Al Ellis rod

Question
I am very new to fly fishing and was given a fiberglass rod that says hand made by Al' Ellis for the Paul H. Young co. model #SF2868 Salmon Fly Rod 4.27 oz. It is a 2 piece rod but it came with 2 top halves and unfortunately one of them got the last 2" or so broke off. I have looked all over the Internet and I can not find any info on this rod. What can you tell me about this rod and why does it have 2 top halves? Was one a light action and the other a heavier action? Also can i get the one part fixed ( is it worth fixing )? It is a perfectly good rod with just the 2 pieces without the spare top half.

Answer
Hi Mark,

http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5

This link will take you to a discussion forum where the rods of Paul H. Young are discussed, sold, traded and reviewed.  You can ask some questions to get more information about the rod and probably even find a buyer if you wish to sell the rod.

I'll try to answer what I can of your questions...

Young subcontracted the building of some of his rods to be able to keep up with consumer demand; this is a normal practice (i.e. private label rods) in the industry with the work product being specified and reviewed by the customer (Young).  Young was principally a bamboo rod builder, but his company was active well into the glass era.  I would imagine he had many of the glass rods built by subcontractors like Ellis...I don't know this for certain, but it seems reasonable to me.

Traditionally, from the days of wooden and bamboo rods, fly rods were packaged with two tip sections.  Typically, both tip sections were identical providing the user with 1) a choice of which tip to use today, and 2) a backup tip section in case there was damage while on the water.  Early glass rods continued the practice for a while and I would guess this rod is from the 1960s or so.  There is somewhat of a movement to return to two tip rods for both glass and graphite these days...it makes sense to me and I recommend this to my clients.

There was time when some bamboo rod makers tried selling rod with two tips where one tip was light action and the other was heavier action.  This was mostly seen in the lower priced rods in what seems to have been a marketing gimmick to sell one rod with two uses. It does not seem to have ever caught on in the higher quality rods.  

For the tip that is broken, I would recommend installing a new tiptop guide and leaving it 2" short.  Repairing the tip section basically at the tip end of the rod would result in significant added weight at the tip end and a much greater reduction in performance than simply using the tip 2" short.  It won't be too noticeable to you when casting or playing fish, perhaps not at all.

You can use the rod with just the one tip section.  However, by installing a new tiptop on the broken section, you will have the options of choice and backup with the rod. A reduction of 2" at the tip should not make the tip useless for you, and it shouldn't cost much to get the new tiptop installed.

This one was built as a salmon rod so you could use it for steelhead as well if you live in a part of the country with an annual steelhead and/or salmon run.  It would also make a good bass rod.

I don't have an estimate of value for you, but you may get some ideas from the discussion forum.

Thanks,  Joe