Barder Rod Co Chris Yates ‘The Merlin’ Avon rod.
A sublime example of our 11' 2-piece Avon rod in mint condition.
£1,800.00
The rod was commissioned on the 9th of October 1996 and completed in 1997. It is in mint condition and from the same owner as the 1998 Bishop also listed.
When you put this rod together and give it the inevitable waggle, it makes you want to drop everything (not the rod!) and go fishing. If it wasn’t the closed season, I’d probably have done so. The Merlin in 1997 had reached its zenith, if this one is anything to go by. It has all the classic Merlin qualities and is in many ways very similar to the one we made for Chris Yates. Only the shape of the handle top is significantly different. Chris’s is a sort of shallot shape, this one is a mushroom.We could make a pie!
Anyway, back to this Merlin and its irresistible loveliness. It’s very light and lively in the hand, absolutely perfectly balanced and not remotely top heavy. We designed all that old nonsense out of the rod, so the arm-straining quirkiness of the 1930s is absent, thank heavens.
I would dearly like this rod. I’d take it out in the punt later this summer with a centre pin, a colossal lunch and a choice of baits. I’d try to catch some perch, a chub or two, perhaps some dace and who knows these days, maybe even a terrapin. Overhead, the parakeets will fly. Flocks of them. It’ll be a like living in a JG Ballard novel, but with better fishing tackle.
You’d better buy this rod before I do. Save it from a surreal and unworthy existence. Terrapins indeed!
Specification.
11′ 2-piece split cane blank made from hand flame tempered and hand straightened vintage Tonkin bamboo. The sections are arrow straight.
Barder Rod Co nickel sliver waterproof splint end ferrule with its cork and hardwood stopper.
26″ cork handle with a classic mushroom shaped top and Barder Rod Co nickel silver sliding reel bands, butt cap and shoulder collar.
Aluminium oxide lined butt & tip rings, hard chrome plated stainless steel stand-off intermediate rings. There is a hook keeper ring secured with a hand forged nickel silver strap above the handle.
Pearsall’s varnish impregnated cane coloured silk whippings tipped with dark red Pearsall’s Gossamer silk. The rod has a flawless hand applied finish.
Tailor made bag with bronzed press stud fastenings and a pocket in the flap for the ferrule stopper.
Test Curve; 1¼ lbs. Reel lines: 3 – 6 lbs BS. Casting weights: up to ¾ oz + bait.