I need some information from knowledgeable Fenwick fans. Which years did Fenwick produce their s-glass series? What was the first and last year? I can't figure that one out. Also, under what model names did they manufacture them? I'm having a tough time pinning the production run and the exact models their were manufactured under. For instance, not sure if both the Fenglas and Feralites were both s-glass. Are s-glass only chocolate brown rods or both chocolate brown and yellow? From what I have been able to check out so far, no Fenwicks actually labeled "s-glass" on their blanks. I appreciate everyone's responses.

Fenwick glass blanks were either brown or yellow. The Fenglas to the best of my recollection were either white or yellow. I don't recall ever seeing a brown Fenglas.

A guy named Victor Johnson Jr wrote a book on Fenwick's history. You might want to try and find a copy, they do show up on the internet sites that sell books.

Vic did a couple of other books too, the one on Fiberglass Fly Rods does have a bunch of Fenwick history in it also, but there is a book totally about Fenwick. Grizzly made Fenwicks early blanks, then Fenwick bought Grizzly, not sure on the years, would have to look it up in my books.

I believe Fenwick filed for the Fenglass trademark in 1980 and received it in 1982. That does not mean however that Fenglass rod or blank production began at that time. There are some indications that Fenwick produced S-glass rods or blanks before adopting the Fenglass name, possibly as early as 1979.

From the 1988 catalog:
* Fenglass® - Our exclusive higher modulus glass that is ideally suited for thin wall blank construction. Fenglass® is glass at its best. It provides strength without weight and gives you that extra sensitivity necessary in many fishing situations.
* E-Glass - The original fiberglass rod blank material, best suited to thick wall rod blank construction. E-Glass thick wall blanks, though heavier than higher modulus rod blanks, will handle abuse better.
* Feralite® Fiberglass – The standard to which all fiberglass is compared. Our high density lamination process combined with lightweight thin wall construction allows us to design rod blanks with extraordinary range of actions and power.
* Feralite® Rod Blanks – Twenty-six years ago, Fenwick was the first to introduce a fiberglass ferrule. Today we still have the best ferrule with our patented Feralite® process. Feralite® rod blanks have become the standard to which all fiberglass is compared; high density, thin walled lightweight glass.
* Fenwick offers a variety of rod blank colors. These colors are described under each rod blank category.

Fenwick clearly differentiated E-Glass and Feralite fiberglass. While Fenglass isn’t specifically stated to be S-Glass in the 1988 catalog, it is claimed to be higher modulus. Feralite Fiberglass is the classis Fenwick glass rod construction.

In the 1988 catalog, Fenwick denoted Fenglass blanks with a yellow highlight. A quick flip through the catalog reveals that Fenglass blanks were interspersed throughout their lineup. Here are some examples:

* Feralite® Fly Rod Blanks are offered in a variety of line weights and lengths. All are two piece. The FL108-12F [is made from] Fenglass®. [All blanks are colored brown]
* Feralite® & Fenglass® Fiberglass 1 (piece) Spinning Rod Blanks
Here’s a summary:
SP541, 621, 681, 721, 729, 786, 787, and 841 are Feralite in brown color only.
SP784, 847, 848, and 965 are Fenglass in brown color only.
SP843, 844, 845, 846, 903, 964, and 968 are also Fenglass, but are offered in both brown and white.
* Feralite® & Fenglass® Fiberglass 2 (piece) Spinning Rod Blanks
Here’s a summary:
SP601F, 631F, 661F, 724F, 741F, 782F, 786F, 812F, 842F, 844F, 902F, 903F, and 965F are Feralite in brown color only.
SP843F, and 845F are Fenglass in brown color only.
SP783F is Fenglass, but is offered in both brown and white.

There is some errata over the years, for instance, the Chinese made revival series of fly rods has the following printed one side of a rod “FF 605-2 6’0” #5 2-1/2 oz. E-Glass” and on the other side of the rod the word “Fenglass” is printed. The coloring seems to indicate it is not Fenglass, but I'm just guessing on that.

I also found a second Chinese source about the post 2000 era Fenwick rods being sold by Pure Fishing, Inc. being made from E-Glass but being labeled and marketed as "Fenglass" rods. I'm not fully confident in my ability to translate the source as it seems to be in a regional dialect of Mandarin I am not familiar with, but from what I can tell it seems to confirm the source noted above.

Here’s a comment made on another forum by someone calling themselves “Master Guide” that could be relevant:
I think some confusion around the Fenglass rods comes from the fact that Fenglass fly rods in quite a few models were first introduced around 1979 or 80 and were made from S glass (as also confirmed in Vic Johnson's Fenwick book). Later, after those rods failed to gain any traction and were discontinued, a second intro of a fly rod model or two under the Fenglass label was apparently done, again unsuccessfully. It's that second attempt that is reflected in the 1988 catalog. The originals about eight years earlier were S glass.

In addition to Victor Johnson's book that Bill mentions above, for the fly rod end of things, you can also look here:

[fiberglassflyrodders.com]

There are a few notations that confirm and elaborate on some of what I wrote about above.

Hope this helps…



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2015 07:21PM by John E Powell.

Randolph,

Fenglass blanks were offered in white and brown for sure. I'm looking at a pair of Fenglass SP843 right now, one in white and one in brown.

Question, can you provide any year and model# of yellow Fenglass blanks? I can't find my early to mid 1980s catalogs so I can't look that combo up for the original poster.

The only thing I can recall offhand from those days was a model called a yellowjacket or something like that. For some reason I think it was S-Glass, but have no idea if it was a yellow blank and/or if it had yellow/black thread wraps. That might be one example...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2015 07:01PM by John E Powell.

John, you are right about Fenglas in brown, just checked the 1985 catalog. I just never saw one of them. My mistake. Randy

Bill,

I'm recalling 1968 as the year Fenwick purchased Grizzly, does that seem about right?

John, in 1985 they offered 1 Steelhead blank in gold and surf rod blanks in white, brown and gold. In selected models. Their Big Surfrstik surf rod blanks were offered in gold only. I will do some further checking. If you like, I ccan try to scan these pages and e-mail it to you. Randy

Fenwick began producing fiberglass rods in the early 1960s. At that time I was living in Santa Monica, California and a custom rod builder, Cliff Wyatt told me he thought that Fenwick blanks were quite excellent. He had been building all of his flyrods on Harnell blanks, but thought that Fenwick blanks were also excellent.

Mike Blomme

john, I just checked some of my 2 pc Fenwick blanks and found the following:

Yellow LB 961F This is only 1 of 2 Pacific stick blanks that they made.

White Sp 965F This one is funny because it is listed in the catalog as brown only.

I have a number of Fenwick 1 pc blanks that I have not had a chance to check yet. I will let you know what I have.

It is sometimes funny between what they actually have and what is listed in the catalog. All on piece Pacificstik blanks are listed as gold. I think I may have one or two in white.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2015 09:32PM by Randolph Ruwe.

John, according to my Vic Johnson books, it was 1966. Described as a merger which brought Jimmy Green, Don Green and Phil Clock and probably some unmentioned talent together.

And like John mentioned, the Fiberglass Fly Rodders forum is a great place to research and ask questions, several members that know the Fenwick stuff lurk on there.

Randolph,

Im guessing some of the color variations can probably be from changes in the lineup from year to year. You can't really nail down insightful info on specific blanks unless you can refer to a catalog for each year. At one time I had a complete set. I thought I placed them into storage a while back in preparations for a remodel, but I have not since been able to locate them. I worry they may have been lost in the construction cleanup.

I wonder if there would be any interest among people who have the old catalogs in creating and combining photos of the pages and collating them in one location? I bet between a lot of us old timers we could create a pretty extensive list of the early years.

Bill,

Thanks for checking and confirming the 1966 date, I wasn't too far off. I should add a copy of his books to my collection.

I built some fenwick rods in the mid/late 70's on the yellow blanks. I built one brown fenwick in the very late 70's. this time frame is correct 'cause I got married in 1980 and everything changed! probably got blanks/components through Dale Clemens, maybe Jackie Dickerson's fish'n shack as well.

Hello John,

You wrote, "I wonder if there would be any interest among people who have the old catalogs in creating and combining photos of the pages and collating them in one location? I bet between a lot of us old timers we could create a pretty extensive list of the early years". I think that is a great idea. I believe the information is out there among the members. Its a matter of some time and effort but the results would be a valuable and permanent resource. Excellent information in this thread so far.

Did anybody happen to get the old Fenwick catatog pictures together? I was making Fenwick rods alot in 1970's, but lost all my early catalogs in two divorces and 6 moves. Can't find them.

I'm also looking for old Sabre Catalogs. I built a lot of Ocean rods from all of them in San Diego.

I've been building Trulines, Sabres, Roddys, Silaflexs, Harnells, Fenwicks, and Conolon , since 1964. Thanks, guys.

I greatly appreciate the history shared in this thread, a sincere thank you to those who have have contributed.

Building rods in MA, Building the community around the world

Fenwick continued to offer glass blanks in various categories through the 1980's.

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