Hardy Bros “The Moran Series” 8′ #5-weight 2-piece fly rod.

What a pity that Hardy ceased manufacture of split cane rods shortly after Tom Moran’s death in May 2014. So ended a part of their production that had run almost continuously for well over a century. It would be appropriate to refer to these Hardy rods as ‘Moran era’ and they were, in my opinion, the best split cane rods made by Hardy since the 1930s.

This beautiful rod exhibits all of the best attributes of Tom Moran’s style. The attention to detail and elegance of its construction is phenomenal. To fish with, it is wonderfully smooth and well behaved. Accuracy and delicacy are assured but there is a considerable reserve of power that you’d expect from a true #5-weight. This is a quintessential split cane fly rod -a classic in every sense. I hate the idea that anyone should restrict themselves to just one fly rod, but if you had to, this one would serve you extremely well.

The arrow straight cane (as you’d expect from an unused rod) is full of vigour. Its pent up energy is tangible, urging you to take the rod out for a busy day on the river.

Specification.

‘Blonde’ oven tempered hand made split cane, swelled butt construction with mirrored tips and 3 x 3 node spacing.

Tiger maple reel seat spacer with super-refined blued nickel silver metal work.

Swiss pattern blued nickel silver ferrule complete with Rosewood and cork stopper. The ferrules are a superb fit.

Snake Brand black nickel coated guides and tip-tops, with a matching butt ring (stripping guide in the US. Both names are equally funny in an innocently puerile way). A genuine Moran-made hook keeper is whipped above the winding check (shoulder collar in the UK).

Whippings (wraps in the US) are transparent varnish impregnated Pearsall’s Gossamer silk with Moran style single strand accents (tippings in the UK).

The tailor made rod bag (sock in the US) has a Hardy Rod In Hand label and contains a stiffener to protect the tip sections.

The brass capped alloy tubed is both engraved and labelled with the classic Rod In Hand logo.

All labels and paperwork are still attached, as is the plastic wrapper for the tube.

I’ve had some fun with the Anglo-American rod making glossary. Now you can have some fun by buying this rod and going fishing with it.