
Summers 275 7
Granger 8642 8'6" 6
PH Young Martha Marie 7'6" 6
Granger 7030 7' 5
Payne 97 5
Phillipson Peerless Dry Fly Special 8'6" 5
The next ten rods are:
FE Thomas 7'6" 4
Payne 204 8'6" 3/2 5wt 4
RW Summers 856 8" 4
Dickerson 8014 8' 3
Granger 7632 7'6" 3
Leonard 39 Simroe 3
Orvis Battenkill 8' 3
Payne 101 7'6" 3
Payne 98 7' 3
The top ten makers were:
Payne 30
Granger 27
PH Young 25
Leonard 23
FE Thomas 18
Orvis 17
Heddon 16
Thomas &Thomas 15
RW Summers 12
Edwards 11
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Payne: Jim Schaaf: "Payne would be at the top of my list - first class in every aspect of rodmaking." Hoagy Carmichael: "I think Jim Payne was the greatest rodmaker who ever lived." Paynes are unique among the makes in this survey because they are cited as favorites in every length from 6 1/2 foot stream wands to 9 1/2 salmon rods... About half the Paynes I have fished have been great, and most of the others were good rods.
Leonard: ...joins Payne at the top of the overall survey....yet... Leonard's marked changes in quality point to the shop's inability to maintain the same focus and consistency achieved by Payne.... Model 38H, one of the two most cited rods in our survey...
Dickerson: Like Jim Payne, Lyle Dickerson maintained a consistent vision... participants in the survey place Dickerson just behind Payne for consistently making great rods... cited most often in the survey... Model 7612... Model 86E (similar to the later Model 861610)... Models 8013 and 8014 Guide.
F.E. Thomas: Thomas's quality of production was inconsistent... Hoagy Carmichael: "F.E. Thomas was the most uneven of them all." The best F.E. Thomas rods are unsurpassed.
E.C. Powell: ...if we were to count only the votes of those survey participants who live in the West, E.C. Powell and Leonard would be the very top rods.
Gary H. Howells: ...cited by more fishermen in our survey as their "number one" choice than ...any other... except for Leonard and Payne.... poised to join the ranks of the great rods...
Garrison: ...highly acclaimed, yet controversial... tapers vary greatly in their appeal... the Garrisons I have cast...varied from fair to excellent.
Paul H. Young: Young's beautiful flamed cane and his characteristic mediocre varnish work are legendary. No favorite rod was cited more often in the survey than the... Para 15.... Ironically, the most desirable Young rods may be those designed by Paul H. Young late in his career, and built during his lifetime, by his then-protege, Bob Summers.
Orvis: ...made available so many bamboo rods... that fishermen have long had ready access to good bamboo.... Despite the Orvis heritage, Orvis rods have not been idealized like Leonards.
T&T: ...an impressive ability to make consistently lovely rods... many...rods cited in the survey were made early in the company's existence...
Gillum: ...recognition as a top salmon rod...
"Overlooked rodmakers": Vince Marinaro... Al Talbot... a number of well-known rodmakers' work is conspicuously absent in the survey. There are no Halsteads, no Hawes, and no E.W. Edwards trout rods, although one E.W. Edwards salmon rod is cited.... Gene Edwards rods are also absent...